Is Vcarve Pro great for plasma use

[Beefy]

Hi Everyone,

Vcarve Pro is designed for routing with v-bits and I've heard it's very easy to use and saves heaps of time getting a design to the cutting stage.

I have also heard that some are using it for preparing work for plasma cutting too. I think instead of using the cam facilities in Vcarve Pro you just output a dxf file to your cam program. Anyone here using it and is is great for plasma work.

Would it be a replacement for Corel Draw for example, or do the two programs have different functions as applies to cnc shape cutting. I know that Vcarve Pro has some tracing and drawing functions, but no idea how they'd compare to the likes of Corel Draw.

I'm just a beginner whos trying to figure out what's the best investment for the art side of things.

Cheers,

Keith.

[magma-joe]

Beefy,

I have a CNC mill as well as a CNC plasma table. I initally purchased Vcarve to use with the mill but have found it also useful for some plasma cutting. Normally I use a OneCNC cad program to do all my DXF drawings for the mill and plasma. I must say Vcarving on the mill is awesome!

But when it comes to signs, logos and scaling drawings to size ,Vcarve works great for plasma cutting to. I have a engraving attachment on my plasma table which is where Vcarve really shines. I did experiment with the Vcarve tracing feature and the results were dependent on the quality of the drawing.

I can't comment on Corel Draw as I have no experience with it. I currently use Arbor Image Cutting Shop to trace my drawings and it works well.

Magma-joe