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Thread: New on this side of sawmillcreek

  1. #1

    New on this side of sawmillcreek

    So I have 2 lasers and have been posting on the Engravers forum.

    I just purchased a hobby desktop 3040 CNC. I know it's very basic and the brand is questionable. But just wanted to say hi.

    My plan is to USE cambam and mach3 for starters. I have a little experience with those, and they seem pretty simple and cheap. Any other suggestions on an alternate to cambam. Affordable please.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Deep South
    Posts
    3,970
    Congratulations on your new purchase. I have seen a lot of Youtube videos of that machine doing some pretty neat stuff.

  3. Clark,

    Regarding software, I suggest you take a good look at Vectric's offerings. You can start with their basic Cut2d, and upgrade as you see fit. Their upgrade path is pretty straightforward costwise. Like you, I came to CNC routing from an engraving background, and I recall struggling with CamBam trying to do some pretty basic tasks. I downloaded Vectric's trial versions (fully functional with the sample files I believe) and was instantly sold. I still do most of my drawing in Corel, but import dxf's into Vectric's VCarve, and generate Mach3 toolpaths.

    Good luck, and have fun.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    N.W. Missouri
    Posts
    1,564
    Mach 3 is a good choice for machine control software. I use BobCAD/CAM, but I don't recommend it due to BobCAD's sales tactics. Many people like Vectric's software. Must be a reason.

    John

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Deep South
    Posts
    3,970
    I didn't mention anything about software since I am sort of new at this and haven't tried any products other than Vectric Vcarve Pro. I will just say that I found it to be easy to learn and very versatile and powerful. Vectric provides a near complete set of training videos for free download that are very well done and highly useful.

  6. #6
    I have used cam bam, and was able to do basic stuff. I made my own mini cnc and it seemed to work ok. I also downloaded artam, but have not tried exporting any g-code.

    My plan was to make a larger cnc, but I just don't have the time. So I opted for the 3040. I know it's still small, but it's bigger than my diy unit, and hope a little more accurate.

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