How did you get started?

[RaiderX]

5th generation machinist (traced back to the early 1800's using ancestry.com). Machining is in my blood!

 

WOW (ancestry.com) never heard of that cam system. lol. Do you have kids? is this run going to continue. that is very impressive

[Brian B 74]

my kids are both girls. i hope they don't follow in my foot steps.

[Jayson Kramer]

for me late 80's started as a apprentice Wax investment tool maker. I actually started learning Mastercam back then but it was really Quick Silver at the time as my brother inlaw that got me into the industry had just bought it. So I started playing and really did not get a chance to program my first CNC till a year or so later. but I was some what ready. so this about 25+ years later and did all kinds of mold making to aerospace , medical and more.

 

I have have had 5 class days in all the years I have been using. first class was for version 5.0 , 1 day mill and one day lathe.

I wish they had classes like I teach back then from the Fast Track to CNC to Cadcam . I have been teaching MC for the schools for about 12 years now. not counting onsite or at my home office.

 

Guess what I have used all that time to program with, go ahead take a guess.. lol

[Mjölnir]

While reading another thread, I thought it would be interesting to see how some of you started programming.

I learned the trade in the U.S. Navy, and was part of the first shipboard trials of CNC machines. The first CAD/CAM software I used was called Techsoft and it was installed on a 386DX around 1991-1992. I would have to say we've come a long way.

 

I started my Pattern Maker apprenticeship in 1980. Prior to that was a part time grunt in a tool and die shop for a year while still in high school. Started CNC machining (foundry patterns) and using CAD/CAM in 1989. The first CAD/CAM software I used was Acu-Carv by Olmsted Engineering on a 386DX / 16MHz / 4MB ram / 30MB HDD with dual monitors. Started using Mastercam v3.21 in 1992. Used both for the next decade and Mastercam exclusively since.

[Aeroguy]

Mine is kind of funny. I was working at a place that made die cast moulds in the late 90s, and the programmer at the time was a complete moron. So one day the boss walks out and fires him on the spot. He looks around and I'm the first guy he sees, so he tells me I'm the new programmer, and training starts tomorrow. We were using Mastercam v7 or something at the time, and he hated it, so he bought Powermill instead.

It was totally out of blue. I hadn't even asked about programming before. Guess I got lucky.... sort of

[bet338]

Started in Sept 1978 learning to setup & run Brown & Sharpe automatic screw machines. In 1981 I started running a Mori Seiki SL1 lathe. Before long I was setting up, running and doing a little pencil programming on the Mori’s, Citizen’s And Okuma’s. In 1984 -1990 I move to the hand mill department learning all I could to become a mill machinist and possible tool maker. 1990-1998 I got into CNC milling, setting up & running Mazak’s, Hurco’s & twin pallet Monarch’s with 4^th axis. In 1999 my boss asked if I wanted to learn to program CNC mills with Smartcam instead of the pencil I had been using, I said sure why not. In 2007 we got our seat of Mastercam mainly for the new 5^th axis the company bought. Been using it ever since. Still use Smartcam for Strippit jobs & some turning.

[Bob W.]

I have never worked in a machine shop other than my own. I bought a manual lathe and mill (Clausing and Bridgeport) as a hobby during my previous career and I really enjoyed making things. I was fascinated by it and I really studied the techniques. When attending Oregon State University I was exposed to Mastercam and CNC milling as part of the Formula SAE racing program, an extra curricular activity for the engineering students. There was no formal training in either but I really enjoyed the challenge and again, I studied the techniques and worked at it.

 

When I started Wolcott Design in 2005 I was primarily doing contract engineering and I added CNC machining to make my company a more complete solution. My first CNC was a Haas Mini Mill purchased in 2006 and I started making parts right away. I had to call Selway to figure out how to load a program into the machine and I had to learn Mastercam at the same time, completely on my own. This was all with a wife in grad school and two small children. Through the all-nighters and 60-70 hour weeks I figured out how to get it done the hard way. Things like making fully surfaced laptop computer skins with having never programmed a level 3 part in Mastercam. I now have a Makino horizontal mill with a Koma rotary table, a Haas VM3 with a trunnion, Makino PS95, and three employees.

 

Things are going very well and I have worked my @ss off to get to where I'm at. My pet peeve is when I hear people say they just need an opportunity or a chance to program, or they would work on Mastercam at home but their computer isn't good enough, or 'someday' they would like to start a shop of their own. When exactly is 'someday' anyways?. These are usually the same folks that can't work on Mastercam at home because their computer isn't good enough or they are always too busy drinking with their buddies. Solution... invest in yourself and buy a capable computer, stop drinking with your buddies, make sure that when the opportunity actually does present itself you are ready to grab the bull by the horns.

[taperlength]

I was working a desk job at a company that had a small prototype shop. The toolmakers were enjoying their work a lot more than I was, so I decided to change career paths. I started at the bottom as an operator at a small shop. The supervisor was a programmer/machinist on mills and lathes and that is what I wanted to be too. So several night classes and a few jobs later, I was programming and setting up my own jobs. I've punched paper tape, pencil programmed, Mazatrolled, ____CAMed, (fill in the blank) and programmed CMMs. Would not have traded it for any other job, except maybe lead singer for a band :-)

[GnoGueyJose]

Started sweeping floors, the lead-man in one department saw me with a broom and asked me a few questions, took the broom from me and said "brooms are for dumb $#!+$, come with me". He took me over to a Bridgeport. They had some castings (actually there were about 1,000 in there if I recall) that needed the flash removed. He showed me how to turn it off first, how to change tools, how to tell when a tool was dull and said see you tomorrow. I brought the box back to him 4 days later and said what's next? He introduced me to a Hardinge Chucker and the rest is history.

[drafting3]

I started drawing 3D modeling with AutoCAD at age 16, when I spent half my school day at a vocational school.

 

From there I moved into Architecture, doing 3D rendered presentation drawings and blueprints. After 13 years I decided I hated it.

 

So, I returned to school for a degree in Mechanical Engineering, which I'm still pursuing.

 

The company I work for now saw my resume' on the school's website and called me in for an interview. At this point I had zero experience with CAM, but they really wanted someone good with CAD and they liked my style. Plus, I basically told them I can learn any CAD (or CAM) system almost naturally. They put me on a 90 day probationary period, and within 2 weeks I had surpassed everyone else in the shop with MasterCAM proficiency.

 

(I'm kind of a natural when it comes to math, geometry, computers, and problem solving... and those are basically the fundamentals of CAM and CNC machining... from what I can tell)

 

 

There's always something else to learn in MasterCAM, but I think the bulk of my learning is based around the actual machining process. (which tool is best, which path is best, how should I approach the piece, which fixture/holding method is best... etc...)

 

Right now i'm focusing on making my programs as efficient as possible, and learning how to foresee wasted time before I start cutting.