I’m looking for the least expensive option for carving and engraving acrylic. I want to make rulers that will have text and lines lightly engraved as well as cutting out the shapes and maybe a few holes. Tried Easel and it works for basic patterns but some of the rulers have hundreds of lines in multiple directions and angles so I need something more robust. Right now I use Rhino to design them. So…
I can’t determine from the descriptions whether Cut2D would be good enough or if I need VCarve. Yes I can (and have) download the demos but I’m looking for experienced opinions.
If you aren’t worried about curves and contours (in the z depth direction) it should work fine… Vectric have a comparison chart that shows which individual features each of their softwares have (or don’t). There’s also Fusion 360 for free if you are making less than 100k USD / year (they hide this option, but it’s found during the subscribe dialog from the demo version)… but it’'s a very complex software.
TBH I didn’t think much of Easel at first, but I’m actually rather impressed by how much it does do, even if it lacks several “ease of use” features of other software.
Thanks! That makes sense. I’m trialing VCarve Desktop now and if it works out I’ll just pony up the extra $200 so I can use the same software for everything. I do have MeshCAM but it doesn’t do engraving very well. And I’ll have to add a Windows machine to the path as right now I develop on a Mac and deliver to the X-Carve via a Linux computer and Chilipeppr.
Chuck, I paid up for Cut2d Pro ( i have a 1m x 1m machine). I was initially put off by the price, but I’m happy with the result after using it almost exclusively now.
I run Windows in VirtualBox on a Mac to create and export/import into Easel to cut.
I started with cut2d then paid the difference to vcarve when I moved to 3d carving.
I would ask if your rulers are all flat? Vcarve lets you carve to a 3d surface, im not sure if Cut2d has that capability.
All the rulers I have currently planned are flat. It sounds like Cut2D can handle that but if I’m going to spend money I might as well get something I can use for all or at least most of my other work which does include 3d carving. I’ve just starting trialing VCarve and so far I like it. I can do a lot without resorting to external programs. For some of the rulers I need to use something with scripting capability to generate all the lines but once done VCarve should be able to handle it.
I’m not in the carving business so have to really justify the cost but I don’t want to cheap out and handicap myself either.
My only critique on VPro I wish I knew before i bought it.
V Pro can only handle 1 STL file per project but unlimited .v3ms. You cannot build v3ms with V Pro but you can with Aspire.
Im having to now also learn Blender to build full project STL instead of stacking multiples.
maybe down the road I can justify the software upgrade.
