Our assignment on the mill we had to make a widget in the program Inventor. This was a little difficult at times but I figured out how to do it. It turned out to be a lot easier than I thought it was. Using the mill itself was very simple.
How TO Complete
I used the inventor to get started on the widget. It didn't take to long to make in inventor. The difficult part about this project was we had to learn a new program which was Fusion 360. This is like a more complicated inventor in a way. I uploaded my file to Fusion 360 and then I had to generate tool paths so the mill would be able to cut it out on the machine. I had to do a pocket tool path and a clearing tool path. To do this you click on generate tool path and you will click on the inside holes of the widget that will be the pocket tool path. The second tool path will be a clearing tool path and you will click on the outside of the widget top and bottom. It will then generate the tool paths. You will also want to make sure your x,y, and z are correct for your mill. I then went over to the mill and stuck in my flash drive. I copied the g-code from the usb to the computer. I then moved the bit to the bottom left corner of my foam. I zeroed the x, y, and z and then I pressed start.
Summary
This was a good way to get to learn how to use the mill and the new program Fusion 360. It was fun to get to use the mill. It isn't very hard to use at all and I am glad I gained the knowledge to use it. The mill is great for cutting out small and precise objects which is beneficial for making parts or prototypes.