5 Axis TCP Simultaneous Kinematics Fusion 360 setup Mesa 7i76e

rodw wrote:

The gearbox ratio is 153:1. 6000/153 =  39.2 rpm
 

How the heck did I came up with 75???

...An alternative use could be to tun a 30 cow rotary dairy on a dairy farm!
 

How the heck did YOU came up with that??? image missing /media/kunena/emoticons/w00t.png
 

For software DeskProto has some 5 axis capability.  I wouldn't describe it as simultaneous, more like 3+2.  A non-commercial license is <$300.  It's not for high precision work but the website is worth a visit even if just to browse the gallery.
Note: I've only played with this software in demo/simulation and have no 'real world' 5axis experience.

After quite a bit of googling, I've come to the conclusion that Fusion 360 with extension seems to be the most reasonable 5 simultaneous axis CAM solution. Since I already have a Fusion 360 business license and love the Fusion 360 environment, I think I'll stick to it. The only snag will be if I can't make a Fusion 360 post processor work in my favor. The cost of Fusion 360 is about $400 a year and the machinist extension, which opens up the world of 5 simultaneous axis machining is $1200 a year. It's a bit of a tough pill to swallow, but hopefully the product I have in mind will sell well enough that the extra $100 a month won't cause me to break a sweat. I will definitely check out Deskproto, but the designs I have in mind would most definitely require 5 axis simultaneous to achieve efficiently.
Cheers!

rodw,
I used your instructions last night was able to successfully install Debian Bookworm and LinuxCNC, but then decided the machine wasn't good enough, only dual core with 2GB or RAM. Ha! I should have checked from the bios first. Anyway, I'm on the hunt for a quad core 8GB Ram machine on eBay, they're going for a little over $100.
I have a few points of clarification when following your instructions, which might help a relatively inexperienced Linux person like me. I'll take notes next time around and see if you'd like to add anything to your already-very-good guide.
Cheers,
Tyler

Great, any feedback will be appreciated.
Even 4 core 4 gb Ram is adequate.
The 2 cores seem to struggle a but with later kernels but people do get them working.

Hey Rod,
I ended up chickening out, or rather, I want to be using a 5 axis continuous machine sooner rather than later and the learning curve for setting up a DIY 5 axis machine with LinuxCNC + Mesa card would take a lot of time and there is a fair level of uncertainty involved. I'm not abandoning the idea of using LinuxCNC down the road and I'll probably start smaller, by adding a 4th axis to one of my 3 axis machines.
Another reason for this decision is that none of my current 3 axis CNCs has enough Z height to accommodate the AC unit without major surgery. I could convert my manual mill, which has a tall Z, to CNC, but then that's more time and money, etc.
So, I'm ordering a desktop 5 axis machine from China from RobotDigg.
I wanted to give an update and thank everyone who chimed in to help me make this decision. I truly appreciate it.
The more you know, the more you realize that you don't know.
Cheers!
Tyler