[GrievousAngel]

Working in an industrial setting for an international American company, I ranged from electrical to electronics to mechanical projects, mostly being control related. By default I gained experience with Windows, Mac & UNIX systems; CAD including AutoCAD; Engineering design & problem solving. The PLC/CNC machine controls from those days were mostly Fancu & Allen-Bradley. I am now a retired EE of 20 years.

Anyways ... my DIY projects will range from Luthier - Electric & Acoustic (builds and parts) to Aluminum plate (30" X 40" X ½" MAX) to PCBs to ? Materials: hard wood, soft metals, synthetic materials like nylon, plastics, etc.

For this purpose, I am building a ~ 750mmx1000mm CNC Router with: X,Y/b Integrated Servo 180W Motors; Z Integrated Servo-Stepper 3Nm Motor; 2.2Kw Spindle; Masso G3 Touch Controller. The working area is ~ X: 30" Y: 40" Z: 2".

I reviewed the above to help access which CAD/CAM software might better fit my needs. My budget is small but I enjoy more of a 'top drawer' product! Like many I would guess. I am currently looking at Fusion 360 (Free and Not Free) and Aspire as well as a few others. I understand that SOLIDWORKS is solid but not so inexpensive. My point is I am somewhat confused over the the 'Bestest for the Leastest'!

What do y'all think?

Billy

[metalmayhem]

I understand that SOLIDWORKS is solid but not so inexpensive.

Billy

" solidworks for makers " is $10/month or has a yearly subscription option . Documentation for the cam isn't as great as others though . It gives a lot for the price and I started a subscription less than a couple months ago out of curiosity so I can't offer much feedback . It's a bit painful to get used to because it's different than what I'm used to working with , but at the same time I haven't sat back and dug my heals into it . At the price it's worth giving it a try

[peteeng]

Hi GA - I think you have to have much more Z than 2" unless your only doing circuit boards. A 2.2kW spindle is always overkill unless you have to use 1/2" bits, otherwise use a 1500W ER16 water cooled spindle . More compact will do everything you mentioned and takes a 10mm tool max...A 200mm Z would be good. I generally like 300mm. I have recently used Fusion360 and it has worked out very well for CAD/CAM. Hobby use is free and subscription is not much per year. It also has a free trial so have a go... Peter

The leastest will be Freecad and linuxcnc both will always be free.

[ger21]

I am currently looking at Fusion 360 (Free and Not Free) and Aspire as well as a few others.

There is no one best for all applications. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses.
V Carve Pro is less than half the cost of Aspire, and has 90% of the capabilities, if you don't need 3D relief modeling. It's a good place to start. Fusion 360 can do a lot of stuff Aspire/V-Carve can't, and it can't do a lot of things Aspire V-Carve can.

Personally, I use AutoCAD, Aspire, Fusion360, and several others, depending on what type of project I'm doing. If I lost access to everything I use now, I'd buy V Carve Pro.