Kcress, sorry to ask: What is CNC?
CNC = "Computer Numeric Control". It's basically a way of controlling a device from a computer. Typically you use a CAD (Computer Aided Design) program to draw something on the computer, and then go through some process (it varies depending on what you want to do) which results in a file you can send to a CNC device (typically a router, on an X,Y,Z table, that describes where in space to move the router, and how fast the spindle ought to be rotating etc.). It's all numbers, hence the acronym.
Beware, these things are addictive. I now have 3 of them...
- A PCB "engraving" machine that starts off with a sheet of copper-clad FR4, and "rubs out" the copper, leaving behind a circuit to which you can attach components. It's accurate down to about 6/1000 of an inch - which is to say it can create "wires" only 6/1000 of an inch wide connecting pins on ICs. I use it a lot
- A traditional CNC machine made by K2 - see
http://k2cnc.com. This is actually still awaiting software to use it fully. I intend to use it when I get around to making housings for my reef controller.
- A Thing-o-matic from
http://makerbot.com/ which allows me to "print" in plastic, making a 3D object. This is an additive CNC machine (it deposit plastic, one layer after another, to form the model) whereas the other two are subtractive CNC machines (they route away material from a solid block, leaving behind the desired model).
If someone says "CNC machine" without any qualification, they're almost always talking about a router on an X,Y,Z table, so it's a subtractive device.
Hope that clears things up
Simon
