First time here, anyone use the combination of Draftsight and Sheetcam? Very familiar with Autocad but dont necessarily need all that it offers…and been using the free Fusion 360, seems pretty cumbersome for just 2d design. Thoughts on Draftsight? Thanks
Sorry to pipe up since I don’t qualify to answer your question based on:
I went on their website and it appears that you would be paying a minimum of $50 per year but I could not find that product. The only ones listed for purchase were DraftSight Professional @249/year and DraftSight Premium @$549/year. They used to have a free version but that is no longer available.
With the trial version of DraftSight Premium, it states “Create, edit, view, and share 2D and 3D DWG files with productivity tools and an API”, It needs to be able to share either DXF or SVG to use SheetCAM.
Perhaps it does share DXF and/or SVG but it would have been nice if they said that.
With their move to discontinue the free version makes me think that they want a continual revenue stream for their software. Once you spend the time to learn their product, you will be more likely to continue to pay…maybe.
There are other truly free programs out there that will meet the requirement of being well designed, good support on YouTube and will share SVG and/or DXF files. There is Inkscape and SolidEdge, just to name a few. I actually liked what I saw with SolidEdge and it has some very good technical tools for accurate drawing in 2D.
I will not try to promote Fusion 360 as you seem to want to go a different direction. Your idea of using SheetCAM is sound.
Good luck on your exploration and “Welcome to the forum.”
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I use that exact combination, Draftsight and sheetcam.
I am happy with it for what I do. No issues so far. I am not a production shop. I do a lot of one of stuff and custom tooling and jigging.
I had zero experience in CAD, started at around last Christmas. Lots of on line vids to show how to do things in Draftsight. My understanding is it it very similar to Autocad in it’s command structure so you should be able to adapt to it pretty easily.
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I moved your topic to Software: SheetCAM.
If you would rather it be back to Crossfire PRO: General Discussion, I will move it back
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Solidedge is one that i hadnt thought about. I havent looked at Inkscape yet, but it appears that most use it for signage (which i plan to do as well.) Maybe i am wrong in my thinking, but i was thinking one program for technical drawings and one for “art” type designs. Thanks for the input.
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Did you use any other software before settling on these?
That is exactly what many people do. Even those that use Fusion 360 find that they have a need for Inkscape at times.
One thing that is often said on this forum: SheetCAM handles the “art” in a much more effortless manner than Fusion 360. (That is changing as Fusion 360 has upped its abilities in a big way. Not trying to convince you of Fusion 360: Just trying to give an honest appraisal.)
Another program worth consider for technical drawings would be Vectric Cut2D. This member gives it high marks: Lookig for a new CAD/CAM program to learn, - #7 by capncrusty
I do like some of the features @capncrusty discusses since these are the issues that really get new users into problems early on. It is a purchased product but has an “unlimited free trial” version to see if you would like it.
Edit: I just looked at a video for Cut2D and it goes into “toolpath” designs. Understand that you are still going to need either SheetCAM or Fusion 360 to create your toolpath at this time. You would not be able to effectively use the toolpath design that is built into Cut2D for the Langmuir tables.
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It is possible to create a unique Vectric Post Processor for Crossfire. You would start with the generic GRBL post processor and Vectric provides good documentation on modifying the PP. I have created a couple, one for my Mach3 CNC system, one for my Laser system. I have VCarve Pro, but I suspect the Cut 2D wouldn’t be very different.
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Good to know. That is beyond my computer skills.
I did try Fusion 360 at first, did a few parts with it. Seemed a bit more than I needed for what I do.
As recommended here Sheetcam is great. I like that if I get a file from somewhere else I can run the simulation to make sure it is a cut-able drawing. It finds the errors.