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I'm an "old hand" at circuit design and embedded software but pretty much a "newbie" in CNC. I would like to set up a small system for mostly machining (and possibly engraving) PMMA (acrylic), I was originally looking at an "all-in-one" but I really am not currently interested in 3DP, also I don't think a diode laser is likely to get the job done, what I'm currently thinking is maybe I should get a small (40W) CO2 laser, and maybe I could get a small standalone CNC later if I need it (because I don't think you can add a machine toolhead to a CO2).
I can see that the real "name of the game" is software compatibility but that's information that you absolutely cannot POSSIBLY get from the manufacturer's product description! I can of course tell that almost all of these machines run on some flavor of G-code, and that a common means of processing that is something called GRBL. I'm thinking that a package like FreeCAD is likely to be more than I will ever need, and the way this software accommodates the differences in G-code formats is through something called the Path module.
The problem is I can't tell from FreeCAD's website which manufacturers, models, brands and types their existing Path module supports, and even when I post on their forum nobody even looks at my question!! I guess one of the "strengths" of their system is you can write new modules for Path if you're fluent in Python, but that's taking this whole exercise WAY far from where I want to go with this, if I wanted to "make a programming hobby out of" this exercise that would be ONE thing, but what I REALLY need it to be able to start making designs now, also order the machine now and start cutting plastic the minute it arrives on my doorstep and I take it out of the box.
If this is actually an "unreasonable request" I would certainly like to know WHY that is! How exactly DOES one go about finding the documentation that says whether a given software and machine are interoperable? I'm pretty thoroughly confused at this point, thank you for reading this.
I can see that the real "name of the game" is software compatibility but that's information that you absolutely cannot POSSIBLY get from the manufacturer's product description! I can of course tell that almost all of these machines run on some flavor of G-code, and that a common means of processing that is something called GRBL. I'm thinking that a package like FreeCAD is likely to be more than I will ever need, and the way this software accommodates the differences in G-code formats is through something called the Path module.
The problem is I can't tell from FreeCAD's website which manufacturers, models, brands and types their existing Path module supports, and even when I post on their forum nobody even looks at my question!! I guess one of the "strengths" of their system is you can write new modules for Path if you're fluent in Python, but that's taking this whole exercise WAY far from where I want to go with this, if I wanted to "make a programming hobby out of" this exercise that would be ONE thing, but what I REALLY need it to be able to start making designs now, also order the machine now and start cutting plastic the minute it arrives on my doorstep and I take it out of the box.
If this is actually an "unreasonable request" I would certainly like to know WHY that is! How exactly DOES one go about finding the documentation that says whether a given software and machine are interoperable? I'm pretty thoroughly confused at this point, thank you for reading this.
