Good morning everyone!

difalkner said:

Welcome to the forum! We do like photos so show us this new tool whenever you get ready. You can also show us your shop, projects, etc.

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This is my first project that came out even close to correct. It's jagged and I'd like the lettering to be sharper on it. I've been researching for over 2 weeks for a step by step guide to taking a downloaded file & making it a reality, but so far all I've seen are videos/articles on creating your own project in Fusion 360 (which I only wish I had the time to learn), or cutting the sample files provided in the various cam programs. I have so many questions I hardly know where to start, but here's my first attempt. 😊

JohnA33 said:

Actually a good gift. Have you tried to Google for some lessons on how to work on this machine? I didn't use it myself, I worked on another machine. But according to the stories of others, it isn't so difficult to learn from it. Good luck dude!

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Yes, I've tried the big G, but unfortunately I'm finding either a) a lot of material on 3d printing on it, which will be the least use this machine gets as I already have others like the Mingda Magician x that produce exceptional quality prints b) how to do what I'm thinking are advanced f360 techniques for use with it or c) videos on getting what i need accomplished...using a licensed version of program xyz.

I don't know exactly why, but I'm having a terrible time just learning the basics of f360. Maybe it's my age (56), but it's by far the most difficult piece of software I've ever attempted to use. Once I do manage to locate the task I want, it either doesn't work or is locked behind their pay wall - which is not a good sign at this early of a stage. I've already tried other programs (too many impo) like vcarve desktop, which finally got me to where I need to be only to be blocked by THEIR pay wall (it won't allow me to export projects with toolpaths in unless I pay them their $400 or whatever to do so).

As I see it, I'm left with no other choice but to pay several hundred $ for help, as people in this area look at me as if I'm 3-headed if I mention 3d printing, to say nothing of cnc. My decision now lies with how to spend it: do I pay a gentleman I found on YouTube $150/hour for one-on-one Zoom assistance, pay autodesk or vcarve for a license & 🤞 I can get quality results afterward (even though I'll still be totally lost in f360) or do I take a class at a local college or university (if available) on f360 and hope I benefit from that enough to get the free version of f360 working for me. Obviously none of the options are ideal.

I apologize if I sound whiny or difficult, but I don't think I'm asking for too much: import a downloaded file into xyz that I've already set the options on, add my toolpaths & export it to an SD card to be read by the machine...preferably without having to spend an additional $1k on courses & licenses. For me, this is a hobby to make things for family & friends gratis, not to start a business with branches worldwide. So far, I can see why people have already given up on using the cnc module on the 250A...far too much hassle. I fear I may be joining them soon.

difalkner said:

It's basically the same as the Vectric software, they both originated from the same company.

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Ok, making some progress, but I ran into vector overlap in carveco. I ran vector doctor, and the pic is the result. Are all of those overlaps?

While on the subject, are there certain files (projects) that just can't be done in cnc? If there are, I'm beginning to think that's a big part of my problem. Thanks

difalkner said:

Zoom in to see the overlaps. Somewhere in these videos they address this - Carveco - YouTube

Not sure what you mean about certain projects not being suitable for CNC...

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Well, I'm pretty proud of myself this morning. Despite having issues with snapmaker over their faulty control board, I was able to churn this out on the Genmitsu 3018 pro! Carveco has made all the difference for me...on to the next project! 😊