[lance-ftw]

So I posted a bit a while ago about the fact that I was looking for some cad/cam software for mac. I was originally looking for a package that would 'do everything' and quickly figured out that I wasn't going to find one that met all of my needs.

I've since picked up Autodesk Inventor and am cranking along on that pretty nicely but I'll actually be ordering my Sherline CNC soon so I need to get some CAM software.

basically I've got Autodesk Inventor, I need a CAM software that will take files from Inventor and generate code compatible with EMC2 (what the sherline uses) I'm a novice so if the software is relatively easy to learn/use that's a benefit. I'm completely new to CAM but I've had some experience with CAD and 3d modeling before. Any recommendations would be awesome!

Oh, additionally... I'm going to be using 4th axis on my sherline so the CAM needs to support that. I'm not going to be able to 'tweak' it much at first so output that will just 'work' on a Sherline is important to me.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[lance-ftw]

I should probably note that I've given up on Mac and am using a windows box now.

[awerby]

once you enter the Windows world. I'd suggest giving DeskProto a try: DeskProto: 3D CNC machining for non-machinists. STL file milling for any CNC milling machine . It supports the 4th axis and has an EMC post. You can download it and use it for a month before you need to pay. It's the least expensive program I know of with 4th axis machining strategies (besides indexing), and if you're a student or hobbyist, there's special pricing available that makes it a lot cheaper.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com