so I find myself employed as a CNC programmer....

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Its a rather odd job to get with zero experience.I love the job, and I am picking things up real quick, but there is still some error with my trial.any pointers or guidelines for programming a CNC plasma table any of you real pros would like to share?
Reply:It all depends on what cutting machine, what plasma, and especially what cnc control and CAM software you are using. If you supply more detail...I am sure there are many on the site that can offer suggestions. Some of these machines are relatively easy....some require writing machine code files. Some machines can auto set all of the plasma parameters and height control parameters....some require manual setup. Some machines can have 4 plasma torches and bevelling capability...as well as up to 16 oxy-fuels, others have 1 torch station. What are you using?Jim Colt  Hypertherm Originally Posted by GrooIts a rather odd job to get with zero experience.I love the job, and I am picking things up real quick, but there is still some error with my trial.any pointers or guidelines for programming a CNC plasma table any of you real pros would like to share?
Reply:My advise... take the manuals home and read them. Read everything you can get your hands on. Plan on coming in early and/or staying late until you understand the process. Most modern cnc plasma tables have a host of great software for creating your basic cut paths... but you still need to understand the speeds and machine settings... the table doesn't know what material you have on the table. This is where experience become invaluable.If you can get the vendor to send a programmer/engineer down for a few days he can get your immediate work programmed and cutting, while showing/teaching you how the process works.  Are you just programming or are you also cutting? If cutting you need to know how to restart a failed job following a consumable change or other cut issue. Some money spent for hands on training will pay dividends in production.I went it solo with my machine (I had other cnc experience) but the curve was still fairly steep. I've made plenty of mistakes along the way. Jim Colt helped me dial in some 1" plate the first time I cut it... his help was invaluable. Jim has some documents that make some recommendations for holes and some of the finer points of the process that may be helpful.Congratulations on your new job.
Reply:I kind of envy you for that job.  It might be really cool especially if you could follow the part from design to cutting.As forhire knows, for all things computery RTFM (Read The Fine Manual.)  The Fine often deserves to be more colourful.Is it a small shop and you are the man or are the other guys who've been around?Miller Syncrowave 180SDLincoln WeldPak 100 with gasHandheld Milwaukee BandsawO/A Cutting Torch
Reply:Thanks. I had quite a dry spell before this. It was one of those cases were it didn't make economic sense for me to work a crap job, then pay for child care.The Plasma table is the second machine they put me on. I programmed a CNC turret punch machine (something I hadn't even realized existed before taking this job) for about a month before with proprietary CAD/CAM software last updated in 1991 (AMP1E or something like that). The punch machine, I actually know how to run. The guy in charge of that machine had me operating it for about a week before showing me the programming aspects. Another boss (there seams to be plenty of chiefs in this fairly young company. my understanding is; a group of machine owners got together, each bringing their own industrial equipment), doesn't seam to want me to know how to run the Plasma, just kick out programs. I have a feeling he'd be a little PO'd if he knew how much time I have spent "looking at the machine run" so I can get a better understanding of what the machine is actually doing.The torch is a Hypertherm 200max on air, The controller is a Burny5.  The software is pretty lousy, but I am getting used to it and learning to work around its shortcomings; BobCAD-CAM v.20. I usually do nesting and stuff like that in AutoCAD LT (a 3rd CAD I'd never touched before this job), then transfer the DXFs to the ancient laptop with BobCAD were I add approaches and departures then set the paths. Its a somewhat cumbersome process, but its really not too bad. I know the company plans to upgrade to something quite a bit pricier that they hope will run everything (I really doubt anything else will handle the punch machine though) when they pick up a laser table (and I imagine I'll be programming that too). I am hearing about 6 months before that happens. I guess the type of thing I am looking for is stuff like "always use a left hand kerf, because the nozzle swirls the gas so that you get less bevel". I stumbled onto that gem (reading the manual during some  down time) after making dozens of programs with a right hand kerf. I was told it was a personal preference and it didn't matter beyond that.So far everyone seams happy with my work, and the kerf thing didn't matter too much since most of the stuff is 12ga or thinner, and the rest didn't have very exacting tolerances. It still bugs me though. Like I imagine everyone else here, I want to be putting out the best best parts possible. The biggest problems I am having now is trying to get holes and slots that are probably just too small for the process and/or material thickness, to come out looking decent.
Reply:Originally Posted by BHereI kind of envy you for that job.  It might be really cool especially if you could follow the part from design to cutting.As forhire knows, for all things computery RTFM (Read The Fine Manual.)  The Fine often deserves to be more colourful.Is it a small shop and you are the man or are the other guys who've been around?
Reply:burny 5 is am older controller but pretty solid.  should be fairly easy to figure out. I helped set up a machine that had a burny phantom II controller on it and it was pretty nice.. The older kaliburn Inova torch height control was kind of weird, I didnt care for it much, it seemed sporadic, think something was wrong with it, this was a retrofit machine, so that could have been the reason. Controller also had a built in material list, you could load dwg images in from usb drive or off the network or even an old school floppy disk, the controller had the post processor built in..  It also had conversational programming for basic geometric shapes and such..  nice controllers you should be able to nest with the controller, the burny 5 might be to old for that, but phantom II could, cant remember exactly how, but it would nest.. I would recommend using the autocad to draw, and get them to spend $175 on Sheetcam, and ditch the bobcad.Last edited by brucer; 08-30-2012 at 12:53 AM.tackleexperts.comwww.necessityjigs.comhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/mach...dingequipment/
Reply:The auto torch height has been a problem, but the operator recently said he lowered the torch physically in the holder, and he hasn't had many problems since. there have been enough other hiccups though that I don't think I'd trust it to figure out nesting on its own.Sheet-cam doesn't look too bad. I might have to download an evaluation copy and give it a spin. Getting them to upgrade from AutoCAD LT to actual full blown Autocad would be a big improvement too. At least I assume that is the problem I am running into, It seams real limited compared to other CAD packages I've run briefly. There have been parts I gave up on drawing in AC and ended up doing in bobcad.unfortunately, I don't think they want to spend a penny until the loan for the laser they are applying for comes through.
Reply:Originally Posted by GrooThe auto torch height has been a problem, but the operator recently said he lowered the torch physically in the holder, and he hasn't had many problems since. there have been enough other hiccups though that I don't think I'd trust it to figure out nesting on its own.Sheet-cam doesn't look too bad. I might have to download an evaluation copy and give it a spin. Getting them to upgrade from AutoCAD LT to actual full blown Autocad would be a big improvement too. At least I assume that is the problem I am running into, It seams real limited compared to other CAD packages I've run briefly. There have been parts I gave up on drawing in AC and ended up doing in bobcad.unfortunately, I don't think they want to spend a penny until the loan for the laser they are applying for comes through.