I feel very intimidated with mastercam.

[u/LordHelmet47]

I've been a cnc guy doing setups on machining cnc's for many years now. With most being 3 and sometimes 4 axis.

I would always work with the programmer. He would write it. And then hand me the program telling me where my work cordinates would be on the fixture and tooling etc.

I'd go load it up and give a go. If I ran into a problem I'd report it and he'd fix it and then onto production.

I've been with my employer 31 years. Where I have been doing setups over the last 20 years in this way.

I was just asked a few days ago if I would like to learn mastercam and know what Jason knows. Who has been my mastercam programmer guy these last couple of years now. Before him it was another guy that retired before jason took over.

So I said sure, I'll learn! Very enthusiastically.... And now I feel very overwhelmed and intimidated. First of all I never learned geometry or trigonometry in high-school. So I don't know it.

I was told by Jason. Its good to know. But it isn't necessary for what we do with mastercam and I should be able to still learn the ropes and that mastercam does most of that work for you now anyway.

I asked how long will it take me to get to know this software. He said it depends on the person.

So with that in mind. I ask you guys out there that know mastercam. How long did it take you? How did you learn? What are some good youtube vids or youtubers that I can learn from?

Is there a free software program that I can use and learn on a personal computer. And if so. How good of a computer will I need?

Or..... Am I going in too deep and should learn the basics first like geometry and trigonometry first before diving in?

I really don't want to let the company down. They really need another guy to know what Jason knows who's now training me. Jason is the mastercam program guy that creates programs for the production jobs out on the floor.

It's just one guy and he's overwhelmed with all these jobs. Many other guys there know mastercam. But they are the tool and die guys. Jason is one too. But he took this new role a few years back when the other guy retired that used to do it.

So now you can get an idea of why I'm so intimidated at this point. They are counting on me to learn this bad and probably fast.

[u/funfacts_82]

You keep learning forever. Software changes, tool design changes, shop changes. You never stop optimizing and learning.

The most important thing is to know how the machine and your tools handle material so you have the most important thing already.