I find Freecad a bit of a pain to use and it takes a lot of use to master (which I obviously haven't.) So I only use it occasionally for things my regular CAD/CAM software can't do. The thing I use it for most, simply finding the center of gravity of an artwork cut out shape, so I can correctly locate the position to mill a hanger on the back so that it will always hang straight. The only other thing I use it for is the rare occasion I might need to generate a tool path that sort of resembles a HSM tool path. Two things the woodworking oriented software I normally use is incapable of.
Todd Zuercher P. Graham Dunn Inc. 630 Henry Street Dalton, Ohio 44618 Phone: (330)828-2105ext. 2031 -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Layne <linux...@thinkingdevices.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2021 11:46 AM To: Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC) <emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net> Subject: Re: [Emc-users] lathe paths with linux cnc and CAD software [EXTERNAL EMAIL] Be sure links are safe. This is my annual warning that AutoDesk isn't The Benevolent Software Company, and they aren't in business to give you free stuff because you're so awesome. AutoDesk has a history of offering free or low cost software to entice users into investing their time to learn the software (this may be the highest cost of ownership), and once you have tens or hundreds of designs in their proprietary CAD format, they decide to unilaterally change the deal and you're trapped. They did this to me with AutoSketch, a couple of decades ago. I had hundreds of hours wasted and many designs were abandoned because I couldn't export them. AutoSketch was never a serious product. It was used to migrate users to AutoCAD LT, and then to AutoCAD. FreeCAD doesn't do everything you might want, but I've been very happy with it and I'm grateful to the open source programmers who make it possible. If all you want is 2D or 2.5D CAM for LinuxCNC, it may be all you need in its current state. FreeCAD is still under development, so it may have the features you need by the time you need them, but that's a risky proposition with free open source software. _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
