I ordered the crossfire cnc table with sheet cam what other software do I need? I am just a hobbyist and no experience at all. any help is much appreciated thank you
Inkscape or Affinity Designer for drawing your stuff (or bringing other stuff in to modify). Inkscape is free with lots of tutorials on YouTube. Lots of users here too. Affinity is usually $69 but was on special for $25. A bunch of users here too. Again, YT has tutorial videos.
Some of us use Corel or Adobe Illustrator as well but the price tag is more. Honestly they all do just about the same thing.
If you’re going to do 3D work or if you’re going to do sheetmetal bending then Freecad or Fusion 360. Freecad is free and Fusion is for hobbyists but limits the tool capabilities in that license version. You can do GCode generation in Fusion but you don’t have as much control as you do with Sheetcam. The 3D tools have a larger learning curve.
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I agree with James. SheetCam is #1, this will convert whatever you make into the commands to burn it out of metal.
Having been recently ‘converted’ to Affinity Designer, I am, indeed, a convert. I like this program and it works well with SheetCam. It’s currently on sale for half price at $24.95USD.
You can do ‘artwork’ or you can do very exact 2D CAD drawings with it. Search for Affinity Designer on this forum and you’ll find links to easy tutorials.
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I have no idea where to start I down loaded fusion 360 and mach3 I haven’t got my table yet should be any day now. do I need fusion 360 with sheet cam? to me fusion 360 is very confusing. I just want to cut simple fab brackets.looking for the best and less concussing if there is such a thing.
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My vote would be to get Affinity Designer ($24.95) and SheetCam (LS has it at a slight discount, but even at $150 list price it’s a bargain). That combination has the lowest cuss factor of any software I own.
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You don’t need Mach3. That’s used in the original tables. Everything shipped since last summer uses FireControl to drive the table.
No, but if Fusion isn’t “clicking” for you, then I’d go straight to a 2D design program like Inkscape or Affinity. Fusion can design rocket motors. That means there’s a lot of complexity built in that will simply get in your way if you’re doing simple stuff. There’s a reason some folks call it ConFusion 
Fusion is seriously overkill for this. Simply not worth the effort if you haven’t done 3D CAD before. I’m a big fan of using the simplest tool that can get the job done.
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James I am looking for simple
I bought sheet cam with my table now trying to figure out how to get affinity designer
You can purchase & download (it’s still half off sale too).
I’ll teach you the work flow one on one via zoom/FaceTime for $50 an hour. Probably only take two hours to give you a simple, clear understanding of the workflow and you’ll be ready to go when your table gets there.
will let you know I don’t even know how to use zoom lol.
With all due respect, you’re going to need some computer skills beyond the basics to get this operation running. If you’re having a hard time getting affinity designer installed, you are in for a rough learning curve. Go to the support tab and read about software and workflow, google, and google some more.
I will say that the level of help it seems like you are asking for, can not be feasibly provided via the forum.
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I know some people are trying to help but Inkscape inherently is not a CAD program. Affinity Designer isn’t that either.
There is no need for Fusion360 to design 2D items. There are small programs out there are specifically made for 2D CAD work. If you want to make brackets and flat parts just google 2D CAD programs and take your pick from reviews or tutorials.
Only as one example, I use Punch ViaCAD 2D and after some youtube videos can make most anything I need for flat parts. It is a one time cost. It’s not for making art or complex signs, it’s for making parts and does it well.
There are plenty 2D CAD programs to choose from. Some free and some with less than $100 one time costs.
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I got that down loaded. that was easy. I will figure this out when I actually get started with table.
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@john_s makes a good point. There are several free cad options out there. I have qcad and freecad in addition to affinity designer. If you won’t be doing any artwork, affinity will slow your learning with how it displays the segment lengths, while an actual cad program will make that a little easier.
Download a few programs and give each a test and see what seems to work. Take this time to learn the workflow and get your air supply ironed out. Then you’ve got nothing stopping you when the table gets there. Lots of people start out with little experience and do very well.
Forgive my rambling, I’ve been awake for 30 hours and am losing my filter.
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brown fox thank you I am going to this just didn’t want to be watching bunch of useless shit fusion 360 about made give up lol
I was new to cnc plasma and all the associated software (cad,cam, etc.) when i got started a few months ago. I read through these forums a lot and landed on Qcad for my design work (no fancy 3d stuff). For me personally just jumping in to the software and using it was how I am learning. I read the help/user guide as I go when I can’t figure something out, or youtube/google for help. Fusion is expensive and it seems burdensome for anyone not designing in 3 dimensions (only speaking from an outside perspective since I haven’t used it). I also downloaded inkscape and have used it to convert images into .svg line files… that I have then imported into qcad for finishing touches as signs with text. All that said, we all learn differently, but if, like me, you aren’t big on reading and watching tons of tutorials/ videos… just jump in and play with the software.
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You don’t need to leave Inkscape to do that. Just make sure you convert the text to a path when you save the SVG to go into Sheetcam.
The only thing you need to be careful with Inkscape is its default is to include the line thickness in the measurements of objects. If you’re looking for precision output you might be scratching your head as to why the parts aren’t quite the size you specified. You can change that to where it ignores the line width in the Preferences. Not sure why the default isn’t to ignore it because I don’t know anyone who isn’t surprised by the default behavior.
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It is definitely not obvious… do this:
Edit->Preferences->Tools, Check “Geometric bounding box”
I am doing it more so because I have spent more time with Qcad then with Inkscape… so it’s kind of my default. Hopefully I will learn to use Inkscape to it’s full abilities as well… just surfing the learning curve:grin: Thanks for the tip on the line thickness… there are so many little tweaks like that buried deep in these programs… enough to make ya 
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