CAM software recommendations
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I have been learning and using FreeCAD since I gave up with SketchUP.
I tried Fusion but as a Linux user It ran so slow on a Windows VM (VirtualBox) it was unusable.
I like FreeCAD mainly as it runs on Linux whereas most others are Windoze only. It takes a bit of getting used to and it is not a finished product by any means. On the plus side it is free and is actively being developed and improved.
There are loads of tutorials online but be prepared to spend some time learning its idiosyncrasies. -
You can apply for another (and another and another ....) free year of Fusion360 unless you use it commercially. There are a few limitations on the free version but you likely have those in your current free version. These limitations are not onerous for the hobbyist.
It's sometimes difficult to find the link for the free version but it's there. -
I moved from onshape to f360 when onshape messed up their policy for the free ride, then I moved from f360 to freecad when the f360 crippled the free version ... took me way less to adapt from f360 to freecad than it took me to adapt from onshape to f360 (I normally used to use SolidWorks, and back in the day I used lightwave and softimage) so you should have no issues migrating to freecad... just one hint - get nightly build, not the stable version
btw I still use openSCAD a lot for the CAD, I really recommend everyone try it out, it's not for everyone but for those who like it, they will love it
.. there is some talk about using openSCAD for CAM here but I never triedU used PyCAM back in the day, no clue if it's still being maintained, I know it was pretty stale for a while .. looking at github repo that's supposed to be new home for it and looks like no one touched it in a good way for 3 years
so looks like attm freecad is the best open source, free, CAM solution out there -
@arhi, I tend to give freecad a try every once in a while because it bugs me that I have to have a windows computer solely for fusion360 (don't like dual boot setups) but I find that fusion is just much superior. Some of which is related to familiarity with fusion (I am sure Autocad bases their marketing strategy on that fact) but no matter how you slice it, fusion is superior even with the hassle of the extra windows computer and all the subscription and 'cloud' stuff.
YMMV -
Hi,
I've tried several but I settled on this one:
However it is $300.
It works the way my mind thinks - or perhaps my mind thinks the way it works.
In any case I found it to be the most efficient and intuitive of them all.
The support is very good as the author has a regular presence on the forum.
I once asked if the ability to create slots in a solid could be included in a future version. It turns out the program is extensible and he sent back a script with instructions on how to add it into the program.
Frederick
Printers: A FT-5 with the 713 upgrade bits, a custom MarkForged style, a small Utilmaker style, a small CoreXY from kit and a E3D MS/TC setup. Various hotends. Using Duets (2 and 3) running 3.4.6
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@jens55 said in CAM software recommendations:
I find that fusion is just much superior
To each it's own. I pay a lot for SW licences, I have no issue with paying for licences and I don't use "fixes/cures/medicines/cr%$#ks" for almost 15 years... The major issue with this policy for me are 2 apps, altium designer and solidworks. I did not find a suitable replacement with acceptable price. Altium I replaced with kicad, it is not from the same planet as altium, but I tested everything up to 1000$ perpetual licence and kicad was better than all of them so I moved to kicad... for solidworks, I was actually very happy with onshape, F360 I never was too happy with and now with FreeCAD I'm not nearly as happy as I would be with SolidWorks but I personally find it way faster and waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more powerful than f360 ... but that's me, taste and all.. Even when I was using F360 (before their last move) I had to open freecad from time to time to open, fix, convert some parts that F360 could not deal with... anyhow if you like F360 free version - great that Autodesk is giving free version kudos to them, who like it should use it.. I use netfabb from Autodesk, I used it before it was purchased by Autodesk (paid 4 digit euro price for it, still have the dongle...) I use it now when it is Autodesk, still no1 tool for manipulation of stl's out there IMHO (yes I have meshmixer and meshlab and...)
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@fcwilt said in CAM software recommendations:
I've tried several but I settled on this one:
I did not know MOI now has CAM module too? I know it was rather interesting concept for CAD but it had no CAM support at all?
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@arhi, maybe it's time to give freecad another try .....
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@arhi said in CAM software recommendations:
@fcwilt said in CAM software recommendations:
I've tried several but I settled on this one:
I did not know MOI now has CAM module too? I know it was rather interesting concept for CAD but it had no CAM support at all?
My bad - I thought you were asking about computer aided modeling, not manufacturing.
Sorry about that.
Frederick
Printers: A FT-5 with the 713 upgrade bits, a custom MarkForged style, a small Utilmaker style, a small CoreXY from kit and a E3D MS/TC setup. Various hotends. Using Duets (2 and 3) running 3.4.6
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@jens55 said in CAM software recommendations:
@arhi, maybe it's time to give freecad another try .....
Well they did not do anything significant in past year, just standard bug fixes and moving forward so I doubt you will change your mind. It's just how our minds work and what our previous experiences are ... mine LightWave -> SoftImage -> SolidWorks + SolidCAM -> onShape -> f360 -> freeCAD makes me like the freeCAD way of doing things better than the way they are done in F360, since you already tried out both F360 and freeCAD and you prefer F360 I doubt you will change your mind
... there's nothing significantly different implemented in FreeCAD in past 2 years that would make that happen ... that is why it is good to have variety of tools we can chose from so everyone can find what suits them ... even when I was using F360 every day I hated every moment of it... freeCAD has waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more bugs than F360 and is sooooooooo unpolished compared to F360 and is visually "childish and ugly" compared to F360 but still even with all that it's a joy for me to work in it ... try it of course, I go back and try F360 every 5-6 months to see if something changed but.. -
@fcwilt said in CAM software recommendations:
My bad - I thought you were asking about computer aided modeling, not manufacturing.
no worries, it is sw to recommend for everyone to try imho, many would find it super intuitive.... I hoped they published CAM too with a different view of the cam process than these other tools, who knows, maybe they will
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join the EAA for40$ a year get maker/student version of solidworks 2019 mine will make toolpath. with cam option installed
fyi i love solidworks for cad, for cam its a turd with a rough learning curve,, but 40$ a year cant beat it.
disclaimer: im not gettng a kick back from eaa i dont own a plane or building one.. and i use old versions of mastercam and featurecam for CAM, if i didnt i would use it for my hobby ventures. ive been a cnc machinist/programmer for 25 years
