Proposal

A new CNC forum has been discussed, bantered and messaged about. I am starting to get multiple messages regarding this subject, and I love them! But I just thought perhaps it would be best to put the idea out here, in open forum format so we can collaborate on the idea and discuss how best to proceed, and to have all suggestions in one area.

 

Firstly, I love the idea, we want this to happen, and we will make it happen, but we want to jump in correctly and good.

We already have a great start to the CNC Gallery as suggested by @honesttjohn and he has populated that gallery with a wonderful start of images to get us kicked off in the right direction.

http://thepatriotwoodworker.com/gallery/category/22-cnc/

 

Questions

So, here are a couple questions we have:

• The primary name of the CNC forum? Simply, CNC Forum?
• Should we have sub-categories within the forum?

 

Your feedback

Please ask questions here, submit your ideas for a successful CNC Forum, all ideas are welcome, no matter how crazy they are, we welcome all!

 

Thank you woodworkers for your feedback on this very important matter.

I'd like to remind everyone that this is your forums, the more participation the better.

I like it. I do not know much about CNC but would like to learn more. Maybe have a sub-topic dedicated strictly to programing/software is the only input I have.

Just plain old CNC would be all that's needed. Someday I'd like to move into that aspect, but I doubt I'll ever be willing to commit time to the software part. Still, it's interesting to see what folks do with them.

''CNCing'' for the main body forum name..

include sub-forums for projects, machine builds, software, hardware, methods and etc...

 

 

Edited June 23, 20178 yr by Stick486

I think too many categories would be detrimental to participation just as one single forum may not be a good play, either.  Maybe one subforum for builds and anything related to a build, even if it's a turnkey machine - fixtures, clamping, dust collection, electronics, etc. -, and one for projects, end results, using the CNC, and generally pieces/parts that are mostly CNC generated - carvings, engineered pieces, methodology, questions about procedures, toolpaths, cutting feeds/speeds, how you did what you did, etc.

 

Does that make sense?

 

David

One CNC category in the forum should do it to start and be ok for quite a while.  We already have the gallery for pics and projects.  Don't over complicate it.  Different threads for different topics in it.

 

Hi David - - welcome.

 

We gotta go after MT Stringer and Jay next.

Thanks, John!  For Mike and Jay - go get 'em! 

Good to see you here ,David,

Herb

Great idea...there are some recently joined and talented CNC folks on here, you just got to get them out of the clothest with some of their pictures. Some really impressive stuff.

 

@difalkner

 

Maybe we can get David to do some tutorials for us. He already has his own YouTube channel and his videos are top notch. It would fit right into the How-To forum we discussed last week.

5 hours ago, honesttjohn said:

We already have the gallery for pics and projects.  

 

When I suggested that I didn't realize there was already a CNC gallery, so I agree with John.

I would also recommend we create a files category for CNC at http://thepatriotwoodworker.com/files/

so we can upload CNC files and share with others?

That's kind of hard to do John unless everybody has the same software and operating system, which they don't.  They are not all interchangeable.  We have always have just communicated amongst ourselves and if we can send a file that we want to share to someone, we do it.  It's mostly what we're doing and how we do it.  Usually plenty of pics of finished stuff.  Also, a lot of these files have been purchased by individuals, while others are original work.  Some people don't even consider it woodworking and shun us altogether. I suggest just starting a CNC Forum and let it take it's own course.  IMO 

If you visit the Neanderthal Haven over at Sawmill Creek some of those guys don't consider using a table saw or jointer or miter saw to be woodworking... it's all relative.  To me if I have produced a good piece, made of wood, then the tools I used are irrelevant.

 

Some people want guitar sides bent by hand using a hot pipe but most Luthiers use some sort of side bending setup with silicone heat blanket and forms.  To me as long as the guitar sounds good I don't care how the Luthier bent the sides.  Same deal...

 

My $0.02

51 minutes ago, honesttjohn said:

They are not all interchangeable.  We have always have just communicated amongst ourselves and if we can send a file that we want to share to someone, we do it.

Wouldn't some folks have the same operating system as others though? If a design is created, that can be shared among others, it would be a good thing I feel to upload it to the general community. Remember, since we are an open source community here, being as everything is shareable, there may be others lurking who could download your contributed files from our Files Directory.

I like the idea of being an open community, and contributing files in the open for all to enjoy and benefit.

 

How does the CNC community feel about sharing original work, or in your case, file designs? Our community was founded on the principles of "Open Source". Does the general CNC community feel the same way? Thanks!

Open Desk I stumbled on months ago, and the website impressed me. As commented above, I love Open Source projects, and it looks like the Open Desk community shares their plans to all. There files from what they say can be opened in any CAD, CAM software. Since I don't know much about CNC, would this be an example of how our CNC community could be? Would we be able to display files that we created for free download?

 

See them at https://www.opendesk.cc/

They hold the Creative Commons license, "Open Source" which is a shareable license. https://creativecommons.org/

 

How do our new CNC members feel about sharing your work with others?

John

 

David Falkner can enlighten you pretty much on all the aspects of what you're asking.  He's a borderline nerd too (in a good way).  

 

Don't know how the above post got repeated

6 minutes ago, honesttjohn said:

He's a borderline nerd too (in a good way).

Thanks John,

I want to say thanks also for the wonderful feedback you guys are giving us on this subject. We are very excited to bring the CNC forum to life. I feel we'll have a home for you guys before the new work week! Thanks again!

5 hours ago, honesttjohn said:

John

 

David Falkner can enlighten you pretty much on all the aspects of what you're asking.  He's a borderline nerd too (in a good way).  

 

Don't know how the above post got repeated

LOL!  I'm a geek, HJ, not a nerd. 

 

Sidebar - a few years ago my IT Engineer and I were in a meeting with the CEO, CTO, and CFO of a decent size company and we were presenting a solid IT solution for them.  Usually the Engineer takes off on the technical points but we were both chiming in.  So the CEO smiled and asked if I was a nerd.  Without hesitation I told him a geek has two pens in his pocket, like me, and a nerd has three or more.  All eyes slowly glanced around the room to see my Engineer had three pens and so did their CTO.  It took a minute but everybody started laughing.  We got the sale and with just a simple lighthearted moment broke down the barriers they tried to present.

 

The raw G-code can easily be shared and used in most controller software packages, John, but it will be problematic at best.  There will be some editing required between machines and likely between some software setups but the end user who chooses to download a file should be prepared to make those modifications, sort of a caveat emptor situation. 

 

Some examples would be feeds and speeds for particular bits; some machines are very rigid and fairly powerful so there may be cuts one machine can take that a smaller and lighter machine can't do without tearing something up.  That user would have to review the feeds/speeds and make changes to fit their machine but they would also have to be able to edit the raw G-code (btw, a program I created and ran a month ago had 86,000 lines of code).  Another issue would be machine travel; if the person supplying the code is running on a machine that has 36" of X travel and I'm trying to run that piece on our machine with 26" of X travel then some adjustments may have to be made or the machine will crash into the limits.  So that disclaimer should be well posted and very visible.  All in all I'd say posting the raw G-code would be more of an issue and problem than the value it would bring.

 

One issue that will come up is that folks using the Vectric line of software don't generally use the raw G-code, and for those of us who do run the raw G-code, the Vectric output can't be run without their software.  I have talked to one gentleman who told me that VCarve Pro and Aspire will export raw G-code but since I don't have the software I can't verify that.  Folks with Vectric software can share files easily enough and those running Fusion 360 or other CAD programs can export the file and upload that.  We can then import the file and make the necessary CAM changes to fit our specific machines.  That way the raw G-code can be generated by our own software to our own machine's needs.

 

Does that help, make sense?  There's a lot more that can be said on this but suffice it to say that simply posting files may not be a simple and easy as it sounds though it is a grand idea.

 

David

That's what I meant ----- what he said!!!

2 hours ago, difalkner said:

There's a lot more that can be said on this but suffice it to say that simply posting files may not be a simple and easy as it sounds though it is a grand idea.

OK! I get it! Errr, I think. This is all new territory for me, but what you said makes complete sense, and what John said meshes as well.

That being said, just a quick googling of CNC Shared Files I get a ton of hits with forums and website sharing files. Just what are they sharing that folks can benefit from?

Thanks guys, have patience with me, like I said, this new.

 

Keep in mind, I am really hoping we can do something with file sharing, I have been wanting folks to jump in to our files directory and upload and download files and plans, but nobody has taken the bait yet. It's kind of dead over there, I guess I was just hoping we could put it to use finally. I spent of ton of time and treasure getting it up and running, I was hopeful we may finally get a group of folks who may utilize it!