Hi,
until recently I had access to Mastercam through work. It is exactly the opposite of what you want, very expensive,
top of the line and hell of a learning curve......but damn was it good!
So its back to Fusion 360, its not bad and of course it is free. Say whatever you like about Autodesk, and I am one of their
critics, but they have given a true gift to the hobby/maker/student community.....Thanks to Autodesk.
A lot of stuff I do at my mill is pretty simple, face a bit of aluminum, pocket a rectangular hole then drill a series of
equidistant holes say. For that purpose Mill Wizard ($75 from NFS) is great. Chain together a few simple ops and
the job is done. Produces Mach3 and Mach4 compliant code. No CAD, no CAM, just a Wizard.....too easy. Download a demo
and try it out. You'll have tool paths chained together within half an hour.
That's what i'll be buying and considering I have a license of mach3 and it already has the THC built in per say, I'm not going to wait right now for the newer version to come out.
Hey, if you already have Mach3 then carry on. Later if you find there is some particular functionality that Mach4 has that Mach3
does not, or not easily, then consider it. The ESS will be just as good with Mach4 as it is with Mach3, you'll have it for years.
Craig