Was dead set against CAM software for 15 years. Finally tried Fusion 360 last month.

Old school guy. Hand wrote every line of G-code for lathes and mills since the 90s. Thought CAM was cheating. Then my shop got a 5-axis part with crazy contours. Took me 4 hours to manually program it. Still had errors. My apprentice set it up in Fusion in 20 minutes. Ran perfect first time. Felt stupid honestly. Now I mix both. Anyone else take forever to switch over?

2 comments

2 Comments

ben2061mo ago

Man, I feel that. I spent years writing G-code by hand too, and it took me forever to even look at CAM software. When I finally tried it for a tricky 3D contour on a mill, I just sat there staring at the screen for like 20 minutes going "no way that's gonna work." Then it cut perfect and I felt like I wasted so much of my own time being stubborn. It's humbling for sure, but you're not alone in making that switch way later than you should have.

lisa51mo ago

Oh, come on now. I gotta push back a little - hand writing G-code teaches you the machine's soul in a way CAM never will, and those perfect toolpaths still need someone who knows what they're doing to check them.