Machinist
Working screens at the machine.
Custom machine interfaces and MES-like systems installed on a screen at the machine, online or offline. Three modules are built today: Arcline for CNC plasma and sheet, wire EDM and CNC milling. Built for manufacturers, licensed to machine builders.
The modules
Three machines, three screens
A Machinist module is the screen that stands at one kind of machine and holds the four things the operator needs: the parts, the stock, the queue and the run. Each one is switched on per organisation and they all run against the same account.
Arcline
CNC plasma and sheet metal
Draw or import 2D parts, hold real sheets and remnants, nest onto the stock you actually have and post the cut file for your machine.
- Draws a part from a template, from the editor or from a DXF, on a thickness the cut chart covers.
- Raises cut orders per customer and nests them true shape onto real sheets and banked remnants.
- Posts G-code and DXF, simulates the cut and books the offcuts back into stock.
Wire EDM
Wire EDM erosion
Cut PCD tip and knife blanks from discs and erode finished profiles: parts, orders, an erode queue with modelled cut times and the discs tracked as stock.
- Holds tip and knife profiles as parts, from a designed product, a DXF path or entered dimensions.
- Raises erode orders per customer and queues them against the machine with a modelled wire time.
- Runs the queue, books the discs out of stock and completes orders as the lines come off the wire.
CNC Milling
CNC milling, 3 plus 2 capable
Machine cutter bodies and similar parts from billet: parts with cycle times modelled from standard machining theory, orders, a run queue and the billet stock tracked.
- Holds machined parts, from a designed product or entered dimensions, each with a modelled cycle time.
- Raises machining orders per customer and queues them against the machine.
- Runs the queue, books the billets out of stock and completes orders as the parts come off.
A machine that is not on this list is a custom build: we scope what the machine does, what the operator needs on screen and where the data goes, then quote it per project.
Arcline in depth
Arcline, the CNC plasma and sheet metal fabrication interface
Arcline is the Machinist preset for CNC plasma cutting and sheet metal fabrication. Parts are drawn and edited in its CAD editor, sheets and remnants are tracked as stock and cut orders pull the two together.
The nest is true shape: parts rotate and interlock to use the sheet, the cut runs as a simulation before anything moves and the result exports as G-code and DXF.
Arcline works with Mach3 CNC plasma tables: export DXF into the SheetCam flow you already run, or take direct G-code with per machine pierce dwell, THC codes and feed ceiling. It runs in the browser, so a table needs only WiFi and a login.
Arcline runs online in the platform at /app/machinist/arcline and is included on every plan, like the other two modules.
- Parts and CAD editing
- Draw and edit parts in the built-in CAD editor and keep them in a parts library ready for the next order.
- Sheet and remnant stock
- Full sheets and the usable remnants they leave are both tracked as stock and both available to nest on.
- Cut orders
- Work arrives as cut orders: which parts, how many and on what material, ready to nest.
- True-shape nesting, simulation and export
- Parts nest true shape on the chosen sheet, the cut runs as a simulation on screen and the result exports as G-code and DXF.
Cut quality
The details that decide the edge
Plasma work is won or lost in the toolpath. These are the controls Arcline puts in the operator's hands on every nest, and each one is visible on screen before the torch fires.
- Start point in scrap: the pierce sits off the part, and start points drag on the cut canvas at the screen.
- Lead-in: the torch enters the contour on a controlled lead, not on a finished corner.
- Kerf-compensated path with a stated cut direction, so the part comes out on size.
- A smaller part nested inside the opening: interior holes are usable sheet, and the sequence cuts inner profiles before the opening is freed.
- Micro-joints: optional tabs that hold a part in the skeleton, off by default.
Arcs stay arcs
Circles and radii export as true arc moves in the G-code rather than strings of short lines, so the machine runs smooth interpolated curves.
Kerf, leads and cut direction
Every profile runs on a kerf-compensated path with controlled lead-in and lead-out and a stated cut direction, so the finished edge lands on size.
Start points you can move
Pierce points drag on the cut canvas at the screen and can be held in scrap, so a pierce mark never sits on a finished edge.
Micro-joint tabs that hold small parts
Small parts stay bridged to the skeleton by tabs left uncut on the profile, so they do not tip into the slats. Tab width and count are set per nest and tabs are off by default.
Parts nested in holes
The middle of a large opening is usable sheet: smaller parts nest inside it and the cut sequence frees them before the opening itself is cut.
A cut chart you can edit
Feed, kerf and pierce values per material and thickness ship as a starting library and stay editable. The values on screen are the values in the code.
A cut plan for the shop floor
Each nest prints as a cut plan: the sheet, the sequence, the settings and the parts list on one document the operator can hold.
The same nest every time
Nesting is deterministic. The same parts, sheet and settings produce the same nest, so a re-run matches the plan you printed.
Everything above runs manually without drawing usage. AI features such as nesting assist and parameter suggestions sit on top and are metered separately.
Wire EDM in depth
Wire EDM, the screen at the erosion machine
Built for PCD tooling: cutting tip and knife blanks out of diamond discs and eroding the finished profile. Shop, Parts, Orders, Erode and Setup, and a time model that abstains rather than guesses.
A profile arrives three ways: from a designed product, where the design module has already worked out the tip or knife form, from a DXF path, or from entered dimensions. Each one carries its wire path, its skim passes and the diamond layer it is cut from.
An erode order collects profiles and quantities for one customer. Picking its lines into a run against a machine gives the run a modelled wire time: the path length times the passes, divided by the charted feed for that diamond layer, plus the start and thread time per piece.
The shipped erosion chart runs a 0.5mm layer at 2.4mm/min, a 1.0mm layer at 1.5mm/min and a 2.0mm layer at 0.9mm/min. PCD erodes slowly and machine to machine, so those are starting values to calibrate against your own wire, never a promise.
It would rather say nothing than understate
The feed comes from the nearest charted layer at or above the part's. A layer thicker than anything in the chart erodes more slowly than every row the chart holds, so quoting the thickest row would be a confident understatement. The estimate stops instead and names the row that is missing.
The erosion chart stops at a 2mm layer; this part's 2.5mm layer needs its own row.
- Profiles rather than files
- A part is a profile to erode, held with its wire path, its passes and its diamond layer. A designed PCD product creates them here through its stock connection, so a blade sold on Monday is a set of tip blanks at the machine on Tuesday with nothing retyped.
- A modelled time, and a measured one
- Queuing a run gives it a modelled time from the erosion chart. Completing it records what the clock said. The estimate is never copied into the measurement, so a shop's own history can disagree with the model and the chart can be corrected.
- Discs and blanks, counted
- A PCD disc carries its usable diameter, thickness and diamond layer; a carbide blank carries width, height and thickness. Completing a run books them out, and a run that consumed more than was held writes the shortfall into the shop's activity rather than clamping the count to zero.
- One order, one customer
- An erode order collects profiles and quantities for one customer and walks queued, in progress, complete. A line the chart cannot cover carries no time at all, and a run holding one carries no total either.
CNC milling in depth
CNC milling, the screen at the machining centre
Built for cutter bodies and similar parts machined from billet, and 3 plus 2 capable: the machine kinds cover a plain 3 axis vertical centre, a 3 plus 2 vertical centre and a horizontal centre.
A part arrives from a designed product or from entered dimensions and carries a modelled cycle time: the volume machined away divided by the removal rate for its ISO material group, times a non productive allowance for rapids, approach and tool changes.
Batch setup is charged once per distinct part rather than per piece. Two allocations of the same part share a setup; two different parts each need their own datum even in one material, which is how a shop actually loses the time.
The removal chart ships six ISO group rows, from 4 cm3/min on superalloys and titanium to 55 on aluminium, derived from standard machining theory at coated carbide midpoints. Every row is editable in Setup and every row is flagged as modelled.
- Parts from billet
- Round billets and blocks are stock lines with their real dimensions, and a part records the volume machined away from one. A designed cutter body arrives here through the same stock connection the wire EDM uses.
- Cycle time from removal, not from a feeling
- Volume removed divided by the removal rate for the material group, times the non productive allowance, plus the batch setup once per distinct part. Every input is on the screen and every input is yours to change.
- Six ISO groups, all modelled
- P at 19, M at 12, K at 15, N at 55, S at 4 and H at 6 cm3/min, each with its own allowance of 1.5 to 1.8. The figures are derived from standard machining theory at coated carbide midpoints and exist to be calibrated, never quoted as our advice.
- It does not write your G-code
- The module schedules and accounts for the work: what is waiting, what it is worth in machine minutes, what stock it consumes and which order it closes. The CAM system you already run produces the code.
Every figure on this screen is modelled from published machining theory and your own chart rows. It is a planning number, and Setup is where you make it yours.
Two ways to buy
On your plan, or under licence
As a platform module
Manufacturers run presets on a screen attachment at the machine. The screen runs online against your Kabaido account, so parts, stock and cut orders live beside your quotes and orders. Presets are included in every plan; the number of connected screens depends on the tier.
Under special licence or handover
Machine manufacturers take a preset or a custom build under special licence, or a full handover custom build that runs locally without the Kabaido platform. Scoped and priced per project, POA.
Plan usage
What each plan carries
All figures are modelled and will be revisited against measured usage.
| Machinist usage | Free | Pro | Ultra | Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Presets available | All | All | All | All |
| Machine screens included | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Extra machine screens | Paid plans only | £49 a month each | £49 a month each | £49 a month each |
| AI features: nesting assist and parameter suggestions | Via monthly usage | Via monthly usage | Via monthly usage | Via monthly usage |
Caps enforce softly: at the cap the action explains the limit and offers an extra screen at £49 a month. A running machine screen is never disabled mid-job. Custom interfaces are POA.
Online and offline
The offline story, honestly
The platform version runs online; local installs are built per project. A Machinist screen on your plan is a window on your Kabaido account, so it needs a connection, and in return your parts, stock and cut orders live in the same platform as your sales.
Where a machine has to run without the platform, that is a licence or handover build: scoped per project, installed locally and priced POA.
A machine that needs its own interface
Custom interfaces are scoped per project: what the machine does, what the operator needs on screen and where the data goes. Tell us about the machine and we will tell you what we would build.
Questions
About Machinist
- Arcline is the CNC plasma and sheet metal fabrication interface and the first Machinist module: parts and CAD editing, sheet and remnant stock, cut orders and true-shape nesting with simulation and G-code and DXF export. Toolpaths are kerf compensated with controlled leads and true arc output, cut settings come from an editable cut chart and every nest prints as a cut plan. It runs online in the platform and is included on every plan, alongside the wire EDM and CNC milling modules.
- It holds the profiles a wire erosion machine cuts, raises erode orders per customer, queues them against a machine with a modelled wire time from your own erosion chart, and tracks the PCD discs and carbide blanks as stock. Completing a run books the discs out and closes the order lines it covered. It does not drive the machine and it does not post a program.
- The same shape at a machining centre: machined parts with a cycle time modelled from the volume removed and your own removal chart, machining orders queued against a machine, and round billets and blocks tracked as stock. Setup is charged once per distinct part rather than per piece. Nothing here writes G-code; the CAM system you already run still does that.
- The platform version runs online; local installs are built per project. A machine that must run without the platform takes a special licence or full handover build, scoped per project and POA.
- Every plan includes one machine screen, including Free. Extra screens are £49 a month each on any paid plan, as many as you need. Caps enforce softly with an upgrade path and never disable a running machine screen mid-job.
- Yes. DXF export drops into the SheetCam flow most Mach3 plasma tables already run, and direct G-code carries the Mach3 post details per machine: G21 G90, M03 and M05 around each cut, a G4 pierce dwell, optional THC codes and a feed ceiling. Direct G-code is validated together on your table before you rely on it.
- AI actions such as nesting assist and parameter suggestions draw on your plan's monthly usage. Manual use at the screen is never metered.
- Yes, that is the point of the module. Custom machine interfaces and MES-like systems are scoped and built per project, POA. Send a message or book a meeting and tell us about the machine.
Put a working screen at the machine.
Arcline is included on every plan. Custom interfaces and local installs are scoped per project.