CAD/CAM

Hello EMC warriors,

I am in need of advice as to which CAD/CAM software folks out there find useful and affordable.

Over the past twelve years I have spent countless hours learning different programs only to find. issues, unwelcome changes, and insane maintenance price tags.

I have "VisualMill" on my laptop and I am about to reembark on another learning adventure, before doing so I thought I would see what (if anything) you folks might have to share on the subject.

One additional point: I'm running a Linux OS so any CAD/CAM program would need to function on that platform or in wine. I am hoping to avoid wine as it slows things down a bit, but you gota do what you gota do.

Look forward to any advise you may have.

Thanks, Allen

Can you inform for what kind of work you need a CAD/CAM?
For milling / lathe?

I only use a CAD for helping with the coordinates, but the gcode I write all by hand (except to engrave letters or numbers). Both in milling machine and lathe. I find that a CAM does not do what I want, although I never experiment those fancy stuff that cost more than 10k.
Sometimes I write a program in 100 lines that a CAM writes in 1000 lines (or more).
All that I do by hand is readable and the CAM stuff is not.
My opinion

I am going to be running a router.

I'm not smart enough to write my own G-Code.
If things go as planned I would be doing some fairly complex contouring and I know I not that smart!
(Can't type to save my life)!

Sadly I'm limited to plug and play, at lest for the time being. (Limiting I know).

So many opptions for CAD/CAM it's hard to know what to pick and who or what to trust.

Thank you for your help, Allen

For wood working I feel www.vectric.com/ software is very reasonably priced. However I haven't really used it.

If your parts are complex, then a CAM really is necessary. I worked before with ArtCam, that is good for 2D and also allows engraving and 3D parts.
It is easy to start, but the price I think is high.

am going to be running a router.

I'm not smart enough to write my own G-Code.
If things go as planned I would be doing some fairly complex contouring and I know I not that smart!

As Todd stated take a look at Vectric, also they have great tutorials that I believe you can download for free to see how to run the programs.
A friend of mine uses it for everything from simple shapes to complex engraving on contours instead of CAD CAM packages.

Rick G

Andy,

I went to Pycam and tried to download the program using a terminal box.
Being new as to how all of this is done in a Linux operating system I got no where.
Can step by step instructions be found to install the program?

Thanks so much for your help, Allen