Question Which CAM Software to use to achieve the purpose

Dear Stepcraft fans and users!



Until nov, i did some projects with EstlCAM for engraving and cutting out the 2D pieces which worked well.
Nov i would like to make a 3D project (see picture), beside the licence for WinPC, I have a 3D drawing in CorelDraw but i am a bit confused about CAM, it seems that EstlCAM doesn't do the trick. Can you please suggest which CAM software to use to be able to make the project with WinPC (USB) on 2/420?

Thank you, Wish you all a nice day.

Jernej

Jerne..,

Try Fusion 360. It is free for home users and has a CAM future.
Another rather expensive package is VCarve or Aspire from Vectrix. (maybe you find them on the darker internet-pages).

Is it a real cubic object? Or is it flat on the backside?

If it is really a cube, it is still a 2.5D thing. The biggest problem (irrelevant wheather we talk about 2.5D or 3D) are the inner edges inside the big cube, because a endmills can't cut square edges along the z-axle. Closest you can come is milling the part from 3 sides, which creates at least square edges at the tip of the endmill. Still 3 corners will be round and not square.

For CAD there are several software packages available: Autodesk, design spark mechanical, sketchup ...

EstlCAM can load and mill 3D and with version 10 it even supports 2sided milling. File format is STL.

I know this problem. Give Estlcam following info:setup,Cnc Programm Generation,Texts

(Projekt <project>)
(Erstellt mit Estlcam Version <version> Build <build>)
(Laufzeit ca. <time> Stunden)

(Benötigte Werkzeuge:)
<tools>

G90
G64 P0.005 <--- add this text
M03 S<s>

Hi,

this part is easy to make with Estlcam - even with a "flat" dxf drawing instead of a 3D model.
The only issues are the inner edges - they will be rounded by the tool radius - but this is a general milling issue independent of the CAM software.

If you like I can show the steps later - just let me know.

Christian

Hi Christian,

Thank you very much for your answer. I would like to stick using the EstlCAM, because i got used to it and it turned out very handy for the 2D purpose until now.
I'd appreciate your help if you could show me the steps.
Thank you in advance.
Best regards,
Jernej

By the way, what are the dimensions of the cube?

Hi Andreas,
outside A = 15cm, but it will differ in different projects.
I see you moved from WinPC Starter/USB to Arduino? Is it worth? what are the benefits?
Best regards,
Jernej

I recommend MeshCAM from GRZ Software for genuine 3D work.

It copes well with 2.5D geometries too.

Doug

Well ... 15cm is bad news. Which material do we talk about?
A normal 3mm endmill has a cutting length of 15mm. An 8mm endmill has normally a cutting length of 40mm. To extend the length by 100% is a bad idea because the forces will be increased to an extend that the endmill or the mount will bend and might get damaged. (Remember lever rule from school?)

Again ... problem are the inner edges and corners. The radius of the tool does not allow to have sharp edges anywhere.

I only had the starter version of WinPC NC. So, the benefit to switch to EstlCAM was it's low price and there is no additional software hop in the toolchain but getting full g-code support with variable z-axis. ( In starter you have manual settings for z-axis ).

So let's start...

We basically have 2 pockets at 2 different levels - so manufacturing progresses this way:







...

The first step is to enable the grid (this is optional but helps with the following steps):





Then we create the upper pocket with the hole function in manual mode:





Note I've made the pocket considerably larger than the part itself.
If you limit the pocket to actual part dimensions you'll have leftover material in the corners (red circles) and a large burr at the edges (orange circles).



Once the hole is finished click "Pocket" and set desired depth (I've set it to 20mm assuming a 60x60mm workpiece)





Then do the same for the lower pocket and set depth to 20, too and "Start level" to 20 because this one starts at the bottom of the previous pocket.




Finally there will be 3 inside corners where the edges are rounded due to tool radius - this cannot be avoided unless you turn the cube around and also machine it a second time e.g. from the right or front side: