recycledinkcartridgesworld.com

CNC Software

Right now we are going to discuss the initial element of computer numerical control.  That element is CNC Designing .  Before you begin a CNC project, you need to have a plan of action.  The design is like a blueprint, you know what you are going to build before you ever build it.

Here are some important elements of design that need to be answered:
What size will it be?
What material will it be made of?
Who is the customer?
What will it be used for?

Your design can be anything.  It could be an industrial part or a work of art.  This is only really limited by your imagination.  Many people use CNC every day to manufacture parts.  Many hobbyists use CNC every day to create art and various home projects.

Before I design I like to sketch a few ideas out on paper.  I like to toy with different ideas to spark my creativity.   This is the equivalent of brainstorming.  When I really get my juices flowing, that is when my best designs rise to the top.  I generally carry around a notebook with me to note designs that I think of during the day.
After I have a few likely suspects, I try to look through each of the ideas to see if I can merge them somehow.  Some designs have different parts or components to them.Some components are better than other components.  Can I take some of these parts and add them to another design to make it better?  Just like writing, editing your designs is a critical step in the process.

(more…)

cnc programming

One day I knew I had a problem.  I just spent 4 hours with my plasma cutter in my right hand.  I had been cutting out patterns I had traced onto a sheet of metal.These interesting shapes were going to become my coffee table.  Everyone complained to me that I didn’t have a coffee table.  I thought, “I’ll show them” and began to build one.
Why make a coffee table out of metal you ask?  The quick answer is that I wasn’t much of a woodworker at the time.  On the other hand, I used to weld professionally and knew I could make anything out of metal.  That is how it all began, making a coffee table out of metal.

Now if you knew me, you know that I can’t just make something normal.  My brain is the scheming type that has to do things differently then the norm.  I wanted to make a table that would knock people’s socks off.  I thought a funky looking table, made out of metal, with casters and lights would do the trick.  You know what?  It did. 
I really had a ball making this table.  I mean I had serious fun.  So much so that I started to design others.  I began showing photos of my work to everyone I knew.  On top of that, I was getting good feedback.I just came across a new hobby, it was furniture making.  Who would have ever thought I would pick up furniture making as a hobby.

While making this first table a problem arose.  It is the one I mentioned above with my right hand.After cutting out all those parts my wrist really began to hurt.  While welding professionally there was always the threat of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.Human welders are continually afflicted by this injury and others because of repetitive motion tasks.
If you repeat something over and over and over and over, your body gives out at some point.  After cutting up these table parts, I knew I couldn’t go on doing this for a hobby.  I knew something would have to change or the new hobby would break my body.

(more…)