I am about to start my first serious milling task so please bear with me on this. I have taken my drawing from AutoCAD it is a new spindle mount which will take a smaller motor. The 200W spindle motor is a bit of an overkill with the size of tools and work that I will be doing. The mount I am wanting to make is a 34mm Split Collar type Clamp with a  a couple of Allen Bolts to close the clamp.

I imported the drawing into LazyCAM which created my G Code (So far so Good! ). To prove my code I put my trusty pencil lead into the chuck and set it away. Perfect.... or so I thought, but then things went pear shaped and ground to a halt  I will be using a 5mm End Mill to machine the job, which effectively means all my dimensions will be + - 2.5mm  I have started to look into the Tool Offsets but after 40 minutes or so I'm more confused than I was when I first started....

Am I on the right track here? Does Mach3 take care of the the offsets for you or do you have to force some calculations yourself?

Could some kind person put me in the right direction please...

Usually your CAM will do the offsets for you. I dont use LazyCAM but I would imagine it too offsets if you tell it the tool dia you will be using.
Hood

oh, thanks for that, Ill look into that. Real pity there is no help files for LazyCam it seems to do as it says on the box. Is there any other CAM software about that you can recommend which will do the same? preferably on free/shareware.  I have just spent another 110 quid on an MPG  from the little yellow people - if I spend another penny I will be needing the help of a good divorce lawyer!
 

I believe only LazyCAM Pro does offsets.  For the free version, you need to draw the toolpaths appropriately offset for the tool you will use.  All the common "hobby" CAMs (SheetCAM, CamBam, etc.) will to proper offsetting.  LazyCAM is *really* bad.  And don't even get me started on LazyTurn....

Regards,
Ray L.

I have found FreeMill......

Any good??

Well looks like I have answered my own query... FreeMill ? it's FREE to use until you come to save your project. 'Cannot save in DEMO Mode' this really chips me off you know. Why the Hell do they say it's FREE when after nearly a day of poking and pressing you find, 'Well, it's not really FREE it is FREE to find out how it works.....

Real pity they have abolished hanging, these people are prime candidates   

Why the Hell do they say it's FREE

Most software allows the user to try t out and see if it's right for them. There are usualy some kind of restrictions though and one should read the info to see what they are. Cost's time and money to develop software. Nothing these days seems to be free other than the individual
donated time of outstanding folks helping others on this site......

For LazyCam there is a manual and has all the info you need on using it for milling. Just draw your desired profile in CAD, offset the profile to suite your cutter diameter in CAD, export as a version 12 dxf, import to LC, clean the file, select the profile, define the depth of cut,
post code to Mach or save as a file, don't do things like trying to cut a arc with a cutter bigger than the arc, ect, .....read the manual,
have fun.

There are numerous CAM programs out there, each is different and costs vary, once you pick what you want you pay the price.

RICH

Hi Rich and thank you for your reply. Point taken about the software,  but why promote something as being FREE when it isn't... that is just short of deception and should be outlawed globally. Anyway, that is my 'Rant' out of the way for today.

I may have done FreeMill a bit of an injustice in my previous post as it DOES allow you to save certain parts of your work. On the other hand it is way too complex for my inexperienced brain to take in at this stage.

On the other hand it is way too complex for my inexperienced brain to take in at this stage.

You just need to spend the time learning and there are no shortcuts.
CNC Programming Handbook by Smid covers all the basics to complex and is a book worth adding to ones library.

There's plenty of stuff on the internet you can read also.

Have a look at Tutorial #1 in the LC Manual. How you do the equivilant in another program may be different but the general jest of the
tutorial is worth readng.
RICH

Thanks for that Rich, I am going to try to stick with this FreeMill stuff for the time being, it is right what you say about it taking time to get to grips with, it is a very steep learning curve. I have heaps of Milling, Drilling, Engraving and making projects waiting to be exploited on this 'expensive toy' as it has been named by my wife.

No kiddin, I have wanted one of these machines for eon's, I tried making one about twenty years ago - I spent 5 weeks and only got as far as the gantry !

However the other half has commented that my ¹Recreation Chemistry Hobby has been ignored of late! 



¹Recreational Chemistry: Coverting Ales Wines and Whisky into urine.....