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Best Design Programs for 3d Printers and CNC
3D Printers
Fusion 360
This is an intensive design program that is not easy to pick up. However, it is feature packed and typically free for hobbyist. If you want to use it commercially, you will have to pony up a little money (about $350-500) a year. But the best thing about Fusion 360 is it can be used for 3d printers and CNC. There are also a lot of YouTube videos out there to help teach you how to use it. The program itself even comes with some tutorials to help you learn it. It might take a while to learn, but if you do, you will be better off.
Blender
Blender is another very powerful design program that can take a while to learn. However, it is often labeled as the best 3d printer design programs. so it is worth learning if you really want to make some unique designs. Especially at it’s price point…FREE.
TinkerCAD
TinkerCAD is a browser based design program. It is limited compared to the other program listed, but it is easier to use and is free. SO if you want somewhere to start, this might be one of the better places.
FreeCAD
FreeCAD is another free program. But this is packed with some pretty great features. If you want a good intermediate program, that is free. This might be one to look into. THis also works on Mac and Linux.
CNC
Fusion 360
This is an intensive design program that is not easy to pick up. However, it is feature packed and typically free for hobbyist. If you want to use it commercially, you will have to pony up a little money (about $350-500) a year. But the best thing about Fusion 360 is it can be used for 3d printers and CNC. There are also a lot of YouTube videos out there to help teach you how to use it. The program itself even comes with some tutorials to help you learn it. It might take a while to learn, but if you do, you will be better off. Also this program can not only model 3d components, but it is also a CAM program, which allows you to design your toolpaths into a code to send to your CNC. It really is an all-in-one solution.
Inkscape
Inkscape is a free 2d drawing program that is popular for those who do not want to pay for a subscription. As such, it isn’t the most powerful, but it can do what you would need for basic speaker box construction.
Vectric
vectric includes Vcarve and Aspire. They are both good programs for those who mainly focus on 2D carving. It is a very simple program to pick up and use. The also offer a free 30 day trial, downloadable projects and training videos. It is one of the most used for basic CNC use, so there is a lot of community support and YouTube videos. One of the coolest things about Vectric is that depending on the edition you buy you can use gadgets. These gadgets are simple programs you can add in, such as dovetail joints, or box joints. It makes it very easy to make a box with these type of joints as it will create the box and the cam (tooling) for the joints. You can look at their gadget library if you are interested. The bad part with vectric, is they are more expensive than the aforementioned Fusion 360 and not as powerful. Also, there are multiple versions. Some of them limit the cutting area of your machine or the use of special features. SO f you want to use all of them, you buy Aspire, which is close to $2000. The plus side, is it is a lifetime license.
@elliottdesigns – feel free to edit and add some more.
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