Hand-written turning programme
Deliverable: A complete turned component programmed entirely by hand with canned cycles and threading, simulated clean, with a written setup sheet.
Course
CNC Programming
Machine programming taught with the setup and simulation discipline that stops a crash — G-code by hand first, so you can read and correct what any post-processor writes.
- Duration: 3 months
- Classroom
- Level: intermediate
What you will be able to do
- Write G and M code by hand for turning and milling operations
- Select tooling and calculate speeds and feeds for a given material
- Set work offsets and tool offsets correctly on the machine
- Simulate a programme and identify a collision before it happens
- Read and correct code produced by a CAM post-processor
- Work safely to a documented setup sheet
Who this course is for
- Mechanical engineering diploma holders, ITI holders and graduates
- Machine operators moving into programming
- Tool room and production staff
- Ability to read an engineering drawing is expected
Syllabus
7 modules · 3 months
Module 1. Machines and safety
- Turning centres and machining centres
- Axes, coordinate systems and machine zero
- Safety, guarding and emergency stop discipline
- Reading a setup sheet
Module 2. G-code fundamentals
- Programme structure, blocks and words
- Rapid, linear and circular interpolation
- Absolute and incremental positioning
- M codes, spindle, coolant and programme end
Module 3. Turning programmes
- Facing, turning and grooving
- Threading cycles
- Canned cycles for roughing and finishing
- Tool nose radius compensation
Module 4. Milling programmes
- Contouring and pocketing
- Cutter radius compensation
- Drilling, tapping and boring cycles
- Subprogrammes and repetition
Module 5. Tooling, speeds and feeds
- Insert grades and geometry
- Cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut
- Material-specific parameters
- Tool life, wear and when to index
Module 6. Setup and simulation
- Work offsets and setting the part zero
- Tool offsets, presetting and touching off
- Simulating a programme and reading the toolpath
- Dry run, single block and first-part inspection
Module 7. CAM and post-processing
- Generating a toolpath from a model
- What a post-processor produces and why it needs checking
- Editing generated code safely
- When hand-written code is still the better answer
Tools and technologies you will use
- Fanuc and Siemens control simulators
- CNC turning and milling machines
- Cutting tool catalogues
- Speed and feed calculators
- CAM software basics
Projects you will build
Milling programme with compensation
Deliverable: A milled part using cutter radius compensation and drilling cycles, programmed by hand and simulated, with the offset values documented.
Crash prevention exercise
Deliverable: A supplied programme containing three deliberate errors — a wrong offset, a missing retract and an unsafe rapid — all three found in simulation and corrected before any machine is started.
CAM output correction
Deliverable: A post-processed programme reviewed against the drawing, with at least two inefficiencies or errors identified and corrected by hand, and the reasoning recorded.
Where this course can take you
- CNC Programmer
- CNC Machine Operator
- Production Engineer
- Tool Room Engineer
- Manufacturing Technician
Duration, modes and fees
- Duration
- 3 months
- Delivery modes
- Classroom
- Fees
- Share your details for the current fee
- Fees vary by batch. Machine time and tooling for the practical sessions are included; classroom mode only, because setup cannot be taught remotely.
Placement assistance
Every student gets placement assistance — that is what 100% placement assistance means. It is support for all, not a job for all. We do not promise a specific salary, a specific number of interviews, or placement at any named company, and you should be wary of anyone who does.
What is included
- A place in the monthly placement drive, held every third Saturday
- The readiness programme every second Saturday — mock interviews and preparation
- CV review against the specific roles you are targeting
- Portfolio review, so your project work is presented the way a reviewer will read it
- Access to the vacancy pool employers send directly to the Samyak network
- Guidance on which roles realistically fit your background and which do not
- A place in the next drive, with coaching, if you are not selected in this one
What is not included
- Any guarantee of a job, an interview, or a particular salary
- Placement at a named or partner company
- Applying to jobs on your behalf
- Support before you have completed the course and its project work
- Visa, relocation or overseas placement assistance
Simulate before you cut, always
A CNC machine will drive a carbide tool into a vice at full rapid without hesitating.
The cost is a broken tool, a scrapped part, possibly a damaged spindle, and occasionally somebody hurt. Every one of those is preventable in simulation, which takes two minutes and which experienced programmers never skip.
That discipline is the spine of this course. The crash prevention project hands you a programme with three deliberate faults and asks you to find them before the machine starts, because that is the actual job.
Hand-written code first
CAM software is faster and this course teaches it. It is also not a reason to skip G-code.
You will need to read what the post-processor produced, spot the redundant retract that adds forty seconds to every cycle, and make an edit at the machine rather than walking back to a workstation. A programmer who cannot read code is stuck the first time the post gets something wrong — and it will.
Offsets are where beginners lose parts
Almost every first crash is a work offset entered wrong, so the machine cuts a hundred millimetres from where the programmer expected.
Setting the part zero, touching off tools, checking the offsets before pressing cycle start — this is unglamorous, it is where the errors live, and it is why this course is classroom-only. You cannot learn to touch off a tool from a video.
Read the drawing properly
You are programming from a drawing, and the drawing carries tolerances, finishes and datums that decide whether the part is acceptable.
A component machined exactly to the nominal dimensions can still be rejected. If reading drawings is not yet solid, take AutoCAD Mechanical first — it is the shorter route and it makes everything here make sense.
Questions
CNC Programming — frequently asked questions
Why learn G-code by hand when CAM software generates it?
Because you will have to read and correct what CAM produces, and because on a shop floor an edit at the machine is often faster than going back to the software. A programmer who cannot read the code is helpless the moment the post-processor gets something wrong, which it does.
Is this course only theory?
No, and it is classroom-only for that reason. Programmes are simulated and then run on real machines, and setup — work offsets, tool offsets, touching off — is done on the machine because that is where the mistakes happen. Learning CNC from slides teaches you about CNC.
What is the most common way beginners crash a machine?
A wrong work offset, so the machine cuts a hundred millimetres from where you expected. After that, a missing retract before a rapid move. The third project contains both deliberately, and finding them in simulation rather than in metal is the entire skill being trained.
Do I need to know how to read drawings?
Yes, this one is assumed. You are programming from a drawing, and if you cannot interpret a tolerance, a surface finish symbol or a datum, you will produce a part that is dimensionally right and functionally wrong. The AutoCAD Mechanical course covers this ground if you need it first.
Enquire about CNC Programming
Three details is all we need. A course advisor will call you back.
Related courses
- AutoCAD for Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical drafting judged the way a machine shop judges it — correct projection, tolerances that reflect function, and a drawing a machinist can work from without ringing you.
- SolidWorks
Parametric 3D modelling taught around design intent, so a model survives the change request — assemblies, sheet metal and drawings that update themselves.
- ArtCAM
Relief modelling and CNC toolpath generation — vectors, layered reliefs, roughing and finishing strategies — with the tool and material judgement that decides cut quality.
- PLC and SCADA Automation
Industrial automation taught on real hardware — ladder logic, analogue I/O, HMI and SCADA — with the interlock and safety discipline that separates a working panel from a dangerous one.
Next step
Talk to a course advisor
Tell us what you want to learn and we will help you pick the right course, batch and mode.