Hi all!
At my job I was asked if I can do some cnc milling work with a professional machine my boss purchased second hand.
It uses Mach 3 software for controlling the machine, but I don’t know any “professional” software for CNC, only know ESTLCam (and used briefly Aspire).
They are mechanichal pieces out of copper bars. Some of them are 6 meters long, so good time for learning about tiling I suppose…
EDIT:
I forgot to ask!
Any advice about endmills, feed speed, rpm’s etc for working with copper metal?
Mach 3 is the machine controller, so fills the role that Repetier Host does in some folks’ workflow, or loading the file from an SD card using Marlin firmware on a display. You’ll still need something to generate the gcode, unless that’s already been done for the specific jobs.
Some machines only support specific versions, or a subset of the gcode “standard” so it may be worthwhile getting your hands on the documentation for that specific machine in order to understand it’s gcode capabilities and limitations. Once you know what “flavor” of gcode you need, then you can find CAM software that can generate code to the specification you need. Many CAM packages support “post processors” that can take the gcode they natively generate and “translate” it to the dialect your machine will accept.
Sorry, I can’t help any with tooling or feeds-n-speeds recommendations for copper.
Thanks for your quick reply
I know what Mach 3 is and have worked with it a little for another machine I have access at my job. I want to know about software for creating the g-code other than estl-cam.
For the appearance of the machine i think it’s a custom made one, not commercial.
It has been used by a “real cnc boy” for doing that same work on copper, but now he is now in bad relations with the company and i can’t ask him.
Stupid question: why do you need a different software if Estlcam works fine? 
There are Carveco, Aspire etc, but in the end they do the same thing: Create G-Code.
Not stupid at all! Want to know if there is “something more”. That’s all
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