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lazycam pro
« on: January 30, 2008, 01:07:55 PM »
Hello,
      I am a newbie with a 12X21X3 hobby machine. I do a lot of scroll sawing and bought the cnc machine z& Mach3 to help me .Have tried demos of cam programs  till I,m blue in the face.
     My question is will lazycam pro do all I need or should I buy a cam program. This is a hobby so I'm not prepared to pay more than150.. or 200.00 for a cam program. HELP which one is the best for black and white scans to dxf to cnc.

Thanks this is a great learning platform.

Steve W.V.
Re: lazycam pro
« Reply #1 on: February 04, 2008, 06:12:03 PM »
   Greetings Steve, it sounds like we have traveled similar paths in our hobbies. I too have spent a lot of time on the scroll saw. I've been using LazyCAM about 3 months now and it can do everything that I need it to do provided: 1) I'm willing to be patient and look for work-arounds when I run into problems. 2) re-draw drawings in CAD that LazyCAM doesn't like, and 3) keep several versions of LazyCAM around and be willing to switch if one doesn't work for a particular problem. All in all, I'd say LazyCAM is a great deal! I've been amazed at what it can do. Just keep in mind it is a beta software with bugs and in constant testing. Someday, I'll still probably buy SheetCAM and later VisualMill, but for for now LazyCAM is working good for me.
   LazyCAM can't draw, it can only turn drawings into G-code. You'll still need some type of CAD program. To go from black and white scans to dxf, I'd recommend QuickCAD (if you can find an old copy of it) or AutoCAD LT. That's what I use and it works great. I completely agree with Steve about the CAD programs. No matter what you decide to do, you have to learn CAD first. If you are thinking 3-D, and are planning on taking a class, you can buy Rhino3D (it also does R12 DXF file format) and it only costs $165 for students and there are no restrictions on the use of it for later. Very powerful software.
Re: lazycam pro
« Reply #2 on: March 07, 2008, 02:56:37 AM »
Will Lazy Cam Pro do any 3D.  I just purchased Mach3 and the Mach3 Mill add ons and I need a CAM program as I had to give up my Rhino CAM.  :(

I have Rhino3D and sometimes I need to cut 3D shapes.

Thanks
Bill
Re: lazycam pro
« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2008, 05:48:41 AM »
Bill,

LazyCAM will not do any 3D work. No way to even try it, it is just too lazy for that. But it works great for 2 1/2D stuff.

I've been using FreeMill when I needed to make something 3-D. Provided you have an *.stl file, you can use this program to cut it. It is from the same people that make Visualmill and Rhino3D. And it is free which means it is in my price range. You won't have all the features of Rhino3D, but it is possible to make it work.
Re: lazycam pro
« Reply #4 on: March 08, 2008, 01:18:31 AM »
ergoman,

I downloaded and installed the FreeMill program and when I try to run the program, it opens a DOS window ??? ??? whats with that?

Bill
Re: lazycam pro
« Reply #5 on: March 08, 2008, 10:34:44 AM »
Greetings Bill,

I don't have that problem. Does it stop after it opens the DOS window? Maybe you have downloaded an older version of FreeMill. I am using the 2003 release that I downloaded from www.mecsoft.com. It comes up just fine, and my operating system is Windows Vista which usually has problems with earlier programs. Hope this helps

Ergoman

Re: lazycam pro
« Reply #6 on: November 16, 2010, 02:03:13 PM »
Hi Bill can you email me I have a key for your system gerber
oldcowpoke@charter.net

Offline RICH

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Re: lazycam pro
« Reply #7 on: November 16, 2010, 06:28:48 PM »
Steve,
All depends on what you want to do. I have never done much scan and convert to GCode work as most of
"the free ones" didn't do much for the work i try to do. The only way to find something that works for you is to try
the program. Sometimes, when looking for bargain software, you end up spending more time learning than it is worth.

LC pro has served me well for creating Gcode for a profile, offsets, pocketing and general milling. I never fooled with the image
module in it to any great extent. So for the price it's not a bad program at all. I don't use the lathe module much since LazyTurn is now available.

You will need to learn and do CAD to use it.

Then if you want to mill 3D you need to learn 3D CAD. Since most programs require a file to work from.
Then you will need a CAM program to generate the code for 3D machning.

Then you have pictures / image manipulation, etc and a lot of software is tailored to it.
Of course what is good for woodworking may not be suitable for metal machining.

So lets sum the above up some:
CAD , 2.5 cam program, 3d CAD, 3D CAM...image manipulation post image creation via whatever method is done.....so you can have individual programs for each or a CAM program that does it all...or something in between.  I will say that each one is a learning curve in itself.

So think hard about what you want to do now and maybe in the future.
Grow with each individualy or as needed over time.

If there is one program that does all very well, then chances are, your budget can't afford it for hobbiest work.

Have fun exploring the "envelope" of CNC, ???

RICH