cad/cam software

[Sweeney]

Greatings,
I decided to jump (heels first) into learning cad/cam. I just ordered a Taig cnc mill and I'm now shopping around for software. I'm looking for opinions on the best software for a complete novice. I do have machining experience as I have a Bridgeport series 1 and an 11" Rockwell lathe at home and similar machines at work but my experience is all with manual machines.
I downloaded a demo of BobCAD v20 and Rhino to tinker with.
Best Regards,

[RTP_Burnsville]

I am new at this CNC stuff as well. OneCNC is the package that I am giving serious thought to purchasing once I get my mini-mill conversion complete. My friend owns Bobcat and neither of us have been impressed with it. One big drawback is that it will not communicate to our Gecko drives directly without a third-party program.

[ger21]

Originally Posted by RTP_Burnsville One big drawback is that it will not communicate to our Gecko drives directly without a third-party program.

No CAM software will "talk" to your Geckos. That's the job of machine control software, not CAM.

[motomitch1]

Onecnc XR 2 is really good and easy to learn and with MACH 3 as your machine control software you would have a unbeatable system.

[erase42]

in my opinion mach 2 or 3 is incredible, its always being improved at user request and the creater is right there on the user forum to help with any bugs or compatibility issues. definitly give the trial a try before making a choice.

[Sweeney]

Okay, so, I need to get cad/cam software and a machine control software? The "cam" doesn't operate the machine, correct?

[ger21]

Originally Posted by Sweeney Okay, so, I need to get cad/cam software and a machine control software? The "cam" doesn't operate the machine, correct?

Correct. The CAM software will output g-code. The Controller software reads the g-code and controls the machine.

[Sweeney]

Thanks, Gerry! It's all starting seep into my wee brain.

[slawsonb]

Does anybody have any opionins on DeskCNC?

Bruce

[phil burman]

OK here we go, the blind leading the blind.

You need a Cad application to do the drawing. You need a Cam application to convert the drawing into g code and you need a machine controller appication to use the g code to tell the machine how to move etc. I have gone for TurboCadCam which is an integrated CadCam package, that takes care of the first two, and Mach2 that takes care of the machine control application. The best price you will probably find is USD 395 for TurboCadCam and USD 159 for Mach2 (or version 3 if you prefer). If thats to steep then I don't know. Based on two months of heavy reading this is a highly recommended package with excellent support. For a novice you should not under estimate the value of good support. It's a sharp learning curve, IMO.

Best Regards
Phil