FreeCAD CAM - Learn to cut parts on our shopbot with FreeCAD

Interested in cutting some parts on our shopbot but want to use FreeCAD instead of Fusion? Join us for an intro to the FreeCAD CAM workbench!

This class will be a mixture of lecture/demo instruction, and towards the end there will be some personalized instruction tailored to the interests of the attendees.

In this intro session we will cover the following:

• CAM workbench setup
• Creating a job
• Adding tools
• Creating an operation
• Multiple operations and tools
• Rest machining
• Simulation
• Verifying the toolpath
• Post-processing and file naming
• Minor modifications to g-code necessary for our shopbot (LinuxCNC)

Required equipment:

• A laptop capable of running FreeCAD. Can be Linux, Windows, or MacOS. Don't forget the power supply!
• There are no officially published system requirements but it tends to be pretty forgiving. If you aren't sure about specs please send me a message. You can try it out by downloading it here https://www.freecad.org/downloads.php
• If you don't have a laptop but still would like to join, please contact me and I will see if I can provide something for you to use during the class.
• A mouse, which is pretty much essential for CAD.

While I will try to accommodate everyone’s experience level it would be best if you are familiar with the FreeCAD user interface and navigation workflow before attending this. Ideally you should already be able to create a simple part in the Part Design workbench.

Due to time constraints we will likely not cut any actual material on the machine in this class. The most we will do is possibly take an example g-code file generated using the CAM workbench and open it on the LinuxCNC controller to verify origin points and coordinate systems.