Hi everyone. I’m completely new to this industry and I’m very excited to be here . Looking forward to meet and learn from a lot of people here in this forum. I have been reading some of the experiences that a lot of members have been posting and I’m blown away, most definitely a long road ahead of me in this new journey.
Any suggestions , recommendations for a good starting point for a completely new guy? ( videos , tutorials, websites , etc.)
I have the Crossfire Pro ready, just yesterday ran the break in program with no issues, the Razor weld 45 and a 60 gallon compressor are connected and ready to go. As far as software I haven’t downloaded anything other than the Fire Control.
I appreciate anything you guys can throw at me . Thank you.
Welcome to the forum! This forum has a lot of very helpful and experienced cutters. Give as many details as you can when asking for help and you’ll probably get a solid answer pretty quickly.
As for software, most people use either Fusion 360 (“Non-Commercial” version is free) for both CAD and CAM, or they use Inkscpae for CAD and SheetCAM. I use F360 and really like Tyler Beck YouTube videos for the basics of CAD.
Sign up for Fireshare and there are a lot of cut ready fun things to try until you can get up to speed on CAD/CAM.
Use the Langmuir tutorials to get a lot of the basics of workflow and initial steps. You’ll need to download from Langmuir a post processor to use with F360 or SheetCAM.
Good luck and hope you enjoy your new hobby (or job?)!
Welcome!
These helped me a lot when I first got my machine running and calibrated but wasn’t really sure where to go from there…
https://www.langmuirsystems.com/software/fusion
Learn the basics of drawing a simple part, learn how to create a tool library and extrude a part to generate the cut file and then send it over to FireControl and see if it will actually cut it out. 
-TM
Thank you very much
Awesome. Thank you
Welcome, and my advice is to read, read and read some more. There is lots to learn, if reading is not your thing watch videos.
Start with simple cuts when your ready, so you don’t waste material. Oh and don’t forget to hook up the work clamp to you piece and plug in your air hose to the table.
Oh and wait, one more thing don’t forget to turn on your plasma cutter
I agree with @TortillaMan: Don’t discount the videos from Langmuir on Fusion 360. But realize, the program interface had changed especially related to the manufacturing space (CAM).
While I was trying lots of CAD software, I liked Solid Edge. The drawing environment seemed easier and more intuitive than Fusion 360. I tried Sheet Cam, obviously for CAM and it did not seem intuitive. That is why I went back to Fusion 360. I struggle some with Fusion 360 when you think you are copying the entire element and something goes wrong. I will admit that I do not “fully constrain” my projects before trying the copy and move.
Whatever program you are learning, try to stick with it long enough to do some simple project. Then move to another program and see how the process goes in that new environment. If you bounce around too much, too quickly, you will become overwhelmed and frustrated. I really didn’t learn Fusion 360 until I decided it was the best overall choice for me. Then the learning accelerates.
If you find Sheet Cam intuitive (they will let you try it before you buy it), buy it on the Langmuir website. My recollection was it was $10 cheaper. And then learn Solid Edge and Inkscape (both free).
Some videos on Fusion 360 I enjoyed most were from MTD Racing, Mike Festiva and later TinWhisperer. MTD went thru projects in a very smooth, quick fashion giving you the sense of how easy it could be. Festiva takes a very slow, methodical approach. TinWhisperer combines both modes and will show you little trucks that you will not see elsewhere.
Welcome. I’m here in Texas as well. All the advice I read here given to you sounds excellent. I struggled a long time with fusion trying to avoid the 150dollars for sheet cam. Personally have settled on utilizing inkscape and sheetcam for 85 percent of what I do. The remaining 15 percent I do still use Fusion. Most of my work is done on 11gauge or thinner and mostly art type pieces. YouTube is indispensable for all kinds of how twos for just about anything you can formulate a question for. Good luck and happy cutting!
Thank you very much.
Thank you for the advise.
Cesar, I am new to the CrossfirePro but am not new to Fusion 360 as I have been teaching it to my CAD students for the past two years. I started teaching Fusion 360 as a novice who knew how to use Autocad and found that there are lots of tutorials out there to learn the basics. I will tell you that the tutorials on Langmuir’s website are from 2021 and Fusion 360 updates every year so don’t get frustrated when the examples they give you do not match the current version. I spend a lot of time getting smart on where the differnces are otherwise the students loose interest quickly. Let me know if I can help in any way.
If only this were true….I might be able keep up with annual changes. 
I think there were 14 updates in 2022
Also Fusion 360 turns 10 years old September 24 2023 this year
Too true the updates are more often than we would all like but when using it every day during the school year it doesn’t mess up my groove…unlike after summer break!
@Cesar what type of work are you going to do with it? 2d or 3d? I use QCAD for 2d $40.00 one time fee and Sheetcam $150.00 one time fee. well worth the money. very easy to use. Inkscape for art work its free. I don’t do 3d stuff. but most people use fusion 360 for that.
welcome to the club. Rich
Thank you very much for the tip.
For now I’m only planning on doing 2d type of work.
And, that is a great way to “start” your journey right now. There is often, too much information to process. Adding 3D may be a bridge to far.
But… Don’t give up the possibility of 3D design as a solution in the future rather than the goal. What I mean by that is that sometimes, looking at a 3D model can help with a 2D problem. It is similar to the difference between calculus and algebra. (If you ever learned calculus, you will know what I mean.)
To give a real life example I encountered, it is discussed in this post:
All I am saying is don’t say “never” for 3D. It may become another tool in your belt that sets you apart.
Thank you very much
Are you a Texan, or another Californian posing as one?? Lol, any one else that finds that offensive, that’s clearly Texas humor. Man I would go to YouTube and really watch videos from Arc light, although they are from the competition, I have found that they have truly taken the time to discuss Software like Sheet Cam and Inkscape. Also don’t do what most rookies do and try to take short cuts by buying and downloading DXF, SVG files then be upset that they can’t cut them out and blame the machine. Learn to actually draw your designs, sometimes those files you buy can have broken lines, double lines, or can just be corrupt. You will go though tons of metal. Take your time and learn. Also no matter what you will need to learn how to calibrate your plasma cutter and machine. Many steps to learn, also clean dry air, you being in Texas you know how humid things get. You need clean dry air.
LOL… that’s a good one.
Thank you for the advice and the sense of humor. LOL