Quote Originally Posted by dudz View Post
Ok, I tried "E machine shop" as CAD, and then as CAM Vectric CUT2D. That was a lot easier . Although I couldn't export the Gcode to Mach3 as I only have the demo version of Cut2d. But I managed to make a simple rectangle with accurate pockets and drill holes in metric. Cambam seems a reel headache to me. (probably my age)

Well I'm no spring chicken! But having gone through a similar analysis phase about 18 months ago, i found Vectric to be very slick & pleasing on the eye....but then when I wised up I realised that all the eye candy 'window/GUI centric' approach was just a pain in the arse - especially when you need to do something very basic like move cuts about (not sure if an IT analagy would be appropriate, but normally when doing repetitive IT jobs, it's far easier/zippier to do things from a command line vs a windows driven approach).

Having trialled a lot of programs, I was blown away at how cambam sped up my workflow... I agree it's probably a bit of a learning curve (& you have to get into the mindset of the program!), but worth a couple of nights put by getting to know it.