So, I am just starting out,  the only real decision I have made so far is to purchase Mach3 and converted my Sieg x2 to CnC

I decided it would be more cost effective to play in Wax, because I can soften the learning curve, so I made up a bunch of bricks to mill.

so in the PAN where I melted the wax, it wicked as it was drying, so it made my bricks a LOT uneven, so my first CNC project is to True up these wax bricks.

The stock is   40 x 40 x 150 mm   ( about 1 x 1 x 7 inches)

What I want to do , is park it in the vise, and basically make a multi pass cut.

So, using FeatureCAM,  I made a 50 x 50 x 200 stock, and then put a 40 x 40 x 140 pocket in the design.

Exported it to to Gcode. and then  brought it into Mach3, and thats where everything went weird on me.

I am only running the demo version, but I found some really nice training video's on how to use it,  but its not working out for me, so I am hoping some of you guys can shed some light on software that might accomplish the same thing.

- I am looking for something that possibly is a one stop solution, but it doesnt have to be.

- I would like it to be somewhat intuitive.

- it should work well with Mach 3 with little or no re-work.

- Since I am Canadian, I kind of like using Metric.

- Really nice tutorials on Youtube would be nice.

I have looked through about the first 4 pages of this forum, and I dont see anything that stands out, maybe I should look deeper while waiting.

And for anyone who cares, here is the video series on Youtube for FeatureCAM

(CNC Mill 2: Part 1 of 39) Welcome
Instructional Video on how to draw up a part in FeatureCAM for the CNC Mill 2 upgrade for your shop pass in the COE Student Shop. (University of Wisconssin)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs_LoyaVrpg

(CNC Mill 3: Part 1 of 24) Welcome
Instructional Videos on how to draw up a part in FeatureCAM for the CNC Mill 3 upgrade for your shop pass in the COE Student Shop. More information can be found on our website:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uNV0aCcOhc

Welcome to Mach3 menglor:

Starting out in CNC machining today is much easier than in the past, where it was necessary to learn G-codes and link them together into a program; test run the program cutting air to detect any major mistakes you very likely made, such as trying to cut the vise in half, before committing the cutter to metal. Many shops made a part from wax or high-density foam before actual machining. A misplaced decimal point or typing “4” instead of “3” could mean disaster. The amount of time to produce a working, final CNC program was agonizing, and mentally exhausting. 

Advances in computers, i.e. high speed processors, massive memory, color graphics, CAD/CAM programs and variants of CAD changed the world of machining forever. Today you can watch your program gobble away a "virtual" chunk of material, transforming it into your part using all the cutters and drills you chose. And the best part is you can do more work, in a tiny fraction of time and expense than ever before, and see it all “Virtually” before you cut actual material.

CAD programs besides making a drawing, output DXF files for a shape, or holes/pockets/bolt hole patterns quickly and accurately. The CAM program reads the DXF file, and outputs your G-code.
For CAD drawing I use DraftSight, an absolutely fantastic free CAD program, produced by the makers of Solid Works, Dassault Systemes, of France. Solid Works is a high-end, world class program. There is a learning curve to all CAD/CAM programs, but is time well spent if one is serious about doing CNC machine work.

There are many good CAM programs to produce your G-code. Personally, I like CamBam and CutViewer, partly due to price, but there are many to choose from. CamBam has a 30 day free trial, a forum, very thorough Help file with graphics, and a post-processor tailored for Mach3. CutViewer, also with a free trial entry, works from within CamBam, enabling you to jump back and forth, and edit until you like what you see. In CutViewer, your "virtual" material can be crashed into, cut in half, or otherwise destroyed, but the program will stop and show you where the code line is, no matter how many thousands of lines of G-code into the program it happened. You can measure any section of a finished “Virtual” part, zoom in to see a detail, speed it up, slow it down, to see every move a cutter makes.

Mach3 has built in "Wizards", created over the years by knowledgeable Mach3 users and donated to the community, that can perform many common functions, and write the code directly into a Mach3 program, creating the G-code for you; answer the prompts, and run it on the screen before cutting anything. Pockets, drill patterns, keyways, arcs, face milling etc.

The "Mach3 Addons" are licensed wizards for $50.00, which are more refined than the freebies, with a similar look and feel. Log onto the "new" website advertised at the top of the Mach3 Forum page.You can do multiple kinds of routines with multiple tools, and they are linked together into one single program automatically.  You can create a complex machining operation involving many tools in minutes!
The "Mill Wizard" is another stand-alone program of wizards, licensed at $75.00. This is a variation of the Addons, with more advanced features. Both of these wizards have their place in the family. Both of these programs and the free wizards are opened from within Mach3.

The wizards are not sold as “CAD/CAM" programs, but actually are for machining frequent tasks, i.e.  drilling bolt patterns, facing, pocketing, slotting, keyways, arcs, circles, etc., and can be zoomed, rotated, tested "virtually." The writers have demos, and step by step pages you can study on the site.

There are lots of "freeware" CNC programs out there on the internet, but in my opinion the Mach3 wizards and licensed wizards are superb, worth every penny, and won't strain the budget. They are fast, accurate, very intuitive to use, and well thought out. The  amount of finished G-code cranked out in seconds is impressive.   

When you get deeper into CNC, there are more powerful 3D CAD programs available, at much greater cost of course. Engraving, photo artwork, lithophanes, 3D/ 4-axis carving, are all doable with Mach3 and home shop machines.

John

Thanks for your insight,

I am going to take a long look at CamBam and see if it can do what I want, The wizards thing is a cool idea, but I am hoping to learn more and do things myself.

I am usually a pretty quick study, but I seem to require a good foundation,  so with that I ask, have you run across any training aids that might give me a  leg up?

The best explanation of G-codes is the book;

CNC Programming Handbook, 3rd. Edition: Peter Smid.
It is available on Amazon.com.

If you make some programs using wizards, or CamBam, the code will run. Study the finished code, watch it in the Mach3 scree as it runs, and simultaneously  read the sections in the Programming Handbook to make sense of what was produced.

Commercial CNC machines from different companies, often do not share identical G-code, to perform the identical task. This goes back to the early days of CNC, when controllers were proprietary, custom designed; a total black-box. Much of that has changed with a PC becoming the main engine of the controller. The CAM programs on the market all have "Post Processors" to output G-code that will run different makes of machine controllers. This alone can become a long, difficult process getting a retro-fit machine to run.

If the CNC machine tool industry followed one single standard, and adhered to common rules of G-code useage, things would be vastly different. Such is not the case.

In the field of shipping and navigation, aircraft and navigation, strict rules are followed, and legally binding.

Mach3 has been developed based on Fanuc G-code useage.  

There are many videos out there produced by various CAD/CAM companies, but they are designed to sell you their program. I don't think watching those videos will teach much about actual G-code useage. That is a learning process all in itself.

In actual CNC machining work, much more time will be spent learning the intricacies of a given CAD/CAM program than what a particular G-code means.

In the past, CNC machine memory was extremely costly, and often had limits of the total amount a machine could read. Today, memory is virtually unlimited, running into multiple millions of lines of G-code, as in graphic carving or engraving programs, or very complex 3D sculpting. Mach3 can handle up to 10 million lines of code in one program.

John

I'll give you hint on how to clean up the top of the blocks in Cambam. Draw a single line slightly off the edge of the and longer by at least half the tool diameter on both ends. Apply a profile machining operation with width set greater than your block width. Cambam will produce a bunch of parallel tool paths that clean off the whole top.  You don't have to draw the part, just one line. You can be cutting faster than it took me to type this!

Cambam is 40 uses in demo not 30 days. You can do a whole lot of playing without being in a hurry. In any event it is good value for the money. Remember software is personal, you may not like it just because!

The more I use CamBam, the more impressed I am with it's capabilities. What I did not mention is the writer of CamBam is a one man show, and he frequently comments, and answers questions on the forum. When he produces a new variation of some part of the program, he puts it out as a beta version, and the power users comment on what they think. After a while, perhaps a month or so, that version becomes the newest edition. Also, users write small "apps" to add on the the program, that do particular things, like adding an orthogonal view or some such thing. Also, the "Help" file is second to none, in CAM software.

John