[Angel_Fire16]

Hi All, ive been reading these forums for a while hunting for information,

unfourtunatlry i know VERY LITTLE about CAM/CNC programs,

ok back story, im a draftperson by trade and i use AutoCAD 2008 as my CAD program, this is ok for 2d work but i am looking for somthing i can convert the 2d drawing into 3d, im looking at Inventor for that, however i dont have a clue as what to use for the:

CAM/CNC program to actually create & run the G-Code

the table i would like to build ( currently in design ) has an operating area of 1.2 x 2.4m ( 4' x 8' i think ), its a 3 axis only,

also im a cheap arse and only want to spend as little as possible to begin with as all i will be mak,ing to start off with is prototyping stuf for which ill probably halve the table size,

basically im looking at this kinda config:

2d design 3d modeling g-code creation & cnc machine running,

AutoCAD 2008 AutoCAD Inventor 8 ???????????????


The reason why im using 2008 for CAD & Inventor is that im running Vista 32bit

Any help would be awsum,

Regards,
Leaston

[ger21]

I use AutoCAD (2007) for both 2D and 3D work, as well as creating my 2D g-code using a macro I wrote. For 3D g-code I use MeshCAM, which is very inexpensive. Here are some AutoCAD screenshots of the router I'm currently designing. And a link to my gcode exporting macro.
http://home.comcast.net/~cncwoodwork.../AC2GCv039.zip

[Ken_Shea]

Leaston,
Definitely take a look at OneCNC, which has it's roots in Australia.

XR2-Pro and Expert both can create and work with solid/surfaces, powerful integral CAD and is Vista 32bit compatible, actually I believe they were the first CAD/CAM to be compatible with Vista 32 bit.

CNCzone forum
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=40

OneCNC Website for Demo
http://onecnc.net/


Very nice work Gerry


Ken