Which CAD program to choose?

[JRaut]

+1 for Fusion 360!

I've been using it for over 5 years and it's never let me down.

And I still use the Free Hobby/Educational version, so it's not cost me a single red cent.


I use a Ligitech MX Anywhere 2 as my daily driver and I've had no issues using it for Fusion 360.

 

[DavidR8]

For those who use the hobby version of Fusion for CAM but would like to have multiple tools and rapids as in the paid version have a look here:
The only-1-tool limitation/no-rapids in CAM is easily bypassed using a fully functional add-in available from Github.

 

[B2]

Yeah, i did that too - then all those 'forever' licenses turned into mandatory subscriptions to function and are not cheap. i never believe this any more.

One thing you will want to have is some form of simulator so that you can simulate the G-code to visually see the tool path and so determine if the instructions you wrote actually generate the shape you think it is making. My mill came set up for Mach3 (ArtSoft of New Fangled Solutions) to drive it... so I purchased it. Today you should get Mach4 ($200) as it is no doubt better, but a lot of machines are stuck with Mach3 interpreters. I can simulate the code via stepping through the instructions operations by hand at the Mill computer before cutting. It is cheap. Then I also purchased their Mill Wizard software $75 to simulate the Gcode off line. It turns out to be very handy. https://www.machsupport.com/ These prices are a one time license that lasts for ever. Anyway, it is a way to try your hand out at this even without a milling machine.

Well, I did have some problems with the free version of Fusion 360 this way. Features that were included in the free version at one time later went away. However, I have been using the "ArtSoft of New Fangled Solutions" software since 2017 (7 years) and they have not changed their policy of a forever license! During this time I even changed computers and they helped me transfer (straight forward) the license over to the next computer.

 

[Pylonracer]

I have used BOB CAD / CAM for years, doing quite a bit of 2.5D CAD/CAM work with it. It is pretty easy to use. It has been OK enough to keep me from moving on but I can't say I really love it.

BOB CAD/CAM is quirky on the CAD side but I have made a lot of money off of my seat of BOBCAM.

I tend to use a separate CAD programme for more intensive 3D modelling (Alibre or MOI) and then bring the resulting file into BOBCAM to create tool paths.