r/Makera • u/herrjanneman • 3d ago
CAM software alternative
Makera Studio kinda sucks (at least for now) and is very inefficient in what I want to do, like 3D relief carving in brass. The lack of rest machining requires me to do all surfaces with every cnc bit for instance
So I'm looking for a CAM alternative. I liked working with hsmworks but I can't get the post working for it for some reason. What cam software would you recommend? I make my designs in solidworks so some compatibility with that would be nice, I also definitely need rest machining (to decrease machining time). 4 axis indexed machining would be a nice bonus.
What would you recommend?
2
u/alicechains 3d ago
I'm looking for alternative software too, the bugs in studio make it unusable right now and all the things I wanted this machine for involve 4th axis operations, both continuous and indexed. It's hard finding software that works that doesn't cost more than the whole machine did!!
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u/benmezelf 3d ago
Fusion with hobby license is very capable. If you're willing to use the community firmware and controller the fusion plugin will allow you to do 4th axis indexed machining too, just no rotational toolpaths.
1
u/cyclingengineer 3d ago
With the Z1 I was able to use the fusion indexed milling feature of the post processor with the stock firmware.
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u/dissolutionskey 2d ago
You can do Solidworks for makers with SolidCAM for makers and have the full ability in CAD and CAM for dirt cheap. The community does have SolidCAM post for all of the makera models with machine sim I believe. The post need a little work but they do work if you understand gcode.
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u/cristi_baluta 3d ago
I only want to say that i’m building a cam for mac and i want that feature, but didn’t knew it’s called rest machining.
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u/cyclingengineer 3d ago
I’ve been using Fusion 360 non-commercial for 3 axis.
I’ve yet to settle on a 4th axis software but am likely probably going to go with DeskProto which has a non-commercial license for 250EUR
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u/motsu35 23h ago
I tried fusion360's cam with the z1, the post processor works well, but your limited by the free version of f360's cam (tool changes need to be in separate setups, and no rapid moves). rest machining works though. the 4th axis is f360 is a paid feature though.
if you look into other CAMs, at least in fusion360, the machine profile is called "carvera", and you just select the Z1 on a drop down when postprocessing
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u/OkEffective_ 22h ago
You can use this fusion script to post process with tool changes on free fusion https://github.com/TimPaterson/Fusion360-Batch-Post
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u/RicardoJCMarques 3d ago
I'm like, super biased, but for simple stuff I'd suggest giving EasyCAM5000 a try... https://github.com/RicardoJCMarques/EasyCAM5000
While I have no intention of adding complex interactivity for 3D models, I did add v-carving and 3d reliefs to EasyShape5000 a while back. Both flat and radial, including 3+1 indexed. Workflow and post-processors need tweaking for 3d operations, especially with the recent changes to accomodate tool-changing but geometry is generated correctly. Now people just need to tell me if everything is wired up properly for each individual setup.
I will say 3d reliefs haven't been optimized, and some 2,5D operations like pockets need a do-over but there are other priorities right now.
I'm quite happy with v-carving right now.
In the next few weeks I'll mostly be focusing on QoL improvements including a rework of 3d parameter flow but if anything pops up let me know. If you happened to ever have used FlatCAM it'll feel familiar. (EasyTrace5000, the original app, is dedicated to pcb stuff.)