Learning NX Just Starting

[plastikdreams]

I'm starting to learn NX at work, kinda doing this of the side. One of the programmers has offered to help me out but I want to learn basics before I start asking questions. I have been using MasterCAM x2 since 2011 so I'm not completely cad illiterate.

Basically I'm just asking for some pointers. I can make shapes and extrude/cut but I can't figure out how to make a tool path.

 

[drcoelho]

There is an excellent book for NX CAD "Siemens NX 2021 for Designers" by Sam Tickoo. I found that this book gave me everything I needed for the CAD side of things. For the CAM, I am not aware of any good books. I chose to take a community college course which pretty much got me up to speed. There are lots of training videos but they cost $$. Also, much like CAD, I found that NX had a pretty steep initial learning curve but once the basics were understood it has become very intuitive. That being said, lots of hands on experience with generating tool paths and seeing the results is invaluable. The simulation tools in NX are very strong and very helpful in learning how to use the various CAM operations.

 

[rootsandstones]

I'm starting to learn NX at work, kinda doing this of the side. One of the programmers has offered to help me out but I want to learn basics before I start asking questions. I have been using MasterCAM x2 since 2011 so I'm not completely cad illiterate.

Basically I'm just asking for some pointers. I can make shapes and extrude/cut but I can't figure out how to make a tool path.

There is a builtin tutorial for manufacturing, which I used to understand the basics. It's called day one or something similar.

 

[empower]

there's also a ton of videos on youtube that go over every step of basic cam to advanced stuff.

 

[plastikdreams]

Ok thanks guys, my next step was to look at youtube. I have resources in house, I just want to get a hold of the basics first. There's definitely a learning curve but it doesn't seem to be that steep...we'll find out eh

 

[empower]

Ok thanks guys, my next step was to look at youtube. I have resources in house, I just want to get a hold of the basics first. There's definitely a learning curve but it doesn't seem to be that steep...we'll find out eh

the workflow is quite different from most other cam systems, but in a good way.

for example: you shouldnt just start programming inside the actual model file, instead - when you hit new inside nx, select 'reference existing part' as shown below


then you can use 'wave link body' to create a copy of the model inside your programming file - which will auto update if there are any changes made to the original model.


other cool thing is importing/using stock model from 1st op into 2nd op. typically its recommended to start a new file for 2nd op, then when selecting stock for 2nd op, you can reference the 1st op file and it'll automatically position the stock correctly to the part, regardless of how you move/position the part inside the new file.

 

[Areo Defense]

Yes there are a lot of how to/tips and tricks videos out there but I highly recommend an actual training series so you learn how to do various things and not struggle with getting up to speed. There will still be some gaps, as there are a lot of options to investigate, but that will come with time. Also, NX has really good help files that cover setups and toolpathing (internet required) and a command finder in the tool bar. They also have some cam and cad examples in the sidebar with some day-one examples too.

I agree with Empower, it can be different but in a very good way; more intuitive and elegant in many ways, especially given how powerful it is. I trained and used mastercam for a while and I thought it was more difficult to learn. IMO this seems because mastercam's methodology is more complicated to achieve the same results.

As for using part references, I use a mix of with and some without. If you work from a customer's dumb solid that has zero parameters, you might consider simply importing a model and program, especially if the part is relatively small-ish. You will have less files to keep track of.

If you need to address tool holder clearance in your operations, make sure to import exact holder models into your library and program with complete confidence of zero collisions.

What type of work/parts will you be programming? 3d mold and die or more prismatic parts? Are your part set-ups complicated or simple?