Luban doesn’t load stl files for the cnc so how are we supposed to convert the stl to cnc for a usable file
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Hey @Gysnst2, have a look at this:
Greets Chris
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Does Autodesc have a free trial version? I wonder cause I’ve heard it’s a paid software
Fusion360 and EAGLE have free versions. You need an account at Autodesk you can make on at tinkercad.com
You then can apply for Fusion360 private license https://www.autodesk.com/campaigns/fusion-360-for-hobbyists
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Fusion 360 you can get a hobby or student license not sure about eagle. Vcarve desktop does an awesome job at converting the stl to a usable file. But their is no post process for the snapmaker it is not free but it would be well worth the investment if we had a post process or vcarve desktop.
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Just started using the free hobbyist version of Fusion360 this weekend. Wow, what a powerful and easy to learn program. I’ve been designing and making stuff that have been in my head for years. Some of it even works ;D
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Fusion 360 would be a great tool to start with, reasonably low barrier for entry while still being incredibly powerful. Eagle/Eagle CAD is an electronics design suite… Autocad bought it not too long ago and it’s fully integrated into Fusion360 now (so if you are into electronics, you can design circuit boards in Fusion 360).
@Gysnst2 once you have generated a few toolpaths in Fusion for the CNC module, you’ll realise it can be a lot more involved than just cutting a vector or making a path for a relief from a heightmap and Fusion does 99% of the work for you. It’s the same reason Cura Engine is bundled with Luban for slicing stl’s for printing, if Snapmaker had to create it from scratch it would take years. Desktop CNC has received way less attention from hobbyists and developers than 3D printing has over the last 10 years, so there is far less in the way of options for Snapmaker to integrate into Luban that are of the same level and quality as Cura engine.
I’d love to see 3D toolpath generation for CNC added to Luban, probably through integrating an opensource cam engine as they have done with Cura engine. I think there are many more important features they could add first. I think beyond schools and people who just want to use the machine to do very basic tasks, people will use more powerful and more specialised free/open source tools for 3D printing (Cura, Prusa Slicer, KISSlicer, Simlpify 3D etc) and cnc (Fusion 360, FreeCAD, Camotics, BlenderCAM).
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As I agree with you on a lot of what you are saying. The one point I don’t think you fully see. Snapmaker is a closed system. So in theory they cnc and laser slicer should be as good as say vcarve. But I agree it’ll take a lot of work to get to that point. The main issue and my major concern at this point with LuBan. It cannot even handle simple relief’s over 100 mm without crashing. I like That they have posted fusion post process for but that worries me because the snap team needed a post processor to show off work the snap 2 can do but it was not done with LuBan. And it’s still a closed system. Add a post process for vcarve. Or other software. I’m not complaining I’m an early adaptor so I fully understand the new of not being able to take full advantage of the newness. I just hope the team answers questions and request for other post processes for other software.
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If Snapmaker follow through with their announced plan. It will all be open sourced.
I agree but the original snapmaker didnt make it that far. so i found out that if you have Vcarve you can use the grbl post process. but i do not know if the gcode need to be changed at all yet. and the snap uses a marlin base. even for the cnc and laser. that opens up the bright side of the entire mill IMO
Something like Cut2D would be nice for simple engraving work. I used to play around with the software when I dreamed of having a CNC several years ago. It’s so simple. Like you said, If CNC ever reaches the popularity of printing there will be some decent open source programs available. Maybe a workbench for FreeCAD…
@Thick8 FreeCAD has a CAM Path generation workbench already and it’s really good.