Design to machining CNC

If you've never really played with any of the CAD programs, you may benefit from downloading some of the truly free ones and just get familiar with the basic functions like drawing lines and circles, so that you won't spend any of the trial period getting your feet wet with the very basic functions. And start with just simple 2d drawings until you get comfortable with that, then learn the 3d commands. If you have any manual drafting experience, this will go pretty well. Don't be intimidated by the complexity and versatility of some of these programs. You won't start off using them to their full capability anyway. You can work up to it on an as-needed basis.

I kind of like SW and MasterCam myself, although presently I have no use for them in my manual shop. I do any drafting I need for fixturing or projects in good old ACAD.
 
I guess I'm the oddball of the bunch. I have no problem with G-code, but can't seem to get the hang of any 3D modeling software. I've stumbled around Solid Works for a while and still no luck. I agree with Tony on the really free stuff. Try it before you buy it.

You can get demo Mach 3 that is free and will run everything but only for 500 lines of code. I would get that and play around with it to familiarize yourself with it. http://www.machsupport.com/software/mach3/

Here's a free Solid Works download as well. http://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight/
 
LinuxCNC is a good (perhaps better) alternative to Mach3.
 
I am using LinuxCNC, and am very pleased with it. It's free, so you can try it out. I haven't run Mach personally, though it is the #1 machine controller for hobbyists, LinuxCNC is a distant second. Everything else is just a drop in the bucket

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The debate between which is "better" can get a bit heated. The truth is, either will work for a 3 axis machine, and Mach3 is probably easier to configure. For more complex setups, LinuxCNC or a fancy, hardware based controller will probably be required.

One negative thing about LinuxCNC is that the post that comes with AlibreCAM is kinda crappy. I ended up spending some time on it trying to make it halfway decent. It works better now, but it's still not perfect.
 
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