[cwdance1]

I have been reading posts for nearly a year. I see lots of posts on hardware but the software is not as popular. Currently I'm collecting parts to build my first machine. This is only a hobby machine so the budget is tight. I have bought a copy of Turbocad to do the drawings. What would you guys recomend for the CAM\NC software. I was wondering if I could get by with Mach3 to do the conversion and run the machine? Please tell me what you guys are using on your hobby machine?

Thanks

[CJL5585]

I have been reading posts for nearly a year. I see lots of posts on hardware but the software is not as popular. Currently I'm collecting parts to build my first machine. This is only a hobby machine so the budget is tight. I have bought a copy of Turbocad to do the drawings. What would you guys recomend for the CAM\NC software. I was wondering if I could get by with Mach3 to do the conversion and run the machine? Please tell me what you guys are using on your hobby machine?

Thanks

Get the Mach 3/Sheetcam combination software package. The Mach 3 will run the CNC, but the Sheetcam will allow you to take any line on your TurboCad drawing and move it to any Z axis height. This will allow you to create 2 1/2 dimensional carvings with raised figures, or pockets if you go the other direction. Sheetcam will also create the g-code for you and will create the compensation needed by the router bits or cutters that you specify.

Jerry

[cwdance1]

Only one reply for me to pick from? Please everyone give me your opinions?

Thanks
Terry

[buscht]

Terry, you question is not as simple as it seems. You have to say what you are trying to do in order to give a meaningful answer.

Your cheapest solution (that I know of): Take back TurboCAD. There are free solutions available on the internet for drawing 2D.

Buy TurboCNC to run the machine ($60) http://www.dakeng.com/

Learn G code and program manually by using a text editing program like NotePad.

Is this the best? No but it will work and work well, if you are patient and willing to learn.

If your parts are simple 2-1/2D work, Sheetcam is a great value, but you can get cheaper options. On this forum you can find a free DXF to G code generator that will work. Sheetcam just allows more flexibility in the programming.

Good luck.

[cwdance1]

Thanks buscht for the reply. To start with I want to cut out parts from wood and balsa. Just curves and lines nothing complex. Later down the road I would like to do some nice signs for family and friends. Start out simple and work my way up the leaning curve. Its hard to spend a few hundred on a machine and a thousand on software to run it. Just trying to get a feel for what everyone else is using.

Thanks
Terry

[ger21]

Try using A9CAD from www.a9tech.com and ACE converter from www.dakeng.com to create your g-code.

Both free.

ACE will work with TurboCAD, too. It converts .dxf files.

[Dennis Bohlke]

I use SuperCamXp. But then I wrote it. It is an entirely unique approach to machine control.

I wrote it because I did not want to futz with G-codes at all.

The program is a CAD interface to the machine. You move the spindle around by pointing and clicking with the mouse. Or you can give it coordinates at the keyboard.

I import drawings in DXF or HPGL and the machine follows the lines at a depth I specify, or I can make it cut progressively deeper until it reaches a final depth.

I have been using and selling SuperCam since 1995. It works with DOS or Windows 98. The maximum steps per second are about 70,000.

Last year I ported the code from SuperCam to operate with XP Windows. I call the new version SuperCamXp. It works via the USB port, which connects to a CamPod that is a step and direction generator. The CamPod has a DB25 female connector that is the same as the standard parallel port connector. The CamPod can generate 32,000 steps per second.

The CamPod is a USB breakout board. The pin assignments for the DB25 connector can be rewired to match your current configuration. Or, you can wire it directly to Geckodrives, there are optional terminal blocks that bring out the step and direction for each axis, home limit switches and two relay driver transistors.

The are many programs that you can use to interpret G-codes and create step and direction signals at the parallel port. SuperCam is the only one that I know of that lets you edit the imported drawings to suit your needs and execute them on the machine with out ever generating a single line of G-code. It does not convert files to G-code, it uses the files as the G-code.

SuperCamXp has been operating machines since August 2005. Today, I got the first USB Breakout board working. My previous version of the CamPod was very difficult to use with any other controllers than mine.

http://www.super-tech.com/root/SuperCamXp/default.asp
http://www.super-tech.com/root/grp.asp?p1=CamPodii
http://www.super-tech.com/root/grp.a...uperCamXp-Demo

This is my first post to the zone, so I realize the SuperCam programs maybe over kill for most hobbyists.

Dennis Bohlke
www.super-tech.com