Lifting the veil on a CAD/CAM Academy that has gained much support (from likes of Kennametal, Haas Automation)— and it’s as good as you thought it might be.
When passion for manufacturing and learning is in the front and the attitude for “getting things done” are rooted deep, no surprise then that the jungle drums have been beating about Titans of CNC— Academy for a while now.
Founded by Titan Gilroy, the owner of TITAN America MFG, an aerospace CNC Machine shop and Star of the television series, TITANS of CNC, The Academy is a free learning site including 2D pdf drawings, 3D Fusion 360 models, and detailed video lectures.
This is not just for school kids…However, the brilliance of designing a ten part course where every part can be cut out of the same bar of stock, and supplying the Fusion 360 Tool library with feeds, speeds, and links directly to Kennametal’s website should make any shop teacher smile. One could say this is the stepping stones for the next generation in manufacturing.
Let’s deal with the most obvious question first: It is totally free. You create an account and have access to the biggest CAD/CAM and CNC Manufacturing education program ever developed.
Manufacturing around the world has had its ups and downs. Mentoring and apprentice programs have, by many companies, been trashed for faster production of parts, either for more profit or simply for survival. The question many top machine shop owners are asking themselves “Where can I find skilled people?” The truth is that most shops must do the work themselves. Find the young ones with the right attitude and teach them the skills.
Titan’s Academy is your resource library; Structured projects that will teach step-by-step. Everything from basic “How-To” design and model in Fusion 360 for mill, lathe and Mill/Turn.
Education… The core of a great learning site is an ease of navigating. At the academy, everything is sorted in projects. Each project is ranked in difficulty, contains 2D pdfs and 3D Fusion 360 models followed by a video lecture showing you how to model the part in Fusion 360. These videos are between 8 to 30 minutes long and professionally produced.
Each video starts with a short introduction followed by a detailed explanation in a step-by-step format on how to access and download the 2D print. Making sure you are not lost in the process of sharpening your skills.
3D Models… With over 100 Fusion 360 files (I stopped counting) available for download, and let me just remind you, with associated 2D pdfs. There is so much great content for you to practice your skills. It doesn’t matter if you are a seasoned machinist or a newbie; here is something that can help raise your level.
Videos… This might be the most valuable item. The academy has tutorial based videos teaching you how to setup your part on a CNC. There are CNC Tooling classes and even in-depth “How to quote jobs” and “How to build a CNC Machine Shop.”
Conclusion… It’s clear that the Titan of CNC Academy is taking on some of the hurdles most machine shops are facing. It is peeling back the first layer and providing content to train the skills of designing parts in CAD and machining them with CAM. Even if you don’t normally use Fusion 360, you can easily transfer the learning content to other platforms. Of course, you have to ask yourself: “With a 30-day trial and already a free post processor available for your CNC machine, why not just test it out”…Remember, besides a little of your time, all of this is free. http://academy.titansofcnc.com/