[jimmyaz]

Hey guys,

So is Mach 3 and LazyCam are free and unlimited? I thought I read somewhere they are, but somehow my Mach 3 said it a DEMO version and it will not import my entire drawing... Right now I only import like one letter.

So on with LazyCam... Pocketing is not allow???


So do I need to buy the license? I really don't want to spend to much untill I know that I smart enough to learn this cnc stuff.

Thanks

[jhowelb]

Mach has a limit of, I think, 50 lines of code. That is enough for some small projects. You do realize that it's main function is as a controller?
There are quite a number of free wizards that come with it and some relatively cheap "newfangled solution" that you can buy.
I've been using Mach on my mill and my lathe for a number of years and still use Designcad to draw my mill projects and Sheetcam to generate g code from the drawings.
Lazycam is still under development and there is no documentation for it yet so if you try to depend on it you may be disappointed.

[ErnieD]

You can buy a mill license for Mach3 for about $160.00. You probably will never find a better deal.

ErnieD

[ger21]

LazyCAM will only output 50 lines of code, but Mach3 will run up to 500 lines of code.

[beone]

Mach has a limit of, I think, 50 lines of code. That is enough for some small projects. You do realize that it's main function is as a controller?
There are quite a number of free wizards that come with it and some relatively cheap "newfangled solution" that you can buy.
I've been using Mach on my mill and my lathe for a number of years and still use Designcad to draw my mill projects and Sheetcam to generate g code from the drawings.
Lazycam is still under development and there is no documentation for it yet so if you try to depend on it you may be disappointed.

Yeah! Another designcad user. I have used it for going on 15 years now.
Dave

[jimmyaz]

Hey,

Thanks for all the reply guys. Yes I do understand that is the main controller to cnc. But I currently have spend over 500 to build my cnc, and I really don't want to spend more and find out that I'm not smart enough for this... or something didn't work out and and going no where.

So I was thinking to get something where I can test my machine and kind of get the hang of drawing and cutting first before I spend more.

Thanks.

[MrWild]

EMC2 is free. It will take more work to set up than Mach will, but Free is free. Hand writing Gcode isn't hard. Hand writing 3D gcode is HARD especially when you have a program with hundreds of thousands of lines. But many programs can be written by hand that are only a few hundred lines long. This sounds daunting, but really isn't.

[lovebugjunkie]

Not sure what you want to make but you may want to check Vcarve Pro. (http://www.vectric.com/ I was in your boat, not sure I could put my head around the software to come up with something I wanted to make. I played with the demo of Vcarve for a week and then purchased it and with their last update found I can make anything in wood that I might want and I do not seeing me outgrowing it. I then ordered the CNC router, which will use Mach3 to control it.

[jhowelb]

Yeah! Another designcad user. I have used it for going on 15 years now.
Dave

Using V12.0.023 3dMAX. It came with Raincad that I used to design irrigation systems for a turf supply store where I used to work.

Still have the software and in my retirement I'm using it to design fire alarm systems for my son-in-law as well as much the mill work I choose to do.

Very affordable, versatile, flexible and adaptable.....the Raincad (a system of macros for irrigation) too is adaptable.

High regard in my book.

I have Photo V-carve, good stuff but pricey, and V carve pro is just prohibitively high. Way, way beyond my reach, now that I'm retired especially!!!