My CAD / CAM research

Try Fusion 360 on debian..
snapcraft.io/install/fusion360/debian#install

The ECam I was refering to was used with LinuxCNC.

It just generates the G Code which you then give to LinuxCNC.

thanks for the e-cam suggestion, it looks not too bad on pricing and does adaptive milling too.

fusion360 has been locked down, and features are a lot more limited than before (even on the hobby license). learn freecad to do your modelling and use a separate cad program. fusion360 does not like to export DXF files without using the cloud for conversion. all about $$$ €€€€ or £££ users now to cash in on the cash cow.

sure I miss the integration and logic of some things in freecad (like assemblies and modelling parts between parts in an assembly) but it is very vast in what it can do even if it is very clunky (but it's free like Linux / linuxcnc..... and if you can understand linuxcnc you can learn freecad)

I am on the lookout for a replacement for Fusion 360 as well. For the electronics end their's Kicad
a bit of a learning curve but plenty of tutorials on youtube to deal with that. The cad end will
most likely be FreeCad. I will be looking for tutorials for that one. The Cam end of it is still up in the
air for me . Maybe Meshcam. I would like to get a non subscription based software for that.
The thing that pisses me off right now with fusion is I have to do a work around to export DXF
files correctly . And to have to pay for known faulty software every year is enraging to say the least.

thanks tommylight I will check out the cam end of it soon.

my1987toyota wrote:

The thing that pisses me off right now with fusion is I have to do a work around to export DXF
files correctly . And to have to pay for known faulty software every year is enraging to say the least.

There is a simple way to generate dxfs in Fusion without all the nonsense. I'm assuming a sheetmetal workflow.
1. Create a flat pattern and flatten your part
2. Select the flat pattern and create a new sketch. don't add anything to it.
3. In the tree, select the sketch, right click and there is an option to export to a DXF. save it locally.

 

Just thought I'd toss in my $0.02. First let me say that my CNC has been down for quit some time now, so none of the gcode I've generated has been tested. 

EstlCAM does work great in Linux with wine. Just make sure (off the top of my head) dotnet40, d3dx9_36<-- I think and gdiplus are installed in your prefix. There's a great walkthrough that I used somewhere in the web that I can't locate right now.

Deskproto also works great in Linux and the hobby license has 5 axis. IMHO the hobby license for Deskproto is very reasonable. The video tutorials are well worth watching. 

All of Scorch Works apps are really good. ScorchView loaded a 404500 line gcode file generated by Deskproto in 7sec. I thought that was impressive for my lack luster PC. F-Engrave is very impressive also IMO.

Freecad path workbench has some nice dressups such as the dogbone<--Seemed to work well in simulation. The speeds/feeds calculator results seemed proper to what I remember using back when my machine was running. By the way does anyone know of tutorials for the probe and fixture commands?

Yeah I do the save DXF from sketch as the work around . The Export from the top menu is what always screws thing up.

2.5D CAM for Lin,Mac,Win

github.com/multigcs/viaconstructor

OpenSource, Python, LinuxCNC