I received my X-Carve for Christmas, thanks to my lovely wife. It was ordered with the basic software. Being a home woodworking enthusiast, what software would work best? I have looked at so many, but they all seem to be geared toward commercial use. Any recommendations for the DIY/weekend worker?
VCarve desktop is worth a serious look. They have a free demo version you can download and play with.
I’d suggest starting with Easel. It’s got its limitations, but it can do a heck of a lot, it’s easy to start with, and it’ll get you addicted to making shavings. Then once you want to make shavings that Easel can’t support, start looking into other programs.
The upside to this is that if you decide you’re not a fan of making shavings, you haven’t sunk a few hundred (or thousand) dollars into a program you’ll never use. I suspect the complexity of the bigger programs also tends to drive out those who want to dive right into the “deep end”, since it may take hours of tutorials and a lot of failed carves before something useful is made. With Easel, it’s basically click and carve.
I agree with Robert and that is the route I took. I have just recently started playing with Fusion 360 which has a steeper learning curve than easel, but not terrible.
I like that has cad and cam in one package and then you can import the g-code from Fusion into easel.
I use a Mac so that limits some of the programs you can use.
Jason
@ChrisKennedy start with Easel and if you get to the point you want more power request access to G-code import and we will enable it in your Easel account.