Hello,
I am new to the CNC world and need some advice on how to get started. I have been reading a lot of the blogs on here and realize that there is more to it then what I thought.
my hobby is working with wood, I love building things and I wanted to add to my arsenal by buying a x-carve. I am just not sure on what to get for just starting.
I am having the biggest problem with the soft wear, I understand the concepts of the software but I don’t know what I should choose as a hobbyist or if I need anything besides Easel. I am not sure where I should start, can anyone help!
You don’t have to have an X-carve to run Easel. You can start learning the program and see what it can do before you decide to buy the machine.
Just pick a simple project and see if you can work through the design in Easel and then work up to more complicated things.
Easel is a good general purpose program. Once you are familiar with what it can do then you might look at some of the more specialized software options with a better understanding of what you might like to have.
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Thanks @RobertCanning, @LarryM, I appreciate the advice. I will check out Easel and see what I can do with it.
You can also pickup a demo copy of Vcarve Desktop/Pro and see what they offer.
Easel will take you far and it’s for a beginner. You will know when you outgrow it. Production software are going to throw bells and whistles at you, because you pay for that privilege.
Some of my biggest hangups are/were getting the machine tuned and feedrates. It seems more art than science. But it’s coming along nicely.
(First year x-carve user)