CNC Machining a Fireball Tool Fixture Plate
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- Опубликовано: 27 сен 2024
- In this week's video I work on machining one of my Fireball Tool cast iron fixture plates using the Milltronics cnc mill. This is giving me some much needed practice using the machine and the controls. It' been a great training and learning exercise going over some of the more basic features of cnc machining. I will be using the cast iron fixture for some power scraping practice as well.
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I don’t know if anybody has told you this lately, but I think your doing a really good job Adam. Everyone will criticize when you don’t do something 110% but fail to tell you how well you did the other 100 things perfectly. Gotta love those critics.
Well said.👍
Here here
Most comments on the CNC have been supportive and instructive, and he followed through on the cutting air option. The use of the rapids override and the like will come with practice but should have been emphasized during his 2 courses beforehand. He is not a kid who should expect a hug every 5 minutes. Learning this stuff along side an experienced machinist in industry, you either learn quick or get replaced by the next kid, no explanations needed.
@@richardjones7249
Adam is doing a lot better than me. I have a small welding shop and I purchased a CNC plasma cutter. After a few months I gave up and got rid of it because I couldn’t get my head around programming or running programs. The Computer stuff was just all too hard. In my defence I’m 66 years old and have never owned or operated on a computer. Wasn’t interested. If my iPad didn’t have voice to text I probably wouldn’t be able to post this comment😃👍
Well said agree 100%! 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
I wouldn't let all these self proclaimed experts get under your skin. Just ask them to provide a link to their videos for all to critique. Keep doing what your doing.
Sorry to hear people are being negative about you using the mill. Everyone is slow at the beginning of a new way of doing things.
Keep up the good work, thanks for sharing this with us 👍
Ain't it a shame that folks do that. Everyone knows better these days. Can't let a dude just be on his journey. So stoked for Adam to be jumping in on CNC stuff.
"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young." - Henry Ford
Adam
This is the first episode where I felt I might have something to offer.
Let's start with: on the very first cut I ever made, I hit a weld and broke the spindle. Luckily, there were no cameras running.
Over the years this is what I have to offer someone new to CNC:
Never hit cycle start until you are confident.
Cutting air is definitely a confidence builder.
Limit yourself to one new process per cycle.
If you need to do 3 new processes, simply do them one at a time.
Practice with plastic (HDPE - High Density Poly Ethylene). It is very kind to your machine and tools when things go awry.
Bring your machine up to speed using the Rapid Control Knob. Within seconds, you will know all is well.
Manual machinists do well with conversational, while CAD and CAM is new territory.
We all learn at different speeds. It is not a race nor a contest. Not everything comes easily.
When things work well, review what you did to make that happen.
When you make 3 errors in a row, shut down and spend the rest of the day cleaning, doing maintenance and editing.
When your machine first crashes, you will most likely watch it happen without doing a thing.
The second time your machine crashes you will hit the kill switch faster than a toupee in a hurricane.
We all know YOU can make big chips, so no need to prove it with your new CNC machines.
Keep up the fine work!
Love that you showed that you are taking notes, and building your own reference guide. As for the people that keep saying you are doing it wrong, they can shut up. I think you are doing good, and I love that you are bringing us along on the journey. I've played with 3d printing, and a little CNC work too (using desktop stuff, so nowhere near your level) and can appreciate just how steep the learning curve is.
What up Adam, my name is Daniel I'm a 33 year old die maker. I was lucky enough to apprentice under older die makers that trained me in extremely accurate manual machining, such as form grinding tight die features. After I learned conversational programming on a prototrack, then I moved to programming with cam on machining centers and E.D.M. machines. Now I have my own tool and die company where I design build and run metal stamping die all in house for the auto, aerospace, military industries. My point is your doing a great job, I have picked up great information from your channel and your entertaining. Keep doing what you're doing, you will be doing advanced cam programming in less than a year 👍
Stress less about the 'expurts' and armchair manual or die brigade. It's your journey and thanks for sharing 😊
You are doing a great job on the CNC. Ignore the critics and just listen to those who offer positive advise.
It's been great watching you learn CNC. Everyone loves to present themselves as an expert, but seeing the journey to mastery is rare. Keep up the good work!
Remember there’s some of us watching this channel that has no clue how to turn that machine on you doing good man keep it up
I've been a tool and die maker for 40 years all manual machines and I still learn something new every day. Your doing a great job Adam.
I’ve had my CNC for a year now and I’m still amazed and nervous every project 😮 😬 enjoy the learning
Try a 0° lead in instead of a 90° lead in. It's less likely to shock the tool and leave a witness mark on the edge of your material. Also the vibration when cutting the perimeter of the cast iron only happened at the corners. It was the furthest point from the bolts with the least amount of support. Everything you're learning right now is putting another crease in the gray matter. Keep walking through it and that crease will get deeper. Keep up the good work Adam!
I can't blame you for being cautious. That's an expensive machine to crash. Kudos for learning CNC on your own.
You are going through exactly what I did with my small wood cutting CNC. The CAD to me was already in my toolbelt. The tooling, cutting depths and feed rates was/is not! Still learning as I don't have your resources for help when needed. But that's ok since my CNC is my retired hobby when it will come in handy to route something to perfection such as artistic details or lettering to personalize an item. Good video.
Interesting watching your journey with CNC but still love the manual.
Hey man me and you are learning together. Got a haas vf3 and a haas sl20 at work and I'm taking over the machine shop trying to get it going again, (I'm the only one there with any experience in machining at all, and what i do know is what ive taught myself in the home shop on manual machines, watching yours and the all the other youtube machinist stars videos! Big thanks to all of you!!) and there's a manual bridgeport and big leblond regal also. So I've been trying to teach myself cnc machining, very frustrating alot of the time but very rewarding when you do get it right. I feel your pain, and your joy, lol. Hopefully I can find a class or course close by. But no such luck yet.
you have a function called single block on the machine, it's a button on the control panel. it is a very nice feature when you run a program for the first time. it will make it so that the machine will only do one movement/command of gcode at a time for each time you press cycle start, which gives you more time to see if there is something wrong, and maybe a little more peace of mind.
I agree with you about learning to program directly on the machine and not just using Fusion 360. once you've learned it, it will often be faster to program simple operations directly on the machine than going back and forth to fusion 360.
keep practicing and you will be surprised how quickly you learn👍
It's a tremendous example you set, reaching out for new knowledge and skills after the old ways have been the heart of all your successes in life so far. There is a saying - I wish I knew the origin - that "Men are slaves to the tools of their apprenticeship." You are an exception that ought to be the rule. Lifelong learning is the secret to meaning and the foundation of democracy. Bless you.
I think you are doing a great job.
I am knocking 60 and can’t imagine trying to learn that technology!!!
I know you are younger.
Don’t let the armchair generals make you doubt yourself.
You are a tremendously good machinist
Don't listen to the naysayers Adam.. for a guy that cut his teeth as a manual machinist you're doing great..! Keep at it and before you know it you'll be running that thing like a pro! 😉👍
You are doing this in the right secquence. Conquer the MIlltronics, take careful nots, AS YOU DO, and get fluent in it.
I think you are doing a great job learning cnc machining. Driving it slow to prove a program is the smart way to go.
Absolutely!
This is great, kudos for jumping into all of this and letting people watch it.
100% correct on the feed and speeds talk! cnc is so disconnected, it has no 'feel' like manual machines! when I first started running cnc I was way too slow then as I learned the machine and tools I could push them to their optimal speed. No worries on you being slow for now youll be flying through parts soon enough.
Social Media to Adam... "You pushed the button wrong.... You should use another finger and stand to the right exactly 23 degrees and wink with one eye and stick your tongue out to do it right! Like I do..." Awesome job Adam!!
Truly fascinating. Hats off to you for taking on the vertical learning curve, and thank you for your honesty and openess bringing us along for the ride 👍
Thanks for putting content up showing a learning curve. Appreciate the perspective that many of us share. Martin - VA
It's really awesome to watch someone who has so much knowledge, experience and expertise learning and modernizing. It's so inspiring and shows, you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. In my mid 40's feeling lost where I am and wanting to expand my abilities and find the place thats been alluding me for so long, watching you doing all this really gives me some hope. Thanks for sharing, I really look forward to watching you grow.
Tip for using the end mills around the perimeter. If you set your start point for a rounded edge or a corner it will hide the faint line that is left from the start and stop of the cut
Dude, many of us got that you're just learning. Don't worry about anyone telling you what or how, you'll get there, just like you're good at manual milling. Have fun at what you're doing.
Use shorter tools whenever you can, it effects the finish and the ball bearings. And always a small finish cut to prevent ridges at axis change.
Might be worth putting a camera on the screen, and including that as an inset as you set up the runs/ do the entries. Would also give you something to reference/ go back to when trying to remember how to do an op.
Great video Adam, Thanks.
Don't let the trolls discourage you, keep up the great work
Adam, what you need is a "cheat sheet" manual that you can mount on the bottom of the control station. We had one when I was in the service for troubleshooting computer circuit cards that had umpteen bunches of IC's on them. We ran a test on the card and it would give us a code that translated to an IC on the board. Then we would chip off the conformal coating, replace the IC and recoat the spot, then rerun the test to confirm the fix and put the card back in stock for later use. Using cheat sheets to remind you of what to do is a good way of building that "muscle memory", before long you will find yourself not needing the cheat sheet, but they will be there if you have a temporary lapse of memory. Plus you won't have to take the time to call or Email Steve, you just look at the appropriate "sheet" and solve the problem.✌😊
P.S.
You might consider going to your local community college and taking a course in CNC programming.
If you are interested, I have hundreds of hours of setting up CNC machines of a multitude of types, from Rock cutters, waterjets, electronic pick and placers, laser cutters, milling machines, plastic and aluminium extruders, house framing robots, Knitting robots and so on.
I can offer you a few tips to make your life easier from the start,
One the vice is very pretty but completely unnecessary, and could cause you pain as you go on. The reason you have chatter is the vice btw.
The second is, trust the machine to know it's coordinates, unlike setting up in a manual, or semi manual machine, there is no need to use the edge detector at more than two points.
Regarding the start work position, starting in the middle of the x-axis is going to cause you problems as you get more complicated parts. Try starting on the corner closest to the tool and curve into the edge (as you are doing now).
Three, use the holes in the bed as locators for your parts, they are extremely accurately drilled, if you are worried about hitting the bed, put a sacrificial sheet of material under your parts.
Four, you will break tools (especially the small ones), everyone does, have spares.
Five, The machine has a home position, all other points are relative to that, so it is always a good choice to set your part X,Y,Z, and your drawing reference 0,0,0 a standard distance from the machine home. Then you will know that every job is going to start there, it will really reduce stress.
Six, CLOSE the doors. Safety, I cannot emphasise enough the need to close them. I have seen nearly 30 people who got injured by these robots, they are so powerful you cannot get out of the way fast enough. Lost limbs, fingers, hands, tools embedded in the chest, and even one guy at a steel mill was never seen again, he had a habit of defeating the blast doors on the pouring vessels to scrape the dross off the start of pour. No one saw what happened but we suspected he got sucked into the melt, there was nothing found of him. At the same time I was diagnosing a fault on the robot that cut the welded and x-rayed pipe into standard lengths.(With the customer,CEO,Plant Manager etc watching my every move). Sorry to be so macabre but safety is paramount.
Seven, Sequence of operations, you will find a rhythm that you like, but I've found in most instances that depending on the part they are either a pyramid or a bowl, Pyramid you start outside and work up, bowls start inside and work out.
Eight, if you have say more than five holes of the same size, give the tool a break, drill five, then do something else, then back to drilling, repeat, the drills will thank you for it, and tool change is very quick.
Nine, Don't be afraid to set multiple instances of the part in a grid pattern, and use replicate to copy the cut functions for each. It's up to you if you want to say cut all the outside's before tool change and the next step on each, or complete a part before working on the next in the array.
Ten, save your designs, on multiple machines, multiple devices and memory systems. There is nothing more frustrating, than having to build a CNC program all over again, due to a bad memory stick or lost password.
And finally, make copies of the machine software, take copies of the passwords, setup numericals, coordinates, etc etc, and take them off site.
I'd check the jaw lift on your vice to make sure it's acceptable when using the Piranha Jaws. I only use the serrations for first ops because of that. Then I switch to parallels for the second op so I can whack the part down on the parallels.
I was surprised when he was try to get the allen key out of the bolt how much the jaw lifted actually. It seemed way too loose for a new vice...
Hi Adam, it is so nice of you to show us how you improve your skills on CNC machining. Many would have keep it for themselves. But as a real pro, you are not shy to learn new technicals skills. Whatever your age and previous exprerience which is obviously great, you show the world your learning journey. Thanks a lot. Congratulations from France.
Don't mind the know-it-alls. Usually they know only one thing well, and rest is complete mystery. You sir are a machinist, learning a new way of doing things. We all know you'd be able to do that stuff with any tools in your shop(s!). I know it's easy to say not to mind them, but you got this! You are showing that you're willing to learn and keep your skills up to date.
I hope soon(ish) we'll get to see you do things with the shaper again. I still find watching it do its job weirdly relaxing.
I'm so happy to see you doing cnc stuff now, you have a solid foundation with your manual skills and expertise for learning it to a high degree of excellence.
I get told all the time when talking to other more experienced machinists about how to choose f/s that the data sheets for the tools you have are a great start for what to choose. The key though is to think about the machine and fixturing you are using. The machines the tool makers are using are big and rigid with fixturing as solid as it gets. You aren't going to be able to hit the same numbers they are so starting conservative is the smartest thing. You have probably been told this 100 times already, but it bears repeating, especially when you try something that should be good in theory, but isn't working for your setup. Thanks for the videos. Even when you are doing something I should already know how to do, I learn a little bit every time.
You are doing very well, Adam.
When you start writing in G-code, if you are still afraid of Z crashing your cutters after proving the program, turn on single block mode if your machine has it. This makes it so it optional stops after every line.
Then you press cycle start until you complete your z rapid down and then press cycle start again with finger on feed hold and let the machine go. If you don't crash, turn off single block and start and watch the chips.
Is there a difference b/t opt stop and single block? I run a Tsugami lathe at work and it has both options but I only ever use opt stop.
I can confirm this is the best way to do it! And also offsetting the Z axis above the part a few inches and then running the program will show you exactly what is happening and where. And always keep your hand on the feed hold
Very exciting, enjoying your learning experiences.
Thanks so much Adam for showing us this learning process. Really interesting to watch
Once you get the fixture plate aligned to the base, consider putting in a couple of dowel pins (in asymmetrical positions so there is only one way to assemble).
Hey Adam, congratulations on that beautiful part! But regarding the face mill and the finish it's leaving, I think looking into a shorter holder to increase rigidity and reduce deflection a bit might help...but the right speeds and feeds and inserts are important too.
Keep up the great work and content!
Im 27 and learning CNC a couple years ago was the best life choice ive ever made im always learning things that help me with every setup and i think im already becoming addicted to collecting tools lol.
A great free program for feeds and speeds is called FSwizard, You can set your workpiece material, tool material, size of cutter, number of flutes ect.... And it will spit out a good starting point for RPM and feederate
Another great video. A tip if you don’t know, start your contour and chamfer tool paths at one of the corners. That way you won’t have any witness marks from start and end of the tool path. Need to look into those fixture plates…nice.
It's kinda comforting for an ordinary guy to see a talented machinist having to learn new stuff like we do and trying to avoid mistakes. You're soaking it up quick, Adam.
The surface finish with the G&E shaper looks so much better, at least on camera anyway.
A fella at work showed me a super helpful app called 'FSWizard Pro' which in addition to having an encyclopedia of baseline feeds and speeds for any style and configuration of tool and cut depth/width, has calculators for center drill depth, drill sizes, etc. Comes in handy everyday for me.
Such a good app. The paid version is 100%worth it too.
Two tips i can give you is to try to lead in and lead out off of the work to get a good even cut, And mount that shell mill on a low profile holder. Itl vibrate alot less and you can run it at faster speed/feed.
It's coming around !!! you're doing a good job Adam and thank you for taking us along so we can learn as well....
Hey Adam, long term follower, first time commenter. I would just like to say that these videos on your learning process are probably some of the most interesting videos that you've made in a long time. I have spent a significant amount of time studying how to teach, as well as teaching people (Mostly older people) how to use technology. For most of them, learning this new skill that is often outside their normal comfort zone is both energy intensive and, more often than not, highly frustrating. But seeing you stick with it will no doubt be an inspiration to many of your fans who might want to get into CNC, but are put off by the high intitial learning curve.
I look forward to seeing you master this new tool! 👏
- Alex from Sweden
Love your content bud, I’m a wood guy so different party but I love all the guys commenting about too slow, etc., it’s different when you work and own the machines you’re running, much respect brother
Looking forward to vicariously learning with you. I’ll never own anything like your new beautiful shop! Thanks for your effort!
There's nothing else that makes you pucker up more than that first run of a tapping cycle... Always expect to hear that feared "THUNK, crunch, crunch, crunch..."
I absolutely enjoy watching the transition to cnc skills. Keep it up! Gives us middle age dogs some hope for transition ourselves.
Congratulations on the Milltronics CNC. I worked in a shop that had a Miltronics tool room cnc mill 20 years ago. It was a good machine.
Thank you for taking us along with you on your CNC learning 👍🏻
Doing great. As I was always told practice, practice, practice works wonders in the long run.
Crawl before you walk. Walk before run. It a totally different world.
That first side pass was nice, it took off a lot of meat, but it was really nice. The second pass had some squeal to it because the tool wasn't being loaded enough, with enough tool pressure.
It is fantastic that you are showing the learning process and expressing the need to for practice. Experience is key and the only way to get there is the way you are doing it. Watching you grow in your knowledge is really great!
You're doing great! A few tips, Never trust anyone elses program, Never get too comfortable but be comfortable. Like riding a motorcycle respect the asphalt. You will never get over being careful as manual machining is your first love but Im confident though you wont be as fast but you will be the best. You can also modify your g54 z offset as well.
I really appreciate your current speed while I watch your feed.
It's helping me justify buying my own machine and helping me understand what to expect.
Thank you.
Nice Machine👍I got no idea of scraping, but got some smartass comments on the CNC thing: I would recomend M01 (optional stop) before every toolchange. makes first runns safer and faster. You can leave it alone if it's cutting for like 30 minutes and it waits for you at the next toolchange. In my observation 99% of crashes happen because of wrong tool or part ofset... Also I would add a save retract level in Z of ca 2in, when drilling. If the tap is in a normal collet, it can brake loose. with saveretract, you got at least a chance to hit E-stop. For better finish on Cast Iron, sometimes the inserts for Toolsteel make the best finish (I don't know Walter so I may be wrong) I use coolant for castiron for better finish but also for better chip removal. But it only works if you got good flooding, so for filming maybe not....
Not sure the HP on that spindle or its torque curve, but we have had much better success running a slightly smaller facemill, and keeping it as short as possible.
Smaller diameter means more rpm for the same sfm.
If you play your cards right you can get a larger number of teeth per minute which means more material removed for the same width of cut.
I would say your largest issue is the length of that face mill.
Kennemetal makes some face mills that are integrated direclty into the machine taper. Doesn't get much more rigid than that.
Our workhorse facemill on our VM3 with the 15k spindle is a 1.25" 4 flute iirc for P, M, S materials.
And we use a shear hog for N materials.
Hey man you're doing awesome haters gonna hate lol. On your finish face mill pass try feeding only in one direction and rapiding from end to start each pass. It will look better and probably give you a better finish.
Absoultely! 'Always' in the climb cut for finishing.
I think you're going to master it. As with playing with it always remember you are worth more than that machine and it is at these times that you may try to stop something and I will tell you do not you're worth far more. I passed many many hours watching you on the manual and it is much harder. Where you came from and how you grew up makes all the difference in the world. I see you know to stay clear of the machine. Once again I think you're going to master this and this will give me many many hours of enjoyment. Best of luck and best of wishes Nick sincerely
Your doing a damn good job. Continue expanding YOUR business at YOUR pace 👍🏾 I've only been following you for about a year and I've seen nothing but quality, passion, and skill.
Another another note, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS look at your “distance to go” numbers when running a program for the first time or “proofing” as it’s commonly called
very cool the thing I like the most is how less messy it is than slinging chips all over my shop on my bridgeport. Im afraid im too old to learn CNC side of things but enjoying your journey.
Manual machining is why your channel thrives brother. Just sayin😬
CNC machines need, "operators" & not machinists.
I figure if the CNC stuff lets him automate small production runs, hole patterns for fixtures, etc., that actually frees more of his time up to focus on the content he wants to make.
A true machinist can operate a wide range of machine tools using various metrology tools and techniques. In today's word that
includes CNC, CAD/CAM and G-Coding which requires a great deal of knowledge in tooling, fixturing, speeds, feeds, materials, geometry, trigonometry, etc. If you can do all that you are truly a modern day machinist. Keep it up Adam, you're on the right
track...
Not true at all. His manual "machinist" experience serves him well to determine if he's doing things correctly or incorrectly. THe CNC is just another tool to extend his power and productvity. Yes, yes, he's not running throughput to it's limit like Titan Gilroy but he is taking advantage of the automation. His setup times will reduce more and more as time goes on, and running a small batch will be a breeze.
I like the new toys, but boy do I miss the shaper. Nice long videos with that rhythmic sound.
shaper?
Good job... Work and learn at whatever pace in comfortable for you. Don't let the comments distract you.... Keep up the good work, and enjoy the ride....!
It's pretty cool that you can do all that on the mill without having to spend time in Fusion 360
Great video, thanks for taking us along on your journey learning new things. If you stop moving forward you rust in place.
I've really enjoyed your channel for several years and have every confidence you will continue to grow and learn. I'm strictly a manual machine guy, so all the fancy CNC stuff just isn't my bag. I'll be looking for any manual stuff you put up but will pass on the CNC.
Respect dude. It is hard to move from manual/traditional machining to CNC. Keep up the practice, 'tis awesome.
I love how the closed captions says it’s [music] when the mill is running. I guess it must be “metal”
Heavy metal
Looks great, Adam. Thanks for sharing your CNC journey!
No crashes! You won! Keep up the good work, can only imagine what will be coming a year from now…
Gooood afternoon Dade City Florida! Hope everyone has a great day!
A master manual machinist has learned how to work with sight, sound and touch. They're like sculptors. As they turn the wheels they can feel the drag, hear the vibrations and see the results, and they can adjust on the fly as needed. Taking away all that tactile and temporal feedback requires you to work it all out in your head first, translate it to a foreign language and then step away and hope for the best. There's no direct opportunity to adjust for a cutter that might be a bit older, or a bit of extra deflection, or the material responding unexpectedly. I understand the need for speed in production, but that's a whole different skill set, and it satisfies a different part of the brain.
It is a lot more interesting watching you learn this and figure it out step by step, that if it was some pro that just zips through the whole think. I am not a machinist, but I started watching you shows long time ago because of the care you take are setting things up in the lathe getting them perfectly indicated, when I was young we had a lathe in our shop, and we never did anythong loke that we just put them in the 3 jaw and hope for the best, even though we had a 4 jaw
If you are learning this in industry, you will be alongside someone who does exactly that, zips through the whole thing in record time. You just have to lump it and try to keep up; a situation of 'You don't have to be a 'computer geek' to work here, but it helps'.
The learning curve on one of those CNC has to be high. I really enjoy seeing you jumping in and starting projects on it. Doubtful I'll ever have a CNC but enjoy seeing the technology and capabilities. Nice work.
I really like your attitude ....! You're doing great ...!
YOUR SHOP YOUR WAY ADAM
Exactly exactly 👍
37:00 I'm sure you probably know this. But a good practice for when this chatter is happening is to decrease your spindle speed 10%-30% but maintain your feed rate. You want to have enough tool pressure to keep that chatter from happening. There are other ways to avoid this, but that's a good start because you can just override the RPM on the fly at the control Awesome video! Glad you stepped into the world of CNC!
Good job Adam and thank you for explaining each step, not all of us have this machining experiance. Keep on practacing you will master it.
Just a helpful tip. If you profile outside select a corner to start. That way it dont leave a line. It may not always leave a line but a good habit to get into.
A great peice of equipment. Once you master it it will give very acurat & repetative results. Worth the money & time to set it up.
Proud of you Adam.
my only rec is that you put your all your endmills in solid holders. beautiful cuts .
Adam, you should create a poster for yourself, with all the pages and sub-pages, so that you easier learn the structure of the software.
Also, you should try to actively memorize what you learn. Currently, after you looked something up and achieved the step, you directly go to the next step. This will clear that new information instantly. Better wait a moment, take a step back, and try to repeat in your head, what you just learned. And only then proceed with the next step.
Additionally, I wish you could create little video lessons for us as viewers. Just a few minutes, explaining one specific topic. Try to rehearse before, and then explain the interesting detail by heart (without looking it up again). Also add _why_ the detail is done that way. Benefit: This will help yourself to learn.
I'm one of those computer guys. You are the guys I"m really interested in. You will forget more about machining then I will ever learn. However, we're trying to make those computer things easy to use so guys like you can use them and make the stuff you do be easier and more complicated then ever before. I love watching your learning. It is following exactly to what I am doing with 3-D printing. I've already become an expert in Autodesk stuff so its the transforming it into code a machine understands is quite the learning curve. You are coming along just fine. Keep going and stop listening to the trolls. You are doing every step I had to and I've been spending the last two COVID years learning. Thanks Abom79. Grandpa/pa would be more then proud (I still love that photo. You were what, 12?, when that was taken).
Never thought I'd see the day Adam went CNC. Congrats!