My high school had a CNC mill buried in the corner of the shop which i dug out and hooked up to a computer (only a 486 could run it). As it turns out, the school bought the thing in 1992 and i was the first person to ever figure out how to use it because many of the pieces to it were still sealed in the box. It was a G-code interpreter so it definitely took some learning to get it to work.

Sorta the same with my HS. They have 3 CNC lathes, 1 wood, 1 metal, and they got a brand new metal lathe while I attended. None ever got used. At that time, metal was not my thing and I could do the same stuff by hand on the wood lathe so I never bothered.

sounds like you put a lot of work into the one at your school.

Dont know nothing about what you did but it is cool

It'* far easier to design in 3D now than ever. You actually start in 2D with a workplane. Think of it as a blank sheet. You make your profile, then extrude it into a solid. Then you can put more 2D workplanes on different sides of the solid. You can even use a 2D cad file as a profile.

It'* neat, as many companies that sell mechanical parts now provide 3D or 2D downloads of them. So if you're building a complicated machine, many of the components are done for you. Springs, screws, common mounts and hardware, some specialty stuff.

Then you can animate it like he did. It'* just a timing function. You tell it which part moves at what time, and in what axis.

The software out there these days is VERY powerful. I can make a complicated 3D box, and the software will convert it into sheetmetal for me and lay it flat. Imagine the CAI possibilities.

<in his best fuddy-duddy/Willwren voice:> Kids these days... When I was your age, I had to walk 10 miles in 3 feet of snow to school!!!

*RUNS*

I dont think he is that old.

I doing cad stuff.