[diyengineer]

Damn that looks good! haha! How much $ so far are you into it?

[iD2]

Damn that looks good! haha! How much $ so far are you into it?

Thank you. Now i just burn my money about ~1,700$ for everything except spindle and software.

[diyengineer]

Thank you. Now i just burn my money about ~1,700$ for everything except spindle and software.

That is a pretty good deal. It looks like your machine is VERY solid!!

[iD2]

That is a pretty good deal. It looks like your machine is VERY solid!!

thank you and in this week i will post more update about Z axis , just working on it.

I'm try to find some CAM freeware to generate g-code anyone who know what the best freeware that i need to try , i'm just found HeeksCNC , to generate g-code but i need more option to find what it suitable to me. I still confuse about g-code and never use CAM software , only sketchup that i used. How to generate g-code and what software i need to focus ?

[diyengineer]

thank you and in this week i will post more update about Z axis , just working on it.

I'm try to find some CAM freeware to generate g-code anyone who know what the best freeware that i need to try , i'm just found HeeksCNC , to generate g-code but i need more option to find what it suitable to me. I still confuse about g-code and never use CAM software , only sketchup that i used. How to generate g-code and what software i need to focus ?

CAMBAM!

u get 40 free trial uses. Really easy to use! I recommended it.

[CarveOne]

I will also recommend CamBam. That's what I started with.

CarveOne

[louieatienza]

You have a really good looking machine; I kind of wonder why you wouldn't invest in a good CAM package that would take full advavntage of it's capabilities, being you invested a bit in the machine itself?

[iD2]

CAMBAM!

u get 40 free trial uses. Really easy to use! I recommended it.

Thank you. I need to try.

I will also recommend CamBam. That's what I started with.

CarveOne

Thank you.

You have a really good looking machine; I kind of wonder why you wouldn't invest in a good CAM package that would take full advavntage of it's capabilities, being you invested a bit in the machine itself?

Thank you. I'm looking for freeware because i just beginner and still confuse about CAM software and G-code , So i think i need to try some freeware program and after i know about it i'll invest in good CAM package but i need more detail and compare them to find what is the best choice for me.

What CAM package is cheap and need to focus or what CAM package i need to check it?

Thank you for any advice and thank you for all reply.

[CarveOne]

What CAM package is cheap and need to focus or what CAM package i need to check it?

Last time I looked, CamBam was $149. They have bundle deals with Mach3 and Cut Viewer.

Mach3 comes with LazyCam (LCAM) for gcode generation. It's listed in the menus. That will also give you something to start with. Buy a Mach3 license and not be hindered by the 500 lines of gcode limit. Not much can be created with that limit in the way. It's well worth the $175 fee.

CarveOne

[iD2]

Last time I looked, CamBam was $149. They have bundle deals with Mach3 and Cut Viewer.

Mach3 comes with LazyCam (LCAM) for gcode generation. It's listed in the menus. That will also give you something to start with. Buy a Mach3 license and not be hindered by the 500 lines of gcode limit. Not much can be created with that limit in the way. It's well worth the $175 fee.

CarveOne

Thak you for your advice. That looking good.

[iD2]

And a little update on my Z axis but still working on it

[louieatienza]

Thank you. I need to try.



Thank you.



Thank you. I'm looking for freeware because i just beginner and still confuse about CAM software and G-code , So i think i need to try some freeware program and after i know about it i'll invest in good CAM package but i need more detail and compare them to find what is the best choice for me.

What CAM package is cheap and need to focus or what CAM package i need to check it?

Thank you for any advice and thank you for all reply.

I think for the money Cut2D from Vectric is one of the easiest, and the investment is retained when you upgrade to VCarve or Aspire. I used it for some aluninum work and their toolpaths are really good. You can't do full 3D with it but you can do profiling and pocketing, which I find is about 90 percent of what I do. The toolpaths are generated fast, and the preview and simulation mode is good as well, allowing different materials. The drawing side is very basic, but since you're the SketchUp MASTER you could get the skp to dxf plugin to bring in 2D drawings.

BTW, you might want to check out PhlatScript for SketchUp, I believe it does somple pocketing and profiling... Also for simple stuff, I'd try hand-writing some simple g-code. I did this at first when I didn't have CAM software, and it's a good thing to know if you have to "tweak" a program or do some debugging/troubleshooting... Really not hard to do if you have some graph paper on hand.

I've heard HeeksCNC is good, and it supposedly does 3D. Also check out CNC Toolkit, but from what I understand it's a 3DS MAX plugin, and you'll need that to run it.

As for controller software, I really like Mach3, and probably will never use all its features. It's pretty standard now and has lots of support. You could also try EMC2 if you like Linux, and it's free. Also TurboCNC if you're still a DOS guy, don't know if they've ported it to Windows yet. Problem with EMC2 is that it moight not ork with as many configs as Mach3, and Mach3 allows the use of USB stuff such as FlashCut CNC and SmmothStepper...

[iD2]

I think for the money Cut2D from Vectric is one of the easiest, and the investment is retained when you upgrade to VCarve or Aspire. I used it for some aluninum work and their toolpaths are really good. You can't do full 3D with it but you can do profiling and pocketing, which I find is about 90 percent of what I do. The toolpaths are generated fast, and the preview and simulation mode is good as well, allowing different materials. The drawing side is very basic, but since you're the SketchUp MASTER you could get the skp to dxf plugin to bring in 2D drawings.

BTW, you might want to check out PhlatScript for SketchUp, I believe it does somple pocketing and profiling... Also for simple stuff, I'd try hand-writing some simple g-code. I did this at first when I didn't have CAM software, and it's a good thing to know if you have to "tweak" a program or do some debugging/troubleshooting... Really not hard to do if you have some graph paper on hand.

I've heard HeeksCNC is good, and it supposedly does 3D. Also check out CNC Toolkit, but from what I understand it's a 3DS MAX plugin, and you'll need that to run it.

As for controller software, I really like Mach3, and probably will never use all its features. It's pretty standard now and has lots of support. You could also try EMC2 if you like Linux, and it's free. Also TurboCNC if you're still a DOS guy, don't know if they've ported it to Windows yet. Problem with EMC2 is that it moight not ork with as many configs as Mach3, and Mach3 allows the use of USB stuff such as FlashCut CNC and SmmothStepper...

Wow, I got something that i never know from your post thank you for your advice. And i'm glad to hear that "you're the SketchUp MASTER" but i'm still a beginner for SketchUp.

And SketchUp plugin that you said i just found it here that looking good , if it work fine with complex model that i design from SketchUp it will help me a lot to save my time for learning some CAD or CAM software to create 3D model and controller software Mach3 is my first choice but cannot buy it right now ,just burn out all money with this project 0_o"

For information about CAM package i just found this survey from CNCCookbook that is good information and it help me to know what i need to focus , what i need to try.

Thank you.

[iD2]

More update , OK just done my … what is that call ? in English











This part is not the same with my design , a little change on bottom holes move they position to higher , It'll keep my z axis higher than my design about 15mm. See all of my parts spec here Parts30


Other parts







See all here Part39

[iD2]

Update









and after finished assembly , time to disassembly again

[mlabruyere]

And SketchUp plugin that you said i just found it here that looking good , if it work fine with complex model that i design from SketchUp it will help me a lot to save my time for learning some CAD or CAM software to create 3D model and controller software Mach3 is my first choice but cannot buy it right now ,just burn out all money with this project 0_o".

That's the plugin I use. I design in Sketchup, convert it to DXF, import the new vector file into VCarve Pro, setup the tools and tool paths, generate the gcode. Works great!

[iD2]

That's the plugin I use. I design in Sketchup, convert it to DXF, import the new vector file into VCarve Pro, setup the tools and tool paths, generate the gcode. Works great!

this choice it looking good for me , thank you for your advice.

[iD2]

And a little update

Z axis components









just update in my blog Part 42 but all pictures of this post is here.

[diyengineer]

I love it! Its going to work amazing i bet. Its solid!!

[iD2]

I love it! Its going to work amazing i bet. Its solid!!