For upgrading to a new product - for example from VCarve Pro to Aspire - You will receive FREE upgrades to any new versions released within 12 months of the date you upgraded to Aspire.If you have purchased a brand new product for the first time - You will receive FREE upgrades to any new versions released within 12 months of your purchase date.The upgrade eligibility timescales are as follows: If you upgrade your software to a new version (not a new product purchase) you will get a bonus 3 months FREE upgrade period (as a 'safety net' in case Vectric release another version within 3 months of your most recent upgrade purchase) For example, the price to upgrade to the latest version of the software if the same, regardless of whether you are upgrading from version 4.0 or 11.0. You can upgrade to the latest version of the software for the same price, regardless of the version you are currently running. I know that Freecad could be suitable for creating a good variety of toolpaths and I know that several post processors are bundled with it.Which still requires a beginner to work through several tutorials or to experience much frustration.This isn't unique to Freecad as any new software takes a bit of time and study before any kind of proficiency is reached.Using Freecad with Windows 10 is no different than using it with Linux and I do both.I would suggest that the least expensive option is to get hold of an old desktop computer and install LinuxCNC.I did just that and the computer and monitor cost me less than 40 euros,it helped that I had a keyboard and mouse.You need surprisingly little computing power to run a machine and far,far less than gaming requires and not much more than playing a simple animation.įor an initial step I would recommend a couple of hours practising creating simple shapes and then machining strategies to produce them.The simulation in Freecad is quite good and will allow viewing of the operation.It doesn't break any tools or turn raw material into scrap either!A look at the list of post processors will give an idea of what might be suitable control software and you can google cost/capability.I doubt there is a less expensive option than LinuxCNC.The useful part is that you can download the software and create a bootable memory stick.When your computer boots there is normally an option to select the boot medium and by selecting the memory stick you get to try the software as a live installation.It will be fully functional and maybe a tiny bit slower than a full installation.You can run the a simulation of the operations you created and watch the virtual tool moving around on screen.When you finish the shutdown sequence will instruct you to remove the boot medium and the computer will still operate as it did before.Ī final word of caution,if you try producing parts with any software before you are absolutely certain that the code is correct there will be damage and disappointment.Minor updates are always free to anyone who has the same major version (e.g V11.5 will be free to all owners of V11.0 software).Īny major version of the software released within 12 months of you purchasing the software is supplied free of charge and available from your V&Co account. If my understanding is correct,the OP has a mountain to climb.Limited experience,not too much support for the machine and a desire for a piece of control software that might not exist.Did the machine arrive with details of the drive properties-that is to say number of steps/mm of travel?That is one of the fundamental requirements for setting up any motion control software. Also, the LinuxCNC forum and their IRC chat on Freenode are both pretty active and people will be willing to help you. A cheap office PC with a parallel port or using a Mesa FPGA board connected over Ethernet are pretty good solutions. From there it’s a matter of configuring LinuxCNC if you have the hardware you need already. Thankfully the LinuxCNC website offers live images of Debian Linux with LinuxCNC and the real-time kernel mod already. Windows, especially Windows 10, is a liability for running a real time system (which is what a CNC milling machine is). However, I’d still reconsider choosing LinuxCNC. Do you have recommendations in this field? So then a commercial software seems to be more suitable for me. My knowledge about Linux is small and with real-time I have no experience. Milling is a side-project and I have no time to dive deep into the ocean of controllers and software. As said above LinuxCNC runs only on Linux, and only with a real-time kernel adjustment.
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