CAD and CAM Software

Designing your product

Inkscape

In the 3D-world I prefer the simple OpenSCAD and in 2D it's the also fairly simple Inkscape which is free and awesome, too! ;)

• Basic usage is pretty easy, just try it. If in doubt, there's plenty of manuals and tutorials online
• Inkscape add CNC tabs

Creating GCODE

Overview

Tool	Still maintained	Ease of use	Functionality	Comment
JSCut.org	no	*****	***--	Missing/broken tabs operation, otherwise great, especially for newbies!
LaserWeb4	yes	*****	*****	Similar zu JSCut, can do tabs (add them as path to/as svg and then to the tabs of the operation), AppImage/Binary for the popular systems.

LaserWeb4

Laserweb seems to be a very active project...

• First impression
  • Much more powerful than jscut
  • JSCut does honor visibility flags of layers and paths. LaserWeb doesn't
  • I like the material/tool library
  • It can create tabs the way JSCut does/did/should (converting from drawn paths)
  • Great visualization of the cutting path

This shows the basic usage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCTDbdJotHY

FAQ

Open paths

I ran into an issue where LaserWeb kept ignoring paths while other worked just fine.

I tested this:

• Milling Pocket won't work
• Milling Cut would work
• Read https://github.com/LaserWeb/LaserWeb4/issues/456

How I solved this:

• Remove fill
• Add stroke (Hairline)
• Identify gap (Tipp: if two points are in the same location, they appear greyish)
• Close gap

It's that easy! Took me the better part of an hour to figure out…

Installation on OpenSUSE (as Webserver)

#1st Attempt (failed)

See: https://github.com/LaserWeb/LaserWeb4/wiki/1.3-Installation-on-Linux

zypper install npm
zypper in chromium
zypper in git
zypper in gcc-c++
cd /usr/local
git clone https://github.com/LaserWeb/lw.comm-server.git
cd lw.comm-server
npm install node-gyp
npm install @serialport/parser-readline
npm install -g npm-check-updates
npm-check-updates -u
npm install
npm audit fix
npm install

(unfinished)

noc:/usr/local/lw.comm-server # node server
/usr/local/lw.comm-server/server.js:31
const Readline = SerialPort.parsers.Readline;
                                    ^

TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'Readline')
    at Object.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lw.comm-server/server.js:31:37)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1378:14)
    at Module._extensions..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1437:10)
    at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1212:32)
    at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1028:12)
    at Function.executeUserEntryPoint [as runMain] (node:internal/modules/run_main:142:12)
    at node:internal/main/run_main_module:28:49

Node.js v21.6.2
noc:/usr/local/lw.comm-server #

#2nd Attempt (works like a charm)

See: https://github.com/LaserWeb/LaserWeb4

zypper install docker
systemctl enable docker
systemctl start docker
docker run -p 8000:8000 joesantos/laserweb:latest

(Maybe some use of firewall-cmd to adjust to the port)

Point your browser to the host's port 8000, that's it!

If you prefer https, I'd recommend using a reverse proxy and Letsencrypt.

PyCAM

Still needs python 2.7 and seems to abandoned since 2019.

Blender CAM

NOT TESTED YET!

https://blendercam.com/

gcad3d

NOT TESTED YET!

https://www.gcad3d.org/

Other Software (yet to test)

• https://github.com/linuxcnc/simple-gcode-generators
• GCode-Extension of Inkscape

krabzcam

NOT TESTED YET! Looks much like jscut, but a bit more sophisticated.

• Launch: https://mkrabset.github.io/krabzcam/index.html
• Manual: https://mkrabset.github.io/krabzcam/manual/manual.html

bCNC

https://github.com/vlachoudis/bCNC

Not tested yet.

grbl gru

https://www.grblgru.com/

Not tested yet.

FreeCAD

See also

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRNnWAUoXrk
• https://wiki.freecad.org/Path_Job

Do:

• Make sure you played with Inkscape-SVGs and jsCut enough to understand the basics, otherwise handling (the much more complex FreeCAD) will be very frustrating…
• Launch FreeCAD
• Make sure you have already created proper solids (see above)!
• Make sure units are ok:

Preferences → General → Unit System → Metric small parts & CNC

• Create Job:
  
  

  1. Select solid 2. Choose Path-Workbench 3. Create Job
• Choose solid:
  
• Set

Output to grbl

• Create tools as needed:

Path → Toolbit Library Editor

• Remove default tool
• Choose Tool, set # to 1
• Set H/V speed
• TBD TBD TBD

Converting STL to solids in FreeCAD

See also: https://forum.freecad.org/viewtopic.php?t=14136

1. Open the STL file
2. Select object

Part → Create shape from mesh

1. Select new object

Part → Converte to solid

Sending GCode

What works fine for me:

• cncjs
• UGS (on my old T60 w/o visualization, might be an issue with the old machine)
• not tested yet: LaserWeb

Footer

• Links
  • TBD