5 Axis Milling Machine/Router

[williamshort]

Hi,
I recently purchased a Scotle ChinaCNZone 5 axis machine. I couldn't be happier with the service and the machine has arrived and seems to be of good quality . It is a 6040 machine and can do 2, 3, 4 and 5 axis work.
Although having used a 3 axis machine, when they first came out, it has been a long time and the programs have changed dramatically.
I use SolidWorks as my 3D drawing package and the machine is set up to run Mach3.
Is there anyone out there running a similar set up? If so, is there any affordable good software, that will fit between these two programs to give machine tool paths and convert them into "G" code?
Cheers.
Bill.

[kafie1980]

I have a 3 axis router and decided to stay with FreeCAD which has a reasonable Path CAM module to generate 3 axis Gcode. I have been very happy with the simple 2.5D milling results so far.

I do all my design work for 3d printing and cnc routing in FreeCAD and this is why I preferred to use FreeCAD.

But for 5 axis CAM you are probably better off using Fusion360 CAM. It is free for hobbyists but this may change in the future.

I just do not like working off the cloud and I wanted to stay with a free package that was locally installed on my computer. This is why I moved away from Fusion360. But it is great software with reasonable CAD and CAM options.

I have not tried any paid options to offer advice.

[OxxAndBert]

Sounds like a nice machine.
One of these? https://www.chinacnczone.com/en/new-desktop-mini-5-axis-cnc-milling-machine-hy-6040-from-chinacnczone-factory-manufacturer_l292_p213.html

Steve

[williamshort]

I have a 3 axis router and decided to stay with FreeCAD which has a reasonable Path CAM module to generate 3 axis Gcode. I have been very happy with the simple 2.5D milling results so far.

I do all my design work for 3d printing and cnc routing in FreeCAD and this is why I preferred to use FreeCAD.

But for 5 axis CAM you are probably better off using Fusion360 CAM. It is free for hobbyists but this may change in the future.

I just do not like working off the cloud and I wanted to stay with a free package that was locally installed on my computer. This is why I moved away from Fusion360. But it is great software with reasonable CAD and CAM options.

I have not tried any paid options to offer advice.

Hi kafie 1980,
Thanks for the heads up. At the moment I am playing around with both Fusion 360 and DeskProto. DeskProto seems pretty straight forward and is free on the basic levels and about $400 is you want to go to 5 axis as a hobbyist.
I have been using CAD since it started and learnt on Autocad. I have never like Autodesk products as I have found them over complicated and not intuitive. Fusion 360 seems to have carried on it this tradition. I share your concern with Cloud based things.
I will take a look at FreeCad and see what I think about it.
Cheers.
Bill.

[williamshort]

Sounds like a nice machine.
One of these? https://www.chinacnczone.com/en/new-desktop-mini-5-axis-cnc-milling-machine-hy-6040-from-chinacnczone-factory-manufacturer_l292_p213.html

Steve

Hi Steve,
That is the one.
Cheers.
Bill.

[kafie1980]

Hi kafie 1980,
Thanks for the heads up. At the moment I am playing around with both Fusion 360 and DeskProto. DeskProto seems pretty straight forward and is free on the basic levels and about $400 is you want to go to 5 axis as a hobbyist.
I have been using CAD since it started and learnt on Autocad. I have never like Autodesk products as I have found them over complicated and not intuitive. Fusion 360 seems to have carried on it this tradition. I share your concern with Cloud based things.
I will take a look at FreeCad and see what I think about it.
Cheers.
Bill.

If you are already using Fusion 360 then there is no real advantage to using FreeCAD.

I have been using FreeCAD for around 10 years for design and their CAM for the last 3 years.

I just didn’t get along with Fusion360 because I live off the digital grid (no internet) at home else my office work follows me home.


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