[Arm-netbook] Libre CNC milling toolchain

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton]

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crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68


On Sat, Mar 11, 2017 at 12:34 AM, Lars Kruse <lists at sumpfralle.de> wrote:
> Hi Luke,
>
> I just read your last update [1], even though it is already three weeks old.
> It was a good and interesting read - thank you for that!
>
> There you mentioned the bad shape of Free Software in the fields of CNC milling.
> In general I have to agree. But I think, it is not as bleak as you experienced
> it.
>
> There is indeed a usable toolchain of Free Software for 2D or 3D design,
> toolpath generation and machine control. Sadly especially the toolpath
> generation process is far from being as fast and full of features as it should
> be.
> Personally I maintain PyCAM [2] (a toolpath generator).
> The toolpath generators are the weak link between a range of good libre 3D and
> 2D design software and linuxcnc [3] - an excellent and mature software for
> machine control.
>
> Feel free to contact me, if this topic is of any practical interest for you
> right now.

 appreciated lars - we tried pycam: it failed to do the job, throwing
an exception on the first shape it was given in "rough prototyping
mode" and listing an estimated 2 hours to complete the "finished"
(experimental) path.  some help resolving that would be great.

 trieed blendercam but blender is so shit and user-hostile it was
impossible to use.  also it can't cope with STL files due to the
assumption that the object is designed in blender: a property of the
object is assumed to exist which in STL objects does not.

heekscad's "libre" version is deliberately crippled as a loss-leader
for the *windows-only* proprietary variant.

linuxcnc we're already using, it's the firmware / driving stuff, that
seems stable and useable but as you say doesn't do the toolpath
generation.

l.