Since I’m still just kicking the tires, was looking for free versions of software.
Estlcam seems to be a paid license.
Don’t get me wrong.
I’m willing to pay once I get my machine a little dirty.
Appreciate your help and guidance.
Hope to get rolling Sunday when a hub to copy files to a SD card.
estlcam (v.11) has a timer on it. every time you generate gcode, you wait one more second. after about 30 uses, you are waiting 30 seconds and should know by then if you want it or not, but after 30 cuts, your machine is dirty and you can make an educated decision at that point likely. It is free for all that time, but totally worth it for my uses.
There is a newer package coming out called Millmage by lightburn and it will be paid as well. It “may” have a 30 day trial like the lightburn package. Still no word on the timing on that one though.
Carbide create used to be free. I haven’t used that in a while, you might check it out. Kiri:moto is another option to try as are the cam post processors on freecad and blender. Your mileage may vary on those.
Estlcam can be used for free, but shows you a popup after a while that takes up to 90 seconds to be klickable. I think that’s fair.
I’m getting a popup in the middle of the screen that asks for a donation.
Can’t seem to close it.
Is there anything else out there?
At one time I could find in the docs several programs but having trouble finding that again.
Lots of options out there. Fusion360 is really powerful and can be used for free for personal use. I regularly use Fusion360 for 3D design, and 2D sketching .dxfs. But, for me at least, Fusion360’s CAM features although powerful, end up taking me more time and effort to setup common-complex cuts than EstlCam. After learning the EstlCam way to setting up toolpaths, adapting to live with limited undo, am finding it very useful and quick for what I need. I haven’t extensively searched around to look at other CAM options.
Personally like EstlCam’s free version that makes you wait, only increasing 1 sec per each time used. Someone recently pointed out this is great for people that rarely use, or are not sure if they’ll use long term. Potential Customer isn’t forced to commit within some 30 day time period.
Everyone’s frustration threshold varies, for me, the timer only started to get unbearably long after having used EstlCam quite a few times. The timer effectively informs me how often I’ve used the product, this information and delay help me understand/appreciate it’s value, convincing me to purchase. Nice approach.
No idea how much income EstlCam provides @christian-knuell, but if he ever decided to start a KickStarter campaign to raise enough cash for it to make sense for him to Open Source EstlCam, I’d seriously consider contributing. In any case, thank you for creating and maintaining EstlCam.
Hope this helps, cheers!
I don’t have a problem with the 1 second and increasing.
For me, the popup doesn’t go away and won’t let me proceed unless I pay $49
That is strange. Curious what version are you running?
fwiw, am running this version ok on Windows 10…
11.122 on Windows 10
Hmm, 11.122 seems quite old based on change log at Estlcam: 2D / 3D CAM und CNC Steuerung.... In your situation, I’d try upgrading to latest 11.245 version on https://www.estlcam.de/
Thanks.
Just downloaded 11.245 and will give it a try
Got the crown to open up and no pop up yet
cam.openbuilds.com is another option you can look at. Free and web based so nothing to download. I use it occasionally when I am running test cuts because I find it easier to just change speeds in each operation as opposed to having 50 tools in estCAM so I can have different speeds for each bit.
Freecad is another option, but more complex.
Estlcams nag dialog should only be when you export gcode or go to the preview. The cam part is no nag box (in my experience).
Kiri:moto is another option.
THANKS, Jeffeb3.
I have it and now need to figure out how to use it.
Been watching YouTube vids to see if I can learn.
I have the crown in the work area but don’t have it so I can preview, check tool paths or save to SD card.
Although i never used it, there is kirimoto and it is browser based. Kiri:Moto Basics - V1 Engineering Documentation
I use Estlcam a lot and for different types of job. The tool list I make for a particular job and save it under its own name so it can be used for similar jobs later.
This way there can be a small number of tools available to pick from. i.e. Aluminium I may only have about 5 or 6 tools, for Wood, maybe another 5 or 6 tools, Plastic again, just a small number of tools all with their own settings.
Makes it simple and clean.
I am a dunderhead.
I saved my crown (after following the diections on the Estlcam page, I think)
I saved it as “Save CNC programs” and changed the extension to gcode from NC.
I saved to an E drive which is a USB hub with a SD slot.
I did this because my computer has no SD slot.
When I put the SD into the controller slot, it recognizes it but I don’t see how to access it or do anything with i.
As an afterthought, Estlcam is a 3 minute delay on the free version.
I figured out how to find the Crown on the SD card.
However, there seem to be issues with my Z axis.
It stops and grinds and jerks with about 2" left on the screw above the tabletop.
Also, how do you attach your pen to draw?
Thanks for your continued patience.
It seems like the majority of forum members use Estlcam so you will probably be able to get quick help if you run into an issue.
I originally used the pay version of Fusion360 from my company but our SW police canceled the subscription. I haven’t swapped over to the hobby version mainly because I prefer non-cloud applications. But it has a lot of strong capabilities.
I recently tried Freecad. It has a lot of features and can be complex, as Jeffb points out, but it’s a bit limited/ cumbersome for what I want to do. However it may work for your initial needs.
I’m now playing with Kiri:moto and it looks very promising. It’s browser based but runs locally. It also seems to be very optimized and there is a lot of continued development.
The V1 site has a few quick start tutorials that will help you get going on a few of the options so make sure to check that out.
Best of luck!
Best to start a new forum topic with all your information about your machine.
First thing to check is does it happen with my test crown file? If not you got your CAM settings wrong likely too fast travel or plunge speeds.