[Trav603]

What do you hobbyist type guys use for CAD/CAM on your smaller cnc mills or lathes?

I don't think I could justify purchasing SolidWorks and SolidCAM to run a $1000 machine

[mhackney]

Firstly, it depends on what you need to do! I need 2.D capabilities so high end big buck CAD and CAM packages are needed. I also like to do my design work on a Mac and wanted a CAD package that worked on both. I looked at a lot of options but came up with:

I use ViaCAD 2D/3D on Mac and Windows. The newest version is quite nice and I even do some 3D modeling in it. Very straightforward to use and inexpensive ($99).

For CAM, hands-down CamBam works for me. The new 0.9.8H release is great, easy to use and has a lot of power. ($149) It also has a great forum with lots of help available and the company is first class IMHO.

So, with these 2 packages I do all my design and CAM for my reels and reel kits for my home based business. I work in brass, aluminum and Delrin primarily on my X2. I will use them on my new G0703 (if it ever arrives!) and my CNC'd Sherline lathe for small parts.

The new CamBam also has support for lathe CAM - still primitive but serviceable. Lathe CAM packages seem to be in a whole different universe of cost (much more expensive) so this will be a welcome option to many of us with basic lathe requirements.

cheers,
Michael

[photomankc]

CAD:
- SolidEdge 2D - Free, not my favorite, but again... free
- Rhino 3D - Got it for the student price so quite a nice program for under $200

CAM:
- Vetric Cut2D - Decent program, good for simple stuff but there are things missing that I think are basic (ie leaving stock for finish pass, some better lead in / lead out options) but not bad for $150. If you need basic parts it will cut them and there are some workarounds to the missing things. Nice cut simulator

- CAMBAM - Very good application. Lots of options, lots of features but a little lacking in the interface. You can actually do some drawing editing in it that is much easier than Cut2D. It makes some really great tool-paths and it's my go-to app when I need something beyond just a quick slot / profile. I bought it bundled with CutViewer to allow me to simulate the cutting prior to going to the machine. Very reasonable price but still a beta product.

[rewster]

CAD: parametric--solidworks, pro-E wildfire 4.0, Inventor
simple boolean-- AutoCad

I have student editions of all, which suit my needs well. dwg->dxf converter required for AutoCad.

CAM: +1 for CamBam. Great product, inexpensive, and powerful. 10bulls is very helpful in supporting his software.

[Perfect Circle]

CAD.....Draftsight
Free CAD software * for your DWG files: DraftSight - Dassault Systèmes
CAM....BobCad try to get V23 they just came out with V24
BobCAD-CAM | CAD-CAM Software for CNC Machines including: Mill, Lathe, Wire EDM, Laser, Plasma, Waterjet, Routers and much more.

Good Luck~!:cheers:

[MrWild]

Dolphin CAD/CAM. Good program, GREAT Hobby prices.

[fragger6662000]

Dolphin Cad is good and free to create the drawings, but recommend sheetcam for 2 1/2 work.

i don't know what lazy cam is like with mach 3 but that might be a good place to try.

I have used gibs which is awful. Solid edge is good and i like to model in that.

[blowlamp]

Another vote here for the ViaCAD and CamBam combo.
Great DXF and STL exports out of ViaCAD and into CamBam, for easy and reliable 2D/3D working.
In my experience, both of these products are updated regularly with the developers taking user feedback into account and improving things if it's feasible.


Martin.

[QSPSB]

I use Free 2D: PLM for the most part of my CAD work and just love it... It's quite easy to manipulate...

And use... SheetCam homepage for my CAM work... Both are very easy to learn...

[DogWood]

CAD - solidworks Student
CAM - Cut2D and Cut3D - best user interface(IMHO), but what you see is what you get, neither has been touched or upgraded in several years

CamBam is looking very temping, might have to get a license and give it a go here soon.

[photomankc]

You can download CAMBAM and use it 40 times for free. Just make sure you get the 9.x train not the old 'free forever' version.

[harley4ever]

I'm an avid user of Dolphin Partmaster as well. They seem to really tailor to hobby users and smaller shops. Give it a whirl.

[eartaker]

Take a look at this thread I started awhile back and it might help you out a bit.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/bencht..._everyone.html

[dansmart]

DesignCad is worth a look for CAD and it seems to open more or less any file formats that you want.

[strohkirchw]

Another one for Cambam

[sleeveless]

Another vote here for the ViaCAD and CamBam combo.
Great DXF and STL exports out of ViaCAD and into CamBam, for easy and reliable 2D/3D working.
In my experience, both of these products are updated regularly with the developers taking user feedback into account and improving things if it's feasible.


Martin.

Well, I have tried the dxf export, and can't for the life of me get it to export properly. I drew a simple stepper motor mount, extruded it and tried to export. Imported into cambam it give me lines criss crossing the drawing everywhere. I have tried all the export options.... I have the Viacad pro v.6 demo (852), and latest cambam. This simple operation works perfect in Skecthup with dxf export plugin.

[blowlamp]

sleeveless.
I think you'll probably find that the dxf export from ViaCAD is to specification, but it is more the case that CamBam can not work with the resulting type of 3D dxf file.
Also try experimenting with exporting the various dxf versions from ViaCAD (R12 to R2009) and it gets even more interesting as the standards change with the various releases.
If you export that same solid from ViaCAD as an stl file, I think you'll find it works as expected.
To sum up, keep 2D files as dxf's and 3D files as stl's when moving into CamBam and you should be fine.

Martin.

[cornbinder23]

If you are just trying to do a simple stepper mount why are you trying to export in 3D?
If you just generate the line drawing in Viacad and export that to DXF without extruding it it will work fine in Cambam
Sounds like a simple 2D operation
Can you post what you are trying to generate?
I use both but have not tried any 3D in cambam,most everything I do the gcode is generated off of dxf line drawings, but I really like Viacad and have been using it for a little over a year now

JTCUSTOMS

[sleeveless]

If you are just trying to do a simple stepper mount why are you trying to export in 3D?
JTCUSTOMS

Hi. It's more about learning, not creating anything special. I created a part in Sketchup the other day (a kind of lever with several cavities), exported as dxf to cambam. It gave me a nice 3d wireframe, where I could select whatever surface I liked, and make the machining path for it. I machined the part out of steel, and everything was peachy. To be able to use ViaCad, it seems that I need to maintain two drawings of a part, one plain 2d, and one 3d that actually looks like a real life "thing". I was hoping I could draw a part in 3d, and then export and machine it however I saw fit... I can of course draw a 3d thing, then export it as stl, but that doesn't always turn out good. How can I export, say one side of my 3d device, to cambam properly ?

I'll attach some example files. Note the counterbore. With Sketchup I would get a model where I easily can generate toolpaths for several depths just by selecting them in cambam separately.

Sleeveless...

[cornbinder23]

I personally find it easier to just draw the machining files in 2D and export to dxf
the 3D I just use for modeling. you can do exactly what you are doing just export to dxf before you start extruding solids, then you are not trying to export the 3D side

Oh! another way you could do it is when you extrude the solid in your drawing the 2D is still there you can just use the show/hide feature and hide the 3D solid and in the export option select dfx then check the selected only box and it will just export the 2D drawing FROM the 3D file

good luck

JTCUSTOMS