Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him (and others) for a life time.
I am finding here that I see solutions to a specific issue (a fish). Many thanks to all who contribute. It is really appreciated.
What I am looking for is a source of information about the ins and outs of CNC. I want to be able to understand the choices and their affects so I can make informed decisions and produce well made CNC products. I would like to be able “to fish”.
Does anyone know of any resources that will teach me how to learn about tabletop CNC (learn to fish)? I hate this feeling of every time I run into a problem, I am at a loss of what to do to resolve it. I don’t understand the error messages and how to make the correction.
The first step is being able to create designs that work. If you are simply purchasing designs and running them on a CNC, you can become a button pusher. Yet, some people don’t have the time or the patience to become proficient as a designer. They should focus on learning everything they can about their specific machine. Google and YouTube are your friend.
Just my opinion but using a CNC is not a book learning experience and you will not get much out of it because there are literally 100’s or 1000’s of variables that can cause issues. The best and most efficient way to learn is to use the machine and as issues or questions arise that would be the time to do your research. And this forum is the best place to do that. It’s like “You Don’t Know what You Don’t Know” so you are better off spending your time creating projects. In addition to the above you may be able to find a mentor using similar software and hardware that may be willing to take you through the basics. Just my opinion and others may disagree
When I first got my laser, I couldn’t wait to get going. It came with manufacturing suggested settings for cutting and engraving.
In my opinion the best way to learn is to start. Trial and error. No matter where you get your data for “fishing” you are going to make mistakes, hopefully you learn more by doing than thinking you will learn any other way.
As you have these issues This site is a great place to get advice to overcome and be a better, laser-ist.
As others have said, the best learning on CNC is by doing. There are some basic rule of thumbs that you should become familiar with but then just have at it.
Depth of the cut is 1/2 the diameter, 6mm bit, use a max 3mm for your depth per pass.
Stepover, (this is how much new material is being cut) is generally 40% of the diameter, 6mm diameter bit, use 2.4mm stepover.
These are just general guidelines but then you have to take into account the individual job. One job I was using some very hard wood and the 6mm bit was struggling to do a 2mm pass so I reduced it to 1.5mm. On foam I am sure you could do like a 120mm depth pass
I don’t have a CNC machine but had access to one at the Mens Shed I go to. The experienced guy was always hovering and double checking everything I did. He would tell me what to do but not why.
He went away for a week so I just did stuff with no supervision. I made many mistakes but I also learnt more in the week he was away than the 6 weeks before that.
There are many free and paid CNC courses online. One or more of those should get you enough of the basics on the general mechanics and some of the available software options. Beyond that, I’d look for online videos on the software you plan to use (like MillMage!) to run your CNC.
Note: I’m assuming you mean ‘woodworking CNC’ rather than metal machining - there are other channels that cover those.
I’m a believer in a combination of both education and practice - ideally the education provides enough info to help learning some ‘why’ and ‘how’ while the hands-on practice supports learning to diagnose/toubleshoot any issues.
