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Thread: CNC Webinar?

  1. #1
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    CNC Webinar?

    Anyone every thought of or interested in an online webinar for CNC? I would be quite interested (and willing to pay for) an online webinar from Gary C or maybe we could persuade Rodger or Keith to offer some online sign webinars. I have looked at going to the training sessions, but by the time I get to many it seems to run me something like $3k or more. In my real job I attend webinars frequently. Two of my professional associations are making this into big business for them. It is easy with technology today. Obviously it would need to be machine agnostic. We seem to have WinCNC guys here for the most part. My area of interest is mainly the finer details of WinCNC. Speak up if interested so possible presenters can see an opportunity.

  2. #2
    Id be game depending on content and cost. There isnt really a lot of quality content out there between the web and youtube for wood cnc routers. Machine shop stuff you can find miles of highly detailed quality content but there seems to be a void in the wood side. Probably because any of the heavy hitters in the wood world are too busy in their shops trying to pay the bills to take the time to become a content creator.

  3. #3
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    I agree with Mark. The content would matter and would need to be something I'm either already doing and want to go higher, or something I want to learn to do to add to my bag of tricks. I'm already signed up for Rodger's training this November for exactly that reason. That said, there is growing interest in CNC even at the hobbyist level, so I think there might be a good case for even introductory type webinars that are low cost to show folks the possibilities.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  4. #4
    I'd like to think there's a lot of free content already --- there's the entire Shapeoko wiki, which should cover things from a hobbyist perspective pretty well, there's the "Guerrilla guide to CNC machining, mold making, and resin casting", and most of the software vendors have tutorials and so forth.

  5. #5
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    I would be depending on cost & content. I would love to go to some of the seminars that Roger, Keith, Gary, and Michael M put on, I just can’t justify the cost as a hobbyist.
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  6. #6
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    I'd be interested as well...I never seem to come across any that are close to me, so the travel and lodging ends up costing more than the classes.

  7. #7
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    I agree with Mark that there is lots of good information for steel guys, but woodworkers are left to find it on forums or something else. One can find the information online, but one tends to have to go thru a lot of posts of guys like me that go waaaaayyyy off topic.

    I know we are a frugal bunch, so I think the next question might be how much might you consider reasonable? Most webinars I attend are typically an hour or two max, so you have to break them down into sessions along same lines as the typical seminar itineraries you might see. At the end of the sessions you typically get a copy of the notes from the seminar (power point print out), and sometimes there is access to the webinar. Ones I attend tend to be $200+. Keep in mind when this is done as a seminar at a shop there are usually sponsors involved to keep the per person cost down. So if that were the concept would you pay:

    A. $30 - $50 per session
    B. $50 - $100 per session
    C. $150 + per session

  8. #8
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    Mozaik charges $75/hour for a private session. I'd prefer to keep it in that range, but I'd go higher for the right content.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Brad Shipton View Post
    A. $30 - $50 per session
    B. $50 - $100 per session
    C. $150 + per session
    Id love to be in the 30-50 column but that doesnt even pay for an hour of someones time (knowingly there would hopefully be multiple attendees). The 50-100 would be a sweet spot. The 150+ would still be fine but if you got too far into the + like the numbers you mention for what you attend regularly it would have to be something that really rocked the casbah.

  10. #10
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    If you check with the shopbot forum they offer some nice free training about once a month and you can download the old ones from the Shopbot site.

  11. #11
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    Jerome, I am doing fine with my machine. I am interested in some finer details one can pick up from those with vast amounts of experience tinkering with the inner workings of the machine. One tends to learn things you might never think of when attending or listening to a presentation. When searching online for help one is typically looking for an answer to a specific problem whereas in a class you get the benefit of someone speaking with a much greater experience level. Presenters typically share all sorts of experiences and those spark new ideas that are helpful.

    Anyway, it does not seem overly feasible for the entry level gang. To develop suitable presentation material takes a lot of up front work and a few people willing to pay $50 or so per hour is not going to cover even the most basic costs. Maybe if you could get up to 100 or more people it might work, but I am not sure that will happen.
    Last edited by Brad Shipton; 07-27-2018 at 7:57 PM.

  12. #12
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    TJ at Shopbot is going to have a training session on 2 sided machining on Tuesday the 31 he will post more on Lets Talk Shopbot forum

  13. #13
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    Thanks Jerome. I am confident with flipping my stock and using indexes. I do not use vectric for anything but 3D sign stuff, so the focus of those seminars are not all that interesting to me. I am interested in the WinCNC and gcode training so I can do things at the machine. I could read the manual, but I never seem to get around to that, and a webinar would be a good place to start.
    Last edited by Brad Shipton; 07-28-2018 at 3:41 PM.

  14. #14
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    Brad...
    A little late to the party here as I was in Georgia doing a few days of training. I have spoken to the guys at WinCNC about this in the past and will mention it again this week. I've developed about a days worth of WinCNC classes that I currently give online based on general knowledge "need to know" and their "most frequent" tech issues. The current inventory of "factory checked and approved" classes are:

    WinCNC Screenset Operation, A to Z
    WinCNC Gcode and Macros
    WinCNC Machine Tuning
    WinCNC Screen Modification

    All but the tuning can and have been presented online. Most are a couple+ hours in the $100-150 range. What are the areas that you as users are interested in?
    Gary Campbell
    CNC Replacement & Upgrade Controllers
    Custom 9012 Centroid ATC

  15. #15
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    To be honest, I do not have a specific need and was looking for general ideas how to improve the operation and understand the settings. I have had to adjust my acceleration and rapid speeds a few times, but beyond that when I open the .ini file it is largely a mystery. Recently I was looking at changing my warmup button to include travel paths in all directions in addition to spindle warmup, but I didn't quite know where to start. That got me to thinking about the training again.

    I think aspects of all those factory approved WinCNC classes would be of interest to me, but a general "what can you do better" type starter class would be best. For gcoding, I think it would be valuable to be able to write more gcode at the machine so I do not always run back and forth to the computer to fix mistakes. I can understand much of the coding when I read it, but I never seem to write my own. I know I could figure it out, but I never seem to take the time.

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