CNC Information | Learn CNC | CNC Programming G-Code

I thought this would be useful to post.

Email Message I got:
The thing I was interested in was software to design my projects. I would like to find easy to use software that is free or at least very cheap with a free trial.

Response:
There are free CAD programs out there, but they are very basic. You can do a google search and find a few.
There are low cost CAM programs out there, but I don't know of any free ones. SheetCAM is the best one for plasma, routing and 2.5D milling.
There are also some low-cost control programs, but I don't know of any free ones. If you really want to go low budget, there is CNCPro which runs in DOS. You can then use an ultra cheap computer to run your mill setup.

All that being said, virtually all CAD, CAM and Control programs have either a trial period or output limitation. You can check them out before you buy.

Have a good one,
Ivan

Hello everyone, first time posting.
I bought a dynatorch plasma table, on the truck now being shipped, i dont know anything about cnc, but sheetcam is coming with my set up. I went on sheetcam web site and took there tutorial, it was ok but then found Ivans demo which really explains that process much better. Question though, ok so if i have a art disc and i want to cut out a shape, do i take that 1 shape and create a file for it, then import it into sheetcam, then go through the sheetcam proceedures, then to dynatorch's software to do the actual cutting? Or would i take that same file, go to corel, then sheetcam, then dynatorch? hope i dont sound to dumb...

EDD

Hello ED,

I am guessing but the "Art Disc" is probably in Line Art form which is either .eps, .wmv or .ai files.

You would first take these files into Corel or Adobe Illustrator then save them out as a .dxf file. Then open them up in SheetCAM and create toolpaths for your plasma cutter to follow. SheetCAM will spit out a G-Code file. You will then take the G-Code file and run the file using Dynatorch's CNC Control Software.

That is the process for an "art" file converted over to CNC.

Have a good one,
Ivan

http://www.gsimple.eu/index.html http://www.enter.net/~schleinkofer/ http://www.linuxcnc.org/ http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/emcinfo.pl heres ome free downloads.

Dolphin Cad Cam is also a very powerful option thus being easy to use.

We really tend to help out small shops or hobby users in regards to price.

If you have any questions let me know.

or alternatively

visit www.dolphincadcamusa.com