03-14-2012, 09:53 AM
That's where the CAM part kicks in. You can draw or model your project, but to generate the code that CNC machines use to create the actual part, you need CAM to import the model file so tool paths can be generated. The control of the CNC machine reads the code to move and cut according to the model file parameters. Otherwise, the old-school way was to use a piece of software and a drawing to create the code. It can still be done that way, but some feature are pretty awkward to program manually. I don't know of a economy version of CAM right off my head. I have gotten away from CNC machining, and don't use it in my shop.