Learning and Teaching

In the beginning…

CNC code always looked like a jumble of letters and numbers flowing past as I watched the digital readout of the large Mazak mill I setup and operated in my first machine shop. I understood the concept, but had no time to learn the ins and outs while making one or two of each part that crossed my bench. Besides, what was the boss paying Tom the programmer for, if not to wrangle all those bits into a process? My concerns were workholding, tooling, coolant, and chip removal. The night shift guy, Bill, had told me not to push the start button unless I knew what the machine was going to do next and taught me to recognize rapid and feed moves, coolant controls, and other basics, but “CircInterp” was as mysterious a word as “quantum entanglement“. While I could use a CAD program from my days making crude computer animations, the CAM side was something I had to rarely got to practice.

Three years later I left that shop with a much better understanding of the fundamentals. I could edit a program to optimize feeds and speeds or change a hole location. I was also picking up “Conversational Programming”, where the machine asks what feature you need, then asks about dimensions and tools to create it. This works well for simple shapes and hole patterns, but is not very flexible and not all machines have this capability.

After moving to the other side of the country, I started at my first production shop. After an hour and a half interview, mostly consisting of me listening to the floor manager’s progressive plans, I was eager to show what I could do. I’ve never had a problem admitting that I didn’t know something, which was good, because nearly everything was new to me. The company hired experienced guys like me to do setups, then hand off to an operator who was qualified to load the parts, and perform basic inspection through the shift. That left the setup guys (and full-blooded Navajo woman) to move on to the next machine and the next part. There were many special tools and fixtures, and every machine had its own quirks too. After a year or so, I was in my element! The variety always kept me engaged, and I had doubled my skills. I began to teach some of the operators piecemeal, but there was never time to do a thorough job.

During my current job I was able to pick up the basics of a CAD/CAM program called FeatureCAM.  After our programmer left for a new job,  I have moved into his position. As I begin a new phase of my career, I want to document it so others can follow in my footsteps.

I plan to post many things here: programming tips, tool reviews, shop management strategies, and my own observations about the industry.

I welcome your comments and questions.

Dave