Continuing the discussion from Haas training schedule:
I am beginning a little project to update the Tools page in our Wiki to indicate the design software most commonly used/preferred for each of our tools which require computer input. Please post your experiences here. Thanks.
Gladly.
OpenSCAD
Very easy to use for those with programming experience (or who think like programmers). Very suitable for its intended purpose; creating meshes for 3D printing. Unfortunately, the very few file types it exports are not well suited to the 3D CAM package that we use at the Makerspace, FeatureCAM.
FreeCAD
The first 3D design I produced for the HAAS was done with FreeCAD. The software is still in the early development stages, version 0.15 as of today. It is able to write (and read) two types of 3D CAD interchange files; IGES and STEP. Our version of FeatureCAM can read IGES, but not STEP. I was able to open either type with AutoDesk Inventor.
That first design was fairly simple; a fixture plate with about 75 holes (for clamping parts). The IGES file produced had some issues; most notable the actual cube for the fixture plate was not imported by FeatureCAM, just the holes. I was able to use it, but only because the block of material wasn’t being changed in anyway.
On a second attempt with FreeCAD, I modified a design file that was part of the SatNOGS satellite tracking station to accomodate a US pipe size versus its original metric size. Simple change, but the STL mesh file produced by the change was no longer printable (A torus appears in the stl about two inches above the part).
Feel free to ask me any other questions you might have.
Are you planning to do something space-wide, or just a particular shop?
Chris
Every tool in the wiki tools list.
Yes, I noticed the same issue. I had to import my OpenSCAD model into FreeCAD and then export it to something that FeatureCAM would recognize.
FeatureCAM (an Autodesk product) does not like DXF files created by OpenSCAD?
deleted the terrible misinformation spewing from my facehole
Edit: Call me a dirty rotten liar, Autodesk owns Delcam.
I’m not really sure how to organize or structure this thought, but I think there is also some use in knowing what type of files the tool uses. For instance, regardless of how you get there, you feed the 3D printer with .stl files, the laser uses vector files for cutting, the CNC router requires g-code … (And OK guys, I probably have some file types wrong but please ignore that because it was intended to be illustrative only).
Chris
Saying the CNC router requires g-code, while technically correct, is somewhat misleading. The CNC router requires a specific g-code output from V Carve, which has the DMS tools and settings configured. The Haas is the same, requiring g-code, but that g-code can’t be generated the same way for the two different machines.
3D printer actually needs g-code as well. The .stl file is turned to g-code in Kisslicer before loading. As far as 3D printers go, some just download .stl files from www.thingiverse.com or www.myminifactory.com. For things from scratch I’ve heard most people utilizing Blender, but I leverage the 3D Max design on JUMP server to build my .stl files. For anything vector (laser,vinyl, etc) I have a copy of Adobe Illustrator that I will probably use. Not sure yet what others use.
As far as this exercise goes, I think what would make most sense is just to reference what type of file the tool needs. That could be linked to the various applications available to produce that file type. At that point it really is up to individual which one they want to use.
Cool, it never occurred to me to try that!
Useful information. That’s the kind of info we need added to the wiki.
If we’re accumulating a list of 3D design tools, Autodesk also has 123Design. Free but with a paid upgrade.
When I first saw “FeatureCAM (an Autodesk product)”, I too said “WTF is he on about?”. Then I realized we’re talking about Autodesk, who likes to buy everyone and everything. A quick Google confirmed what he’s saying 
The annoying thing about DXF support AFAICT is the nature that there a LOT of versions and then there are ASCII and binary version of each product version/year.
Very interesting, I like to learn more about it all.
I don’t know, I didn’t try them. I haven’t used DXF files from OpenSCAD much, but I thought I remember reading that they only output 2D dxf files, which wouldn’t work with FeatureCAM very well. But like I said, I haven’t used them much and could easily be wrong.
Please confirm I am reading this correctly:
There is not a single source CAD or Design software program that can export to the files needed to create the g-code for the individual CAM software on each machine?
For the laser, I design my object in Fusion 360 in case I needed a 3D drawing later. For laser, I print a perspective to a PDF and feed it into Inkscape for the laser. Does this mean that my 3D drawings will not be useful for 3D printers, HAAS and the Wood CNC?
Fusion 360 (or Inventor) can produce files that are useable on all of our CNC machines, within their limitations. Though the best format changes as you mention.
As an example I recently produced a 3d design that was intended for the HAAS in Inventor. I 3d printed these files to test the design before I machined them.
I also have a tabbed box design in Inventor that I have cut with the laser.
The main thing I haven’t figured out an exact workflow on yet (mainly because it’s not that hard to work around) is a few things on 2D drawings. I like to use construction lines for instance. In VCarve, I’m typically selecting these and deleting them (or intentionally not selecting them during tool path generation). I’m sure there’s a workflow there to get things in proper layers and hiding said layers in VCarve when generating tool paths, I just haven’t tried to figure that out yet.
My mind still prefers those little annoyances as opposed to leaving the world of constrained sketches and trying to use something like Inkscape.
Yep, that is why @frank_lima was finally able to bring me into the world of parametric 3D CAD. Well that, and the fact that I have decided that I really like being able to use a single package to produce design files for any CNC machine.