CAM Software: Opinions Wanted

Tim Goldstein wrote:

> I personally use EMC, but if you want to eliminate that one here is my run
> down:
>
> MaxNC No experience, but was advised by experienced users that it has many
> restrictions and quirks.
> SuperCAM No Experience or comment
> DanCAM Used it to start with. It works and it is free, but does not accept
> g-code and is pretty dated
> DeskNC Been there, done that, was disappointed with major resonance
> problems and motor stalling
> CNC Pro No experience, but very positive feedback on the list

I have used Kelly's <free> Kellyware (Windoze) in the past, it worked pretty well.
It had the occasional glitch at higher speeds, but with the last revision
has implemented more improvements.

I tried Dave's <free> TurboCNC (DOS) a month ago - it didn't like my
fast machine - apparently that is fixed now (it used to not like machines
over 100 Mhz). It may be the way to go for small computers (ie DOS
boot floppy + 100K byte program). Dave says some people use his program
commercially every day.

Otherwise, I'm playing around with Arts MasterControlCNC
(Windoze) (but currently my machine is disassembled, so the
motors are just turning in thin air). However, it runs the motors very
smoothly with no discernable glitches.

The links to these packages (including the Gcodes the packages that
Tim reviewed above) on my Tutorial/FAQ/Link page at http://www.cncKITS.com

regards
Doug Fortune

PS:

"Jeff Swayze" <jswayze@...> wrote:
Here are the packages I'm aware of right now (Excluding the monsters
like Pro/E, I-DEAS, etc.)

As far as I know, Pro/E & I-DEAS are basically CAD packages
(though there might possibly be expensive GCode generation
add-ons available), and as such, they are totally different and
incomparable to the above controller softwares. Typically
you might use Pro/E, I-DEAS, Autocad, Microstation, etc
to export 3D DXF or STL files for import into Millwizard or
Deskproto, which in turn generates Gcode.