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What CAM?
AdeV:
OK, so I've finally started to get the hang of SolidWorks. I've now got a wheel designed, with cutouts to make spokes, nicely filleted edges, yada yada. Now I need to turn it into something the Bridgeport will understand...
So... what CAM software?
I reckon either MeshCAM or BobCAM for S/W (not that I can find any prices - if it's more than about £100 for a licence then it's not going to happen). BobCAM has a Heidenhain post-processor, which is great, it means I can feed the controller with the same language I've already been programming it in. MeshCAM looks to be a G-code only system, which is OK (my controller will do G-codes), and makes quite a song and dance about how simple it is to use - which is great for a numpty like me.
Any recommendations gratefully sought.
Swarfing:
I use CamBam and like it a lot
AdeV:
Cool - CamBam is somewhat closer to the right price (significantly cheaper than the other two...). My first effort with it would appear to be an epic fail however....
OK, so I've used SolidWorks to knock up my spoked wheel, and got to the attached drawing. I've exported that as a .STL file, which is the only common one between CamBam & SolidWorks.
So, now I have a picture of the wheel in CamBam - what do I do to turn it into machining instructions?
Swarfing:
That will now need to be turned into polylines at least so that you can plot the machining lines. Then it is a case of creating a MOP from then on. Have a look at the Vids on their website, will get you going very quickly. I've not tried creating anything from a STL
Swarfing:
http://www.cambam.info/doc/plus/cad/DrawSurface.htm
This is what a STL is normally used for
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