cad/cam for cnc router & lathe

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10 May 2015 09:56 #58528 by vre
I have ordered an 6040 4 axis cnc router and iam planning to run it with linuxcnc also i want to convert a lathe to cnc with linuxcnc.
I want suggestions for good and simple cad cam programs that will work in this setup.
Thank you.

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10 May 2015 20:07 #58534 by BigJohnT
In the Linux world good, simple, cad, cam don't seem to fit in the same sentence. It just depends on what your wanting to machine on your mill as to the CAM requirements go. Qcad seems to be the simple cad program for Linux. I use ngcgui on my lathe for 95% of the ops. There are simple G code generators on the wiki and one for mills on my web site that is kinda complete.

JT
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11 May 2015 03:36 #58543 by vre
Replied by vre on topic cad/cam for cnc router & lathe
For cnc router i have not problem the programs (cad & cam) to run in windows only.I have installed cambam.
But i want the g code produces the cam software to cooperate with linuxcnc.
That's iam interested especially is to drill and cut pcbs i design my pcbs with diptrace also i want to
engrave photos to granite.

For lathe i will use gncgui.

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11 May 2015 18:35 #58560 by BigJohnT
LinuxCNC comes with Image to G code . Google suggests that CamBam has a EMC post processor that should work.

JT

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12 May 2015 00:33 #58567 by vre
Replied by vre on topic cad/cam for cnc router & lathe
To sum up solidworks+cambam is ok for linuxcnc router?

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12 May 2015 03:12 - 12 May 2015 03:25 #58572 by BigJohnT
I use SolidWorks daily and think it is great. Usually SolidWorks is too expensive for most but my main business pays for that.

I've only tried CamBam for 5 minutes and am not qualified to comment on it.

JT
Last edit: 12 May 2015 03:25 by BigJohnT.

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12 May 2015 21:25 #58600 by andypugh
If you actually have Solidworks then you probably want to use HSMexpress as that is a free add-on
www.hsmworks.com/hsmxpress/
There is a postprocessor for LinuxCNC (called EMC for historical reasons)
The non-free versions of HSMworks are correspondingly better (producing some excellent tool paths) but are very much not-free.

But that is a completely different world to FreeCAD and CamBam.

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14 May 2015 10:55 #58661 by vre
Replied by vre on topic cad/cam for cnc router & lathe
Iam interested in open src free solutions so for cad qcad (librecad) and freecad(very interresting) exist right?
For cam other option than cambam that outputs compatible g code for linuxcnc?
Because iam totally new iam searching something with easy learning curve.

With cnc router i want to drill and cut pcbs i designed with diptrace,
make simple boxes from plexiglass for pcbs (cutting plexiglass sheets),
photo engrave to black granite,
milling letters to marble (2.5D),
engraving to anodized aluminum pipes(i need 4th axis for this)

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14 May 2015 19:20 #58675 by andypugh

Iam interested in open src free solutions so for cad qcad (librecad) and freecad(very interresting) exist right?
For cam other option than cambam that outputs compatible g code for linuxcnc?


CamBam isn't open-source, nor is it free. At around the same price you can find SheetCAM (2D only, mostly) and MeshCAM (probably better than CamBam but more expensive).

There is also PyCAM which is Free and Open Source but also rather slow compared to the others.
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15 May 2015 07:56 #58709 by vre
Replied by vre on topic cad/cam for cnc router & lathe
Meshcam & sheetcam output compatible code for linuxcnc?

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