This post isn’t directly related to the mechanical pe exam, but I wanted to share a great tool with all of you fellow engineers. A while back I got to fulfill one of my dreams I had growing up. I purchased my very own cnc mill. I ended up purchasing one from the company Tormach. Having a mill at your disposal allows you to pursue any inventions or side projects you might have as an engineer. One issue I quickly ran into however was the correct feedrate and spindle speed I needed to operate the mill at. I was burning up tools, getting poor surface finishes due to chatter, and basically just making a mess of things. I was following all the “book” standards for the tool surface speeds but I just couldn’t get it to work. I never worked in a machine shop growing up and the limited exposure I had back in engineering school just wasn’t “cutting” it. I never developed that “feel” for what the correct settings were.
Enter the “G-Wizard”. This software allows you to calculate the correct feed and speed for your mill (not an affiliate link). It has some great features to take into consideration your own specific mill, material you’re cutting, surface finish, tool deflection, etc. The creator Bob Warfield has put some really helpful stuff into this software. Best yet is he allows you to try it out for free.
Screenshot of G-Wizard Software
Some of you might work with machine shops at your job or some of you might do a bit of machining yourselves on the side. I thought I’d just pass along this great piece of software that helped me out. Hope you find it helpfull!
Also, check out the CNC Cookbook blog. There is some really interesting projects and info there. Enjoy!
May 14, 2011 at 2:14 pm | Off Topic | No comment
