will Camsoft work on small mills

[skipper]

Hi All,

I am converting a HF mill/drill model 33686 to CNC using stepper motors. I am going to us SolidWorks and SolidCAM as my software. I see alot of hobbiest on this site use MACH3 for their controller software. Can I use CamSoft to controll a machine like mine? Is it made only for professional machines?

Thanks,
Rene

[jpgdesigns]

Yes you can control your machine with CamSoft. Due to the cost of CamSoft, it is hard to justify when compaired to Mach. Though if your HF mill/drill is just a stepping stone to a larger more complex machine, then cost of CamSoft could be justified. Only you can make that call.

[Karl_T]

To learn Camsoft, I converted a stepper mill from Mach3. It was a great way to learn and I left the machine with Camsoft control, but only because I already owned the licence. As a next step, I upgraded the machine to servos and a professional operator panel. Now I've got something.

If you've just looking for keyboard controls on a stepper unit, using Camsoft would be like swatting a fly with a nuclear weapon.

Karl