Blender CAM Ep. 1 || Introduction to Blender CAM || Generating g-code to carve on the CNC

[@ivdlivdl4451]

Thank you very much, this kind of video is gold for newbies 🙌

[@neongecko]

That's very cool. I am so pleased to have you point out BlenderCAM as I have never heard of it, even though I've been a long time Blender user. This is going to open up a whole lot of possibilities. A Blender tip, when you want to scale in the scale boxes, any of the other boxes in the 'N' menu, simply hover the mouse over the data you want to copy or paste without having to click on the boxes.

[@opensourcecnc]

Thanks! I still have to figure out blender from scratch, I might say, but the difference between blender and FreeCAD when it comes to 3d surface is so huge that I had to make this video

[@neongecko]

@@opensourcecnc Blender's learning curve is steep. It did nothing but frustrate me for the first year. The key to most things is KZbin, and that is especially true with Blender and other software. I would never even attempted to build my own CNC if it wasn't for KZbin.

[@xiaoshizi131]

Great work, thx for the explanation! Looking forward to the 4 and 5 axis usage of BlenderCAM now 😉

[@opensourcecnc]

Thanks! Glad you liked it. For the fourth and fifth axis I have to upgrade my machine first. But I will do it

[@ninao-xyz]

Nice tutorial. I also use mostly freeCAD for my CAM needs, but blenderCAM shines in the areas that are lacking in freeCAD. Another area that I think blenderCam does a better job is v-carving. Thank you for the video.

[@opensourcecnc]

Thanks! I will be covering the blender cam v-carve soon, for sure, maybe even a comparison with FreeCAD.

[@keys4692]

First time using blender. I would like to use the same color scheme you have. Your scheme is easier on the eyes. Thanks for the great video.

[@opensourcecnc]

It's the XSI theme from the presets

[@keys4692]

@@opensourcecnc Thank you! Getting older this helps me.

[@DaHaiZhu]

FYI: When you put a red bar at the bottom of your video thumbnail, it looks like its already been viewed. So people may just ignore it not play it.

[@opensourcecnc]

True. Didn't think of that. Gimp filled in by default some empty space. I will change it, thanks!

[@elmasx]

Hello, your videos are really useful. I use cnc for furniture making, I need to see both 3d and transfer the hole locations to cnc. I first tried freecad but even moving the object is really difficult. I can create backrest and shelf holes by creating boolean in Blender, but how can I extract the gcode of this? I think your content will attract attention in this subject because we have to use paid software for furniture and models (autocad, alphacam, etc.) Thanks for your videos.

[@opensourcecnc]

@@elmasx to be honest, i prefer FreeCAD for furniture. It's much more robust, even though the learning curve can be horrible (I've been there, so I totally understand how you are feeling). Regarding the holes in blender, in short you have to do the following: apply all modifiers, then use the "get pocket surfaces" function (take care to have the correct z set up on the dialogue). It will create some curve objects that represent the holes. They can be used as base for the pocket operations. I will make a series about using FreeCAD for furniture on the CNC, including the design part, in the near future. Hopefully it will help with the initial frustration when using FreeCAD, which I know is what the majority feels

[@elmasx]

@@opensourcecnc Yes, freecad gives great confidence for glass, but I couldn't quite figure it out in blender. At least if there are features like drilling selected surfaces to the depth, it can be very functional. Blender is really practical for drawing, but since it works with polygons instead of vectors when it comes to glass, there may be a possibility of incorrect operation or slow operation. Your videos are very useful, I look forward to your new videos (If I can do it, I'll write about it here)