Re: Easy CNC Guides Needed

I have been using Geomagic (3D CAD) for 12 years now and it works just fine. But I'd not recommend it to you for creating models.

I bought a few cheap 3D CAM programs and they all turned out to be cheap in function and shaky in the g-code they produced. And we are talking hours of machine time that a 2D program would run in tens of minutes at the most for an identical part.

I discovered Cut2D desktop. It will do 90% or more of the CNC jobs I have and that includes making model engines that run. Most CNC work is still 2D or 2 1/2D and Cut2D can be used to draw the part or draw out engraving jobs and then generate the G-Code. It has yet to generate bad code. It will accept DXF files which many CAD programs will generate. It costs around $150 for the simpler software and that is plenty good enough for a lot of machine shops.

When my Geomagic finally dies due to 3D Systems ignorance, I'll switch to Fusion 360 while not as easy to use as Geomagic, has a lot more to offer.