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.
Cheers, Lars
[1] https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop/updates/progress-physics-ta... [2] http://pycam.sf.net/ [3] http://linuxcnc.org/
--- crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68
On Sat, Mar 11, 2017 at 12:34 AM, Lars Kruse lists@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.
Le 2017-03-10 à 23:28, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton a écrit :
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68
On Sat, Mar 11, 2017 at 12:34 AM, Lars Kruse lists@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.
arm-netbook mailing list arm-netbook@lists.phcomp.co.uk http://lists.phcomp.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/arm-netbook Send large attachments to arm-netbook@files.phcomp.co.uk
There's a CAM module under active development in FreeCAD called "Path". Not being a machinist I have no clue how usable it is (its main dev has put some video tutorials on Youtube), but I'm pretty sure it won't work on mesh objects, you'll need to convert it into a CAD solid. The Path module in current 0.16.6707 release provides limited features, the best is to used the latest development build.
On Sat, Mar 11, 2017 at 5:01 AM, Normand Chamberland gemnoc@gmail.com wrote:
There's a CAM module under active development in FreeCAD called "Path". Not being a machinist I have no clue how usable it is (its main dev has put some video tutorials on Youtube), but I'm pretty sure it won't work on mesh objects, you'll need to convert it into a CAD solid. The Path module in current 0.16.6707 release provides limited features, the best is to used the latest development build.
i believe i got as far as compiling up freecad but not the path module. the desk is currently occupied by a china $300 mendel clone (which amazingly works!) we will get back to the CNC later :)
l.
arm-netbook@lists.phcomp.co.uk
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Lars Kruse -
Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton -
Normand Chamberland