Okay, I’m taking a machine shop course and I’m supposed to be moving to the CAD/CAM/CNC side of things shortly. The problem is that with thirty students and only two PCs, it’s a real PITA to get any time in front of a PC to do anything. I’ve managed to snag a copy of AutoCAD, and I’ve found some inexpensive CNC software, but I can’t find any CAM software under $400, which is more than I’m able to spend at the moment. (And don’t talk to me about “educational” versions, they’re usually little better than the “evaluation” versions which you can download for free from the web.) Ebay’s been no help, either.
Specifically, what I need is CAM software that’s compatible with the Charmilles Wire EDM machine we have at school (that way while the other guys in the class are fighting to use the PCs, I can be cutting metal). So far, I haven’t been able to find anything inexpensive in either Winblows or Linux versions. Googling “cam” in any form is a useless endeavour as it spits out some 120,000+ results (with the majority of them being related to webcams).
I’ve asked on a machinist board, but so far have gotten few replies. I hoping that someone here might have a few suggestions.