Question CNC software

[KMC]

wondering what is the best software for more detailed 3D signs for beveled edges and more of a hand carved look
we have standard software (not sure what its called)

 

[timgo]

Hi,

I've send you a pm.

 

[ewded]

For casual use or hobbists vectric aspire is good Vectric Ltd - Passionate About CNC you can learn it in 20 minutes but it has it's limitations. A full featured cad software like FUSION 360 takes weeks to learn but it's actually free and you can find ton's of tutorials on youtube. It's like designing your signs in microsoft world vs illustrator.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

A full featured cad software like FUSION 360 takes weeks to learn but it's actually free and you can find ton's of tutorials on youtube.

Exactly how does $26 a month for a year subscription or $40 a month if do month by month translates to free?

 

[ChrisN]

Exactly how does $26 a month for a year subscription or $40 a month if do month by month translates to free?

It's free for "hobbyist" use. It's quite popular among the maker community, which is why there's so much free tutorial content. However, it's not without strings attached. From Autodesk's website:

• The free Start-Up/ Enthusiast licenses allow you to access Fusion 360 with a yearly subscription after the trial period has ended. You can use this license if you are a small business making less than $100,000 per year (or equivalent), or if you're a hobbyist using Fusion 360 for non-commercial purposes.

 

[ewded]

Exactly how does $26 a month for a year subscription or $40 a month if do month by month translates to free?

"The free Start-Up/ Enthusiast licenses allow you to access Fusion 360 with a yearly subscription after the trial period has ended. You can use this license if you are a small business making less than $100,000 per year (or equivalent), or if you're a hobbyist using Fusion 360 for non-commercial purposes."

For slow people: if you make under $100.000/year you can get a free license that is renewed yearly, absolutely free, legally

 

[stoliker]

I use Vcarve pro and like it. I would love to know how to get the wood grain pattern like in your sample or a similar program that will do that also.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

For slow people: if you make under $100.000/year you can get a free license that is renewed yearly, absolutely free, legally

So at best, it may be free for the OP or it may not be. It depends on the criteria that the OP truthfully meets.

 

[fuzzy_cam]

We use Vectric's Aspire for our ShopBot.

 

[fixtureman]

You can do that real easy in Aspire from Vectric. I do it all the time. Go to their site and download the Aspire demo and work along with the tutorials. You can save your work and if you like Aspire and buy it you then can use what you designed

 

[Martin Denton]

we use artcam express with several plugins we bought at the same time It is very powerfull and enables all types of machining. However since being taken over by autocad they have stopped supplying this entry level software. When it is no longer usable due to OS changes I will look at vectric... Cant work out why autocad stopped the entry level package as it was a great first step into the artcam software

 

[Ian Stewart-Koster]

Enroute will do that also - but don't forget, it's not the software really that does it, it's the mind and creativity of the sign maker, added to years of experience knowing how to assemble parts for best effect, and knowing how to drive the router and which cutters to achieve this.
There is much more in that than at first glimpse appears.

 

[Ken M. Klein]

Gerber AutoCarve did everything we ever needed to do.

 

[KMC]

we currently have enroute software ...thoughts on the upgrade?

 

[Sandman]

From what I know about Enroute, it should make the Beckwith Studio sign easily. I have Artcam Pro but like others said the dorks at Autocad discontinued it. I stopped upgrading with the 2015 version and I'll use it till I retire. If I was starting over I would go with Aspire. Yes it has limitations, it is a company started from former Artcam engineers. It was a few years behind Artcam, obviously, you don't catch up to 10 years of development with a new product in a short time. But it will easily make the sign you have shown which should also be easy in Enroute. Fusion 360 is a great program for making machine type parts and prototyping but many of the guys on a Facebook CNC forum struggle with it, especially when trying to make signs with 3D elements. You are much better off with Aspire or Enroute since there are thousands of reliefs that can be purchased very reasonably so that modeling time is short.

I know Gary Beckwith personally and was at the router workshop 8 years ago when that sign was one of the projects we did. I have one just like it. Artcam has a decent wood grain texture as part of the software but I use a file created at that seminar where Joe Crumely sandblasted a fairly large red cedar panel, he took a picture of it and brought it into Atcam to make a new texture. I use it all the time on anything where I want that sandblasted redwood look. V-Carve Pro can also bring import reliefs but I think V-CArve Standard does not.

 

[ewded]

So at best, it may be free for the OP or it may not be. It depends on the criteria that the OP truthfully meets.

You must be fun at parties.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

You must be fun at parties.

Nope, not a snowball's chance in hell of that, particularly since I'm not a party goer at all.

 

[astro8]

Enroute is by far the best for a sign shop, followed by Aspire.

Fusion360 isn't meant to do stuff like this.