Which software for my benchmill conversion?

[Chris600]

I have tried to read in this forum but hard to get answers to my questions.

Which CAM and controllsoftware should I go for? I am drawing in autocad and will get .dxf files from that. I have tried CamBam and that one seems to be OK and mayby not so expensive for a hobbyist. Is that a smart choice?

The controller I have looked much into Mach3 but noticed that it is expensive ti get the full version. I have also get info to use LinuxCNC but I have not used Linux at all. The PC that I have for this purpose is also a windows PC. I have seen yoputube videos of making a separate partion on the harddrive to get in Linux in that one and then gor for LinuxCNC.


So what is your opinions?

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[A_Camera]

Have you looked at UCCNC?

You need to buy one of their motion controller also, but still cheaper than Mach3, and in many ways better.

[Chris600]

Thanks for the input.

Do you know what is the diffrence between i.e. UC100 and UC300. I saw that they have a package for SW + UC100. Is that package OK for a 3 axis mill?

I assume that the UC100 is the conteoller to which I can connect steppermotordrivers?

[ninefinger]

Definitely look at Autodesk Fusion 360 for the CAD and CAM software. Free for hobbyist and under $100k businesses. Cloud Powered 3D CAD/CAM Software for Product Design | Fusion 360

I would also look into a stand alone controller unless you have extra PC's kicking around, then I'd say try LinuxCNC.
The UC400 would be my choice as its uses ethernet versus USB.

Mike

[Jim Dawson]

I like CamBam. Simple to use and not expensive. I find that it works for everything that I need to do.

[Chris600]

I have an extra PC so thats not a problem.

I will try Autodesk Fusion 360 for sure.

Mayby I will put a second harddrive in my PC and run Linux on that one so I can test LunuxCNC

[A_Camera]

I would also look into a stand alone controller unless you have extra PC's kicking around, then I'd say try LinuxCNC.

"Standalone controller" is a buzzword. Dedicated PC is OK but not entirely necessary unless you use some old Windows version, or have a weak PC, or use Linux.

The UC400 would be my choice as its uses ethernet versus USB.

UC300ETH was my choice. On the other hand, if he uses any of the UCxxx than he can't use Linux at all...

[A_Camera]

Mayby I will put a second harddrive in my PC and run Linux on that one so I can test LunuxCNC

LinuxCNC uses parallel port, which is a dinosaur. I don't know if there are other possibilities but must be something very special in that case. CNC Drive does not support LinuxCNC so you can't use their products. Get a good PC, not just any PC you have laying around unused for several years, get an Ethernet motion controller and you'll never regret it. With the UXxxx motion controllers you can use UCCNC or Mach3, Mach4 drivers are in the pipeline as well.

[A_Camera]

Thanks for the input.

Do you know what is the diffrence between i.e. UC100 and UC300. I saw that they have a package for SW + UC100. Is that package OK for a 3 axis mill?

I assume that the UC100 is the conteoller to which I can connect steppermotordrivers?

The UCxxx motion controllers are just motion controllers. You also need a BOB between the UCxxx and the stepper drivers. The BOBs I am using cost about 10$ on eBay and work very well. I use two, but only one is necessary for a CNC with up to 4 axis.

The major differences between the UCxxx products are:

UC100 is only a USB to one DB25 converter. It is designed so that people who used parallel port can move over to USB easily. It is boxed and is really plug-and-play. No analog output. 100kHz pulsing.
UC400ETH is Ethernet motion controller and has two standard IDC26 ports, which can be used as if you had two standard parallel ports. No analog output. 200kHz pulsing.
UC300USB and UC300ETH both are the same except for the communication. They have 5 IDC26 ports, two standard parallel LPT type, and three with mostly outputs. They have an additional analog in/out port with two analog inputs and two analog outputs. The ETH version has faster pulsing, 400kHz vs. 200kHz.

I have a UC300USB and a UC300ETH. Both work very well and reliably, but of course, the Ethernet version is better. Mainly because it is completely isolated from the PC and the protocol is better than USB (this is the nature of Ethernet) so it is more reliable. The UC400 and UC300 demands a box because they are just cards. The Ethernet cards require external power supply as well, which is also the nature of Ethernet. With the UC300USB you have a choice, can use the USB power or connect an external power to feed it.

Visit CNC Drive for more details. You can also download UCCNC which will run in demo mode. In demo mode the motion is not supported, only internally, so the DROs are updated but will not generate step pulse outputs. You cal also download the manuals and check out.

[Jim27]

It really depends on what you want to do, if you want to build things or just plug things in and go, etc. Most of the answers seem to be toward more of a production shop where cost can be justified. Where cost is an issue and you have an old PC with a parallel port (there are a few other possibilities - ethernet, etc) linuxcnc is a reasonable choice (IMHO). I have an old P4 machine that was just sitting unused that works fine. Get the live cd and run the latency tests to see how well the PC will work and you can check without installing anything. There are a number of step and direction drives out there that will work with it. One popular one is the Gecko G540 - 4 axis in one box that hooks right to the parallel port. It does have fixed microstep of 10 which may limit your speed but I found it to be fine even with belt reductions on my steppers. If you can dedicate a PC to the mill that is what I recommend.

That and Fusion360 will do quite a lot - maybe everything you need. Fusion360 includes both CAD and CAM.

[109jb]

Chris,
I personally use LinuxCNC on my converted Grizzly G0704 milling machine and it has performed flawlessly for many years. I run it on an old surplus Pentium5 desktop that i got for free. From a cost standpoint it can't be beat as the software is free and it doesn't need a bleeding edge PC to run well. My particular setup uses 0.2" pitch ballscrews at 1/8 microstepping and can achieve 200+ IPM rapids using the parallel port as the interface to the mill. This works out to about 30 kHz stepping rate. With that setup running through parallel port I have not had any instance of the machine doing anything other than what I commanded it to do. Not to say I haven't had crashes, but all that I have had have been my fault and not the software. On the other hand, I have read many many instances of Mach3 performing uncommanded moves or having "glitches". I don't use Mach3, so only go by what I have read, but I have read enough that I'm not not going to use a program that is currently unsupported and has potential problems. Mach 4 might have solved these problems, but requires an external step generator, or an additional purchase to use parallel port.

Before using LinuxCNC for my mill i had absolutely no experience with Linux and this wasn't a problem using the live iso download from LinuxCNC.org. Setup was rather easy in my opinion with the live iso performing the install of the operating system and LinuxCNC. From there the stepper configuration wizard provides a step by step for setting up a stepper driven machine. This was also pretty easy in my opinion. You could also try the LinuxCNC interface out in simulator mode by installing the iso in a virtual environment. I have LinuxCNC installed on my windows laptop inside VirtualBox for simulation tasks and it works great.

Someone will probably come along and tell you that you NEED and external step generator like the UC100/300, or a smoothstepper, but I have found the parallel port to work fine for my purposes. Although $200 can get you a UC setup, I personally just can't justify spending even $200 for a setup when a free setup does everything I need it to and more. It isn't because I can't afford it, but rather that I can't justify it. I certainly have not found that I NEED an external step generator. Sure an external step generator can achieve smooth 200 kHz step pulses, but who cares if you only need 30 kHz and software stepping proves smooth enough for you. Depending on your computer you could probably get up to about 50 kHz through parallel port, and if higher is needed then MESA FPGA cards are available for low cost that run with LinuxCNC. Incidentally, the LinuxCNC with MESA card is the route that Tormach has taken for their production machines as their PathPilot controller has LinuxCNC at its core.

Since you indicated a desire to keep cost down, and that you already have a PC that you can try it on, it would be my suggestion to give LinuxCNC a try using the parallel port. It may have all the performance you desire. If not then you can always add a Mesa card or go to a different setup altogether.

As for CAD/CAM, I am using Fusion 360 right now and find it suits my needs. I haven't found anything that I want to do that it can't accomplish. Others have indicated lacking functionality for higher end use, but for me and my simple 3 axis mill it has worked just fine. A huge benefit is that it is free for hobbyists and startup companies making less than $100k per year. I have access to high end CAD/CAM through a friend that has a business and lets me go over and use his stuff when he isn't using it. I have found though that the higher end CAM is not as intuitive as Fusion360 CAM and has a rather steep learning curve. I also had Solidworks that you can get at low cost if you are a student or a veteran. I believe the current pricing is $150/year for students and $20/year for veterans, but this is for non-commercial use and doesn't include CAM software. I find Solidworks easier in terms of CAD modeling than Fusion, but Fusion isn't bad once you get used to it. The big benefit of Fusion is that it is integrated CAD and CAM. The student/veteran version of Solidworks is CAD only.

[slashmaster]

I have tried to read in this forum but hard to get answers to my questions.

Which CAM and controllsoftware should I go for? I am drawing in autocad and will get .dxf files from that. I have tried CamBam and that one seems to be OK and mayby not so expensive for a hobbyist. Is that a smart choice?

The controller I have looked much into Mach3 but noticed that it is expensive ti get the full version. I have also get info to use LinuxCNC but I have not used Linux at all. The PC that I have for this purpose is also a windows PC. I have seen yoputube videos of making a separate partion on the harddrive to get in Linux in that one and then gor for LinuxCNC.


So what is your opinions?

Chris I think your workflow idea of AutoCAD to CamBam to Mach3 is an excellent choice! I tried Linux cnc, was a lot more difficult to figure out than mach3. With Mach3, you can have up to 500 moves at a time before you have to pay for it. You can just cut your g-code into a 2nd half or more if you need more than 500. Mach 3 doesn't need much of a pc either, almost anything will do. In fact it will be even more dependable with an older one that has the 5 volt parallel port because you won't even need a breakout board, just wire a printer cable directly to the drivers! Whatever you do, keep the pc you use for machining unplugged from the internet (except maybe to download mach3). You don't want your machining pc to have all the problems of your regular pc like popups, viruses or updates that change menu's around.

[Chris600]

Thanks o lot for your replies.

My use will not be any comercial it just a hobby I I want to test this out without spending to much money.

I think I will tryout Linuxcnc on mu PC and download fusion 360. Then all that is for free and if it doesn´t work for me I will try some other options.

[SteveWill]

I have tried to read in this forum but hard to get answers to my questions.

Which CAM and controllsoftware should I go for? I am drawing in autocad and will get .dxf files from that. I have tried CamBam and that one seems to be OK and mayby not so expensive for a hobbyist. Is that a smart choice?

The controller I have looked much into Mach3 but noticed that it is expensive ti get the full version. I have also get info to use LinuxCNC but I have not used Linux at all. The PC that I have for this purpose is also a windows PC. I have seen yoputube videos of making a separate partion on the harddrive to get in Linux in that one and then gor for LinuxCNC.


So what is your opinions?

I use an xp machine and parallel port, I went with the $175 version Mach 3 and it is all I need. I used CamBam, They have an older version that is free and I looked at the later version and was about to buy then I found the free version of Fusion 360 . I will be using it. I do not know any thing about LinuxCNC or Linux, the learning curve was so high with the other that I just was not willing to take another one more.

[slashmaster]

I use an xp machine and parallel port, I went with the $175 version Mach 3 and it is all I need. I used CamBam, They have an older version that is free and I looked at the later version and was about to buy then I found the free version of Fusion 360 . I will be using it. I do not know any thing about LinuxCNC or Linux, the learning curve was so high with the other that I just was not willing to take another one more.

The high learning curve of any of these softwares is probably a good reason to stay away from one like fusion 360. Once you learn a software like Mach3, AutoCAD or Cambam, your golden as long as you can keep a computer with that software. But a cloud based software like fusion 360 is going to be changing left and right all the time with little if any improvement. They'll change the look, the menu's and other things. If you have not been on it in a few months it might be almost like learning it all over from scratch again. By the way, if you've gone to mcdonalds and not gotten what you asked for, about 80-90% of the time it is because of this reason!

[ger21]

But a cloud based software like fusion 360 is going to be changing left and right all the time with little if any improvement. They'll change the look, the menu's and other things. If you have not been on it in a few months it might be almost like learning it all over from scratch again

This has NOT happened in the last 4 YEARS, and I don't see it happening in the future.

The high learning curve of any of these softwares is probably a good reason to stay away from one like fusion 360

ALL software has a learning curve. The more complex, and the more features there are, the steeper the learning curve.
If basic, easy to use software does what you need, than that's great. But if you need the features that are found in more complex software, then you have to learn how to use it.
If you don't want to learn anything, you're in the wrong hobby.
I've been working with CNC's professionally for about 20 years, and still learn new things all the time.

[KCJ]

I have a Mach3 licence and have used it on several prototype machines, but I recently started playing with LinuxCNC as the controller for a RF45 mill conversion and I am in love with it. IMHO it is much easier to configure than Mach3 and I have not experienced a single glitch, which I do experience form time to time with my Mach setups. Since I am making a full control panel I am using the MESA 5i52 Superport and a 7i76 daughtercard which has 48 IO ports. I can very reliably run 300ipm with 5mm pitch screws and x25 microstepping which works out to a 125kHz pulse rate. It was a piece of cake to set up potentiometer feed and rapid overrides and an MPG. I am using an old PC I found in a trash heap and is it more than sufficient. With just the parallel port and x10 microstepping I could reliably get 150ipm, and all you'd need is a $10 BOB.

Anyway, I think you will be pleasantly surprised with LinuxCNC.

Cheers,
Kurt