CAD software for CNC router / laser

[Kevin Holbrook]

I recently bought half interest in a CNC table with router and laser. The co-owner knows how to upload files, run the machine, etc., but doesn't have experience to teach me about the use of CAD programs to create designs.

I have several projects in my head, but don't own any CAD software and know nothing about using it. Looking for some direction.

This is for personal / casual use only, I can't justify buying / subscribing to autocad ($1700 / year) or even autocad lt ($420 / year).

Is there a CAD program in the $50-200 purchase range? If so, are there tutorials or references available? One of the nice things about autodesk products is that there is so much info out there about how to use it.

Thanks in advance!


Kevin

 

[Bell206]

Is there a CAD program in the $50-200 purchase range?

I used TurboCAD for a number of years and it is still around and I believe still in your price range. There was an open source program at one time but I stuck with TurboCAD.

 

[kyleb]

EAA offers the student version of Solidworks as a member benefit.

Join up, sign up, and download it for free.

Also, for EAA members, there is an EAA forum with a sub-forum on how to install/use Solidworks.

 

[asicer]

Tinkercad?

 

[German guy]

If you're an EAA member, you can get SolidWorks for free.
It is a bit hidden on their website but Fusion360 is also free for personal use.

Both are professional CAD solutions with a strong community support. I prefer Fusion360.

 

[Juliet Hotel]

I use sketchup to design and plan all my woodworking projects. Works ok for me and free for personal use. I know a lot of others use Fusion 360 which is free for personal use.

 

[unsafervguy]

i use solid edge

 

[Kelvin]

See what ShopBot Tools has. We have an Alpha96 and use the drawing and nesting software from ShopBot.

 

[Spring Ford]

I am a novice at this, however I wanted to design a stepped plug and get it 3D printed. I first looked at tinkercad but it seemed too limited. I could not figure out how to easily do internal fillets. It would radius a corner e.g the corner of a coin where the angle inside the material was 90 degrees but I wanted a radius where the angle inside the material was 270 degrees.

I then tried onshape which is free as long as you store your work on their publicly accessible cloud. Solved.

Onshape are competing with the professional CAD market leaders and their model is to have everything on the cloud. There is no version where you can install the software locally. If you want to buy it, it is not cheap but the free stuff is full featured. Zero limitations.

Onshape also seem to be making an effort to make learning material available. I managed everything I needed from their youtube stuff.

I did a bit of Engineering Drawing at college (with pencils) decades ago and more importantly a bit of geometry so I could figure out how to define say two circles and two lines to make a bar with rounded ends.

Here it the masterpiece (just so you know how little I did) -

The whole thing is four circle segments, four lines, two extrusions and three fillets.

 

[Briar Rabbit]

I am a novice at this, however I wanted to design a stepped plug and get it 3D printed. I first looked at tinkercad but it seemed too limited. I could not figure out how to easily do internal fillets. It would radius a corner e.g the corner of a coin where the angle inside the material was 90 degrees but I wanted a radius where the angle inside the material was 270 degrees.

I then tried onshape which is free as long as you store your work on their publicly accessible cloud. Solved.

Onshape are competing with the professional CAD market leaders and their model is to have everything on the cloud. There is no version where you can install the software locally. If you want to buy it, it is not cheap but the free stuff is full featured. Zero limitations.

Onshape also seem to be making an effort to make learning material available. I managed everything I needed from their youtube stuff.

I did a bit of Engineering Drawing at college (with pencils) decades ago and more importantly a bit of geometry so I could figure out how to define say two circles and two lines to make a bar with rounded ends.

Here it the masterpiece (just so you know how little I did) -

The whole thing is four circle segments, four lines, two extrusions and three fillets.

View attachment 92579

View attachment 92580

The tables we sell use VcarvePro. Very god CAD program with lots of features but sells for $699. There is a 30 day free trial if you have a short term need.

 

[nauga]

The EAA license for Solidworks is worth the price of membership alone, and there are a lot of tutorials and other info online. I didn't know Fusion360 was also available...I'm gonna need a bigger computer. Those will get you as far as the shape but you'll need something else to generate the (presumably) gcode to drive the CNC. These tend to be application (machine and firmware) specific. I use Cura for 3d printing and GMFC for foam cutting, don't know what's available for routers and lasers but there's definitely stuff out there.

Nauga,
honing foam