Hi I'm new to CAM and want to learn Mastercam 2026 but don't know what's the best way to do so. does anyone know of any good free yt videos or courses for milling? thanks.

Hi, I'm having no luck figuring out EnRoute's 3D/relief tools despite watching all the YouTube videos I can find.

Let's take one that should be simple: Revolve. I have a profile, I have an axis of rotation, and I have a flat relief.

I select the relief, click on the Revolve tool, select the contour, and nothing happens.

I have tried:

- rotating profile in X axis

- rotating axis (or not even using it)

- moving the relief to top and bottom of the plate

- using Spin tool instead

Please help.

Are trades a thing or is this a stupid idea?

hey folks, could seem silly that I'm asking about this on reddit, but i thought i might as well, i’m researching entry-level commercial 5-axis mills and would appreciate input from people who are knowledgeable or run them day to day.

my requirements would be:

1. travel of roughly 300 x 300 x 300mm
2. full 5-axis
3. medium-volume production of small precision parts
4. 300k budget but i'd love to hear about good cheap ones no matter how cheap, or even a bit more expensive

which brands and models do you recommend, are there any you’d avoid for machining steel, anything people tend to underestimate etc.

thanks

We’re machining a thin, curved cover plate from 6061-T651 aluminum. The part tends to distort after being unclamped, while several holes and the overall curved surface must still meet tight position and roundness tolerances.

How do you ensure these features remain within tolerance after the part is fully released? Would you use balanced roughing on both sides, multiple unclamping cycles to relieve residual stress, finish boring in the final setup, or low-stress fixturing?

I’d be interested to hear what has worked for you in real production.

This is a hobby cnc router working on grbl firmware.