Cad program question.

[gundog]

I am going to be buying a new bot in the near future within 6 months or so. I have no experience with CNC or any cad programs. I have been thinking of buying a Turbo Cad program off ebay to start drawing parts and learning a cad system is Turbo Cad a good one to learn or is there something better? The one I was looking at was like $25 shipped.

I have a lap top and I work the graveyard shift 7 nights a month I have a lot of free time at night so I could start learning something and drawing some of my simple parts. Does this sound like a good plan.
Mike

[thewoodcrafter]

You must be looking at doing 2D work.
One of the best programs you will want to use comes with the ShopBot. Partworks aka V-Varve pro is an excellent program for all kinds of 2D work. When you buy the machine have them send you the software. You will most likely have a 2 month wait for the machine delivery anyway.

[bcammack]

TurboCAD is okay. IntelliCAD is another good one. It's open-source although there are commercial ones for sale, too.

[zeykr]

you can get the vcarve demo from vectric.com and get started learning with it till you get the full version with your shopbot.

[gerald_martin]

Michael, the above gentlemen are giving you excellent advise. Partworks/Vcarve Pro software from Vectric has excellent drawing tools. Like I'm sure many other 'botters would say, if ONLY vectric's software would have been available when we started...My first machine came with a copy of Vector CAD/CAM...Partworks ease of use and engraving abilities are what we all dreamed of and longed for.

I personally own ArtCam's Insignia which is a very good cad/cam system. However I have declined to update it, investing instead in Vectric software. For many users it would be very hard to justify the difference in cost between the ArtCAM product and Vectric's, the features are so similar.

One of the most outstanding features, I think, of Partworks is that it allows an incredibly accurate preview before you start cutting anything.

Ok, I'll quit before it sounds like I'm a salesman....