My knowledge = Zero :-D

[Flatteraxe]

Hello all,

I'm throwing myself in at the deep end and I have an awful lot to learn.

I know I want to use a CNC machine to work with acrylic and eventually I would also progress to a laser cutter, I know absolutely nothing else.

I'm a quick learner and I think I'm in the right place. I'm ok at basic photoshop and I'm hoping that CAD software could also be learnt. Does anyone have any recommendations as where to start? Quitting is not an option.

Is there any good free software that I can have a tinker about on to start with?

Nice to meet you all and thanks for any help.

[Muzzer]

I'd suggest getting started with Fusion 360. Free, lots of good support, massive community and it includes the CAM element you need to generate g code.

Loads of useful youtube content to get you started. Look up Lars Christensen, NYCCNC, Titans of CNC etc etc - plus the Fusion 360 team itself.

Watch some vids, install the software, have a play. That's how it starts - before you know it you'll be buying all sorts of stuff you don't need!

[routerdriver]

At the moment there is a bit of controversy around the matter of Fusion and "free".There are lots of different CAD programs out there and if you like the idea of producing Gcode with very little effort from artistic stuff,F-Engrave will do the job from a bitmap.Not really a CAD program but you will have something to look at.You might also have a play with Camotics as it will run a simulation of the code and its always good to see what you might be cutting before pressing the green button.For fairly basic 2D CAD you might have a play with LibreCAD and it exports dxf files,which most systems will cope with .

[A_Camera]

I am using Freecad. It is a free and extremely well made software capable of everything possible. I also use F-engrave. But you need a machine first...

[routerdriver]

I also use Freecad,but was a bit hesitant about recommending it for an absolute beginner.It is extremely capable but you have to learn it's quirks and having done so you reap the reward of an integrated CAM package.For an idea of what it can do its worth watching the related youtube videos by Joko engineering.

[Flatteraxe]

Thanks so much for the help everyone.

If I wanted to cut out shapes from 3 or 5mm acrylic would a 2d design software suffice? I'm just thinking I could learn the 2d aspect of design then progress to the 3d.

Thanks again.

[Neale]

Speaking from personal experience, it's easier to teach 3D CAD to someone who has never been taught 2D CAD. Sounds weird but the principles of building a 3D model from which you then extract engineering drawings or gcode toolpaths is fundamentally different to creating engineering drawings in 2D. Not everyone agrees, but then they might be the same people who say that "they can't get on with 3D stuff." No, not really trying to be contentious here:friendly_wink:

But I use both, and a decent 2D CAD package is perfectly adequate if you are only going to produce 2D shapes. 3D modeling and visualisation is just so much more powerful if you are creating 3D components.

[Filco]

The only free 2d CAD program I recommend is Solid Edge 2D, it's a very polished and professional tool, and simple to use. Great user community too.

[Filco]

Siemens have recently offered a free 3d version for hobbyists:
https://solidedge.siemens.com/en/solutions/users/hobbyists-and-makers/

Well worth a look.

[Neale]

Just downloaded it - all 3.5GB of it for the 3D version! - and installing to give it a try. Thanks for the pointer.

[Filco]

Just downloaded it - all 3.5GB of it for the 3D version! - and installing to give it a try. Thanks for the pointer.

No problem, it's a large download because the full program is contained within, additional features are locked.

[Neale]

It's not a problem given that I have a reasonably fast broadband connection - just that compared to F360 which I seem to remember is around 75MB, it seems enormous. That can't be right for F360, looking at the numbers, but I still don't believe it's quite that big!

A friend of mine is working on a fairly complex 3D model of a twin-bank radial aero engine and has switched to Solidedge from F360 as he reckons it's quite a bit more powerful. Not sure which version he's using, though.

[Filco]

I thought F360 was semi-browser based, not sure....?

[Neale]

Onshape is browser-based; F360 runs locally. I think! Autodesk have apparently been working on a browser-based version of F360 but I don't think it's ready for prime-time yet. Every time F360 updates (every few weeks or so), there's a fairly big download in the background but not as big as SE.

[Filco]

Onshape is browser-based; F360 runs locally. I think! Autodesk have apparently been working on a browser-based version of F360 but I don't think it's ready for prime-time yet. Every time F360 updates (every few weeks or so), there's a fairly big download in the background but not as big as SE.

That's the difference between Awfuldesk and Siemens, fortnightly updates are mostly for bugs and instability. Siemens have updates probably every six months, in fact I can't remember the last update, just a reliable and stable tool.

[Flatteraxe]

ok I'm a bit confused.. I downloaded and installed solid edge 2020 but it seems a bit in depth for me especially as I only need to learn 2d for now. I then downloaded Solid Edge 2D but when I try to install it it just tries to modify or repair Solid Edge 2020. Its definitely a different download as its a different size. Do I need to uninstall Solid Edge 2020 to install the 2D version?

[Filco]

Yes you need to uninstall the 3d version before installing the 2d. For some reason only one version of solid edge is allowed on one system, even previous releases.

[Flatteraxe]

Thank you!