[CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Gcode standards (Was: easy to learn use cad/cam cnc software?)

At 3:04 PM +0000 11/3/04, Fred Smith wrote:

>--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, Chuck Rice <Chuck@W...> wrote:
>> At 4:55 PM +0000 11/2/04, Fred Smith wrote:
>
>> I am not too worried about this as I was going to make the macros
>> available for free anyway.
>
>Maybe Jon will re-compile his dos routines, or make the source
>available to you and you won't have to reinvent the wheels that he
>has already reinvented and made available for free.

That would be great.

>When you get done with that you could probably help the EMC team/mob
>with developing subroutines, logical branching, and lathe
>capabilities, which would provide a nice solid base for macro
>programming of future custom programs in linux. ( Chuck, this is
>written, "tongue in cheek", to kid the EMC developers, and to stir
>them up a bit so that at next years NAMES they have some results to
>show. I'm a strong supporter of EMC. )
>

I am on the EMC Dev list already! :) They seem to be working hard on
EMC2. I am a bit too new to help much yet. I only got my Sherline 3
weeks ago. I have done a lot of research since then.

> > I find it hard to justify a $1000 to $2000 expense of a CAD/CAM to
>> make the one-of-a-kind parts that I need.
>
>Me too. That's why our company has been selling and using software
>for the last 12 years that costs less than $1000.

That is cool, but I wish your offerings were cross platform.

> >And the cheaper packages do
>> not seem to be quite good enough.
>
>Especially wearing the unice glasses. Name the application, I will
>be glad to share which ones I know of that can provide you with a
>solution, whether those we sell or others. ( I'm sure other group
>members will offer plenty of suggestions too )

My major applications are building robots and animatronics. I am not
ready to cut gears yet, but I would like to build gearboxes, wheels,
PCBs, special frames for eyes and jaws, etc.

I have found

QCAD Runs everywhere, but the Mac version is buggy
The Linux version is better but still trying to
understand how to use it.

Cadsoft Eagle Looks pretty good for PCB work, though I have not
put it to the test yet. If I can learn to use the
freeware version, I think I will purchase
Eagle Standard.

Cadintosh Only runs on the Mac. Have not spent a lot of
time with it yet.

DeskEngrave Runs only on PC, runs ok, but the generated tool
paths are not great.

I currently have three laptops sitting in front of me. I am typing this
on a Mac Powerbook. I have a old PC running Debian, and a newer on running
XP. I try to keep the XP system clean for my day job, so I do not like
to install a lot of stuff on it. It is too easy to break Windows systems
and they catch a lot of viruses. I do not enjoy using Windows anyway.

Because I run with so many systems, I will always choose a
cross-platform solution over a xxx-centric solution if it can do the
job. There are
many good cross-platform development packages available now, so there
does not seem to be a good reason to limit yourself. Cutting out
a chunk of your customer base by limiting offerings to one platform
does not really make sense.

I would still like to find a DXF to gcode converter for Linux. That seems
to be the most often missed piece. Any suggestions that you can provide
would be welcome. -Chuck-