Very new to Maslow (don’t have a kit yet), but have played around with a Shapeoko. I’ve been designing some stich and glue prams and kayaks. I have been using Qcad to convert “lofting coordinates” into a dxf and Estlcam to do the post processing. Seems to cut just fine and am looking forward to a 4 x 8 environment to produce some actual kits.
Does anyone else have experience with Estlcam?
Estlcam has an interesting user interface. It looks more intuitive then most other packages out there.
Unfortunately I can’t try it as i’m not a win-mac user anymore.
I’m fiddling with QCAD every now and then but for some reason i don’t like it much. QCAD is very non-intuitive. (at least to me) Inkscape’s GUI is way ahead when it comes to intuitive use. Though Inkscape has a few things that aren’t CAD friendly yet… Still Inkscape seems to be the better choice to me.
But if you enjoy working with QCAD then all should be fine as well.
I think I like Estlcam because it is so straightforward for 2D work. I’ll look at Inkscape…for the boat design stuff I needed “spline” and other complicated arcs other packages didn’t seem to support so I migrated to CAD packages. I suppose it’s like anything else, you just get used to it. I did import one of my Estlcam G-Code files to Ground Control and they seem to be compatible.
I didn’t like 360, as it was Cloud based. The shop I previously had was internet challenged!
Thanks for the note
Have a look at FreeCAD, it has a ‘ship’ workbench module specific aimed at hull designs.
I never played with it as i’m not into boat building though I hope you can enjoy this tool.
Have fun! 
I have been using EstlCam for about a year now, but only with my OpenBuilds C-Beam. I tried a LOT of CNC CAM packages when I got the C-Beam running and I liked EstlCam the best.
I plan to use it with my Maslow as well, the Maslow hasn’t shipped yet (and to be fair, even if it had, I haven’t got the time to put it together…).
For CAD, 99% of what I do is in Sketchup. I really need to take the time and learn a proper CAD package.
Estlcam is great for inlays and v-carving.
I prefer it to Fusion for that.
I prefer Fusion for ‘technical ‘ designs where I need to test assemblies in 3d, make moving parts, etc.
Did you ever integrate the EstlCam with the Maslow? I am wondering if it can be used for direct control of the Maslow and not just the generation of the G Code. I like GC, but would love the ability to work on the G Code while inside the system controls program.
I think we should be working on the machine functionality first (including
making it so that any g-code sender can work, not just ground control) rather
than trying to add every possible thing into ground control.
now, if it’s trivial to add an editor to ground control, go ahead, but there are
a lot of editors out there, and getting one that works well across all platforms
could be “interesting”
David Lang
I have not. I have no experience with the EstlCAM controller, I have only used it for generating GCode.
My Maslow is still under construction, but getting closer.