Reply with Quotewhat kind of lathe do you have?
Free (or cheapest) turning CAM?
whats a free or cheap cam for lathes?
Similar Threads:
what kind of lathe do you have?
I dont have one yet. wana do research beforehand to get back of the envelope total cost of ownership.
Most CAM software, while easy to output some G-code, do not use canned cycles for lathe turning efficiently. Even today, I program most lathe jobs (90%) standing at the machine with a part print and a calculator. Anyone serious about CNC machining needs to learn "manual" programming before stepping off into CAM anyway.
Dolphin Partmaster has a pretty slick turning package.
There is a product called Inplot the website is i-Logic Software I think the cost
is around $150.00 the product is very good for lathe cad and cam. We use it for
testing and tweaking our lathe programs.
Lazy turn. Abandoned I think and no longer supported.
CamBam I think has a lathe operation mode, but I have not used it.
Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Hi
Thats why i bought the bobcad boundle
But right now i fight with the emc2 control on my lathe.
I do have an Klippfeld k10
Cu
Thomas
is lazyturn still available for download or purchase?
How much did the bobcad bundle cost you? 2kish?
It seems there arnt as many options for turning cam as there are for 3 axis milling cam. the lowest price is probably cambam (but only does profiles and no internal hold cutting. then next one up is dolphin partmaster which is 500?
I'ld ask that over on the Mach Support forum. There is still a section over there to discuss Lazy Turn.Originally Posted by autobot
LazyTurn
Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Low cost CAM
SmartCAM for turning can be best option in low cost CAM for turning.
Anant
Checkout my CAD2Lathe Program at:
CAD2Lathe
Its not fancy but it works with a liittle CAD Help.
Bob A
CNC Programming Software Tools
how much is smartcam?
their website is support only and no sales or pricing anywhere
One that works well? There isn't. It's either thousands on a pro package or one of the part timers who develop it as a hobby. Not that that's a bad thing, it just isn't what business is looking for. The first guy who comes along and makes a simple dxf to gcode package that doesn't have thousands of extra gadgets will sell a lot of it.
I'm on my third consulting gig in a year for small shops new to cnc. These guys usually don't need or want to spend ten grand on cadcam and they can't afford a full time programmer. They also don't want to bother with the learning curve needed for camworks etc.
Most of these shops new to cnc just need simple turning, drilling boring. After all, they have been doing it manually until now.
Well, I guess it's good for me as I still get to teach programming and set up DNC systems
Hi
Did you look at heeks cam?
Its simple and free and still a Lot left to teach ...
Re: Free (or cheapest) turning CAM?
Have there been any developments or new pieces of software released in the last couple of years?
I'm looking for something free or cheap for hobby use.
I use Vectric VCarvePro for my CNC router and have found it to be excellent. Unfortunately they don't offer any turning software.
Re: Free (or cheapest) turning CAM?
I use Dolphin and have had it for several years. Once I got the post processor exactly like I wanted it, it produces perfect code for my lathe every time.
I still use the older version. I saw no need to upgrade. They do have a newer version out now. They also offer hobby pricing. Just discuss it with them and see what they offer. I did get a good deal on mine. I think it was about 40% off the $500, but that was years ago.
Lee
Re: Free (or cheapest) turning CAM?
If anyone is still Interested, The latest version of Ezilathe (version 1.4) is available from the downloads/others section of CNCZONE.
Ezilathe is a free program including many useful functions for the CNC lathe including a DXF to Gcode processor, that produces toolpaths directly from DXF profiles.
Also included is a quick and simple to use G76/G32 thread processor.
Re: Free (or cheapest) turning CAM?
I am reading the manual right now. If it lives up to the brags in the manual it looks like a very powerful program for the small shop or hobby lathe user.
Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com
Re: Free (or cheapest) turning CAM?
I like Ezilathe, and don't want to put down the huge effort Stutank is putting into it for free, but... I want one more feature, to cut LRLRLR , instead of one way then retract back and cut the same way every pass, too many wasted moves. I am good at coding for my router, and am just learning the lathe. I can't understand why the lathe convention is to cut in an "XZ" plane and not"XY" like the router? I code by hand, but complicated profiles get...complicated.
So I drew a simple cone I had to turn, as a 2d line drawing, top view, Y vertical in the drawing (north/south), and X horizontal. The part axis is on the Y, and the side I'm going to cut is in the bottom left quadrent, that gives the - values my lathe wants. Then I offset the line I want to cut, a number of times, the distance of the "depth of cut/pass". I trimmed and connected where needed, and in effect had a drawing of my desired tool path.
I then used the engrave function in my Gcode processor and created the code. The code now is XY not XZ, but the +- are good ( I deleted the Z moves with notepad).
Then with notepad I replaced all "Y" with "Z", now I have good code that runs the lathe, cuts LRLR...
The view in the drawing is mirrored L to R as if the tool was on the far side of the spindle axis, so is a bit of a mind bender to correlate the drawing with the actual code tool path, but not too bad once you get used to it.
I can think of 2 ways to make this easier. Find a way to rename the axis in cad ( I use Rhino and so far can't find a way). Or rename the lathe axis in the lathe cam system, ( the Lathe is AHHA, router is Mach) seems that would make the most sense and may be easiest??
Posting Permissions
