I just purchased the crossfire plasma cutter and im a liltle confused about what program to use to create new designs or convert dxf to tap i will apreciate if anyone lets me know what software to downloand and where, thanks in advance.
Hi. I use fusion 360 , you can down load it here or there site. its a 30 day free trial but you can sign up for a starter/hobby license and free for a year then keep doing that year after year. or Inkscape wich is confusing to me. or sheet cam i think it is… So many. And incase you didnt know you will need the full version of mach 3.
There are two pieces of software that are needed in order to cut parts on your CrossFire machine. The first is Autodesk Fusion 360 which is a powerful design CAD and CAM software that is free to use for hobbyists and startups with less than $100k revenue per year. This software can be downloaded from our website or directly from Autodesk. You can design your own custom 2D & 3D parts right in Fusion, or you can simply import your own part files from your favorite CAD program. Once your part is designed, you will use Fusion’s plasma CAM feature to program toolpaths based on the part geometry that you want to cut. Here you will specify cutting parameters such as cut speed, pierce delay, and lead-in geometry and Fusion will export these toolpaths as a G-code file that can be read by the machines controller software (Mach3).
The second piece of software needed is Mach3, and each CrossFire comes with unlimited access to the fully-featured trial version (500 G-code line limit). Mach3 is a controller software that communicates directly with the CrossFire electronics and is used for tasks such as jogging the torch, zeroing the axes, and executing cutting programs. The 500 g-code line limit is enough code to cut simple to intermediate complexity parts and if you decide later that you need more code for your specific project you can instantly unlock your software by purchasing the fully featured version from our website at any time.
Also, check out the tutorials online: http://www.langmuirsystems.com/tutorials
I strongly recommend you buy the full version of Mach 3. If you are doing anything with letters or curves, the 500 lines will be gone quickly! Just a heads up.
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