Word on the street is they send you a complimentary case of brew, a magic dog whistle that returns your childhood dog, and next weeks lotto numbers. I won't ruin it for ya Dave, I'll even play along.

 

Sorry, I thought I was asking a legitimate question, although I find it hard to believe all the guys using MasterCam etc. paid $10,000 for it as stated in one reply, some of the sites advertising, are OEM Software Discount, Cheap OEM etc.
I can see by the sarcasm in the replies this is not the forum for someone new to CadCam. See ya.

All those sites are selling pirated software.

skaha,
Don't get the wrong impression. I gave you good solid advice. I also gave some sarcasm, because, frankly, it is true regarding the software and price. What software you use and how you obtain it is your buisness, but do not expect
me ( and i think that would include many others ) to condone pirated software or somethiing not in the good interest of this CNC community. That said.......
This site has people that give and provide more to those that are new to cnc, have problems with their equipment, or want advise, than you may ever find elswhere. Read the thousands of posts.
Your decision is yours and respected.
RICH

skaha,
If, your still on this forum.
 After reading your post, and the replys, I wouldn't consider it as sarcasm.
These people are telling you how it is.
I've seen these sites selling software at these very low prices , and I know for a fact they are all pirated. In Fact, you can get them for free if you know where to look.. All these programs are worth nothing-- because there is no available help, no one to call , if you have problems with the software , and believe me , you will. You sure can't call Mastercam.

 A couple years ago Mastercam sent out cds to people that had Mastercam, to install in there computers. If they had a pirated version, it erased it.

 There's a lot of cad/cam programs out there , and none of them are cheap. They cost thousands for the base program , and all come with a yearly maintanance fee. I've worked with quite a few , and am not impressed with Mastercam.  Theres VX cad/cam , Gibbs cam, Catia , Rhino/w/cam , Solidcam for Solidworks , Delcams Feature cam, which was always my Favorite , and that sold for $4,000, which is to much for a hobby shop to spend.
 But there always Gcode, which I've spent many nites typing in by hand.
And , that's the way it is. Save the $50 bucks, and buy something that works for you.
Good Luck   

Ed V

Has anyone actually done a survey on what CAM software is most favored by the hobbyist machinist?  I too am having a problem deciding what to purchase to generate g-code for a milling machine.  Any imput would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Kenj

Kenj,

It really depends on what type of work you're doing, if it's 2.5 work, then I would seriously suggest Cut2D from Vectric as it's the easiest software that I have found and the support there is incredible. Learning curve is just about nill 

Dave

CAM-BAM takes some beating for the price, its free

Graham

Suggest you try out the wizards available with MACH. There is a listing of them in Members Docs. Then try some programs like CAM-BAM or whatever and see what seems to work for you. This may sharpen your quest for what you want out of a program.  And free is certainly one to consider!
RICH