actually, the original makercam.com does have problems, that’s why i created the maslowmakercam.000webhostapp.com address.
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Thanks for the update. As Jatt says makercam is not working. New people will be drawn to makercam as that’s whats the video and help guides suggest and learning yet another package just makes the whole thing more complex.
Would be good if you could provide a link/explanation on how to download it though.
Will check out your other suggestions.
Amin
Hi @dlang, can you provide any links showing how to use https://grid.space/kiri as you recommend specifically for the Maslow?
Most new people will need to see an example of configuring it for the Maslow at least i would to be able to get started…Cheers
I’d strongly recommend that all use of MakerCam is dumped (with haste) and a suitable alternative be recommended.
MakerCam uses flash and flash is absolutely dying. There’s no value at all in trying to perpetuate it. Adobe are formally killing it next year, and most (responsible) browser manufacturers make it difficult to impossible to use (for good reasons).
I’ve managed to jump through the necessary hoops to get flash running in FireFox, but even then MakerCam from the host (MakerCam.com) does not work properly.
I want / need a suite of community recommended alternatives that:
- Do not rely on outdated tech
- Will run offline or will run online if you prefer that - but that do not require a lot of bandwidth
- Will deliver the entire pipeline / DevOps - CAD -> CAM -> GCode.
- Can reliably import vector graphics (especially SVG - I don’t want to rewrite this stuff again)
- If they’re free then they are free, not crippled in some way (looking at you easel)
- Not tied too strongly to some other tech
- Let me specify feeds and speeds in a sensible way
Any recommendations? And yes I’ve read (and edited) the pages in GitHub.
You can try Fusion 360, but it’s overkill for most people’s needs, and the ui is quite unintuitive. Add that to the fact that they refuse to release an actual manual, instead choosing to release videos only to demonstrate how the product works, and it might not be your cup of tea.
It will work in offline mode if your internet is down.
Although maker cam is outdated and based on flash, it is still the easiest way to get started with your maslow without needing to learn a whole new workflow and deal with the complexities that come with the more full featured cad/cam programs. You can always download the version from my site (http://maslowmakercam.000webhostapp.com/partkam2.swf) or from github(github.com/kosme/makercam/blob/master/build/partkam.swf) and use it locally without being connected to the internet.
Thanks for your reply Jatt,
I’ve had a look at Fusion 360, and … like you said …
MakerCAM ? the short answer is that I will not be touching any flavour of MakerCam. We’ve all been given enough warning by Adobe and the various browser makers that not only is flash definitely dying, but that they are going to phase it out by degrees before that. That process is well underway.
I’m currently trying FreeCAD - only the link to the 32bit version works - and some things seem a little flakey, but so far so good.
you may want to take a look at etsicam it’s not fully free (I haven’t looked at
the details), but it’s fairly cheap (~$60) and from what I saw of it in use,
looks reasonably good.
I have high hopes for maslowcreate (which Bar is writing), you may want to take
a look at it and see if the design workflow works for you. It’s web based, but
opensource, so you will be able to run it locally if you want to.
David Lang
Do we have a URL for maslowcreate or etsicam?
Here you go,
maslowcreate
or (note the spelling…)
estlcam
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In the free version closed source category there’s Easel and Carbide Create, And (I think) kirimoto and these days lots of others. First start with something simple to learn what you’re doing, then figure out what your interests are, then ask people with similar interests what they like to use. Be prepared to get at least as many answers as there are people responding, then prune them down (by that point you have an idea about how the whole process works) and try what looks best. Repeat if necessary. But remember, start simple. This whole CNC thing may be way different than what you’ve done before and it takes a while to learn the techniques, memorize the acronyms, and test the limits of your frustration oriented vocabulary. Just like learning anything complicated. Your patience will be rewarded (hey, Good Eats is back!)
I did try Easel and it’s more correct to say that it’s not free in any practical sense - it’s also very strongly tied to specific hardware.
… and I tried this - and it didn’t seem to fit well with me.
Yes and no - I did a (C)NC emulator & management tool back in the '80s and I’ve always “kept in touch”
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your alternate MakerCAM app appears to be down 
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sorry about that, there appears to be a ddos happening against the host. keep trying and it should load.
Long term, I have to agree that it would be great if the more experienced in the community would identify a free open-source alternative that is active. As a workaround, I recommend downloading the makercam.swf & running it on your local machine using SWF Player. It’s working great for me so far & can run offline.
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I love the idea of the Maslow however as a new Maslow member, i have a new machine that i cant use to make anything. Have dome projects created in 360 that i cant generate the cam for as its to complicated. I cant covert the .dwg into .svg so i can use makercam as the online converts create fail to work properly and the shaer plugin for 360 wont let me select the model to convert it…
I’m also quite technical having built many online platforms and internet businesses so find all this very frustrating and rather disappointing…
Do yourself a favor, ditch MakerCam, and download Estlcam. It’s available to try the fully functional program for a while. If you like it, buy it. It’s only $59 IIRC. It’s easy to learn, if you’re able to use MakerCam, you’ll have no issue with Estlcam.
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Too many people attempted to access the maslowmakercam site yesterday (409 unique visits) and it was suspended for abuse, so unfortunately, it is down permanently.
I really like EstlCam, but unfortunately I literally cannot use PayPal to pay the money for it. And the developer won’t answer any emails from me requesting a different way to pay.
PS. PayPal is horribly broken, core reference data and backend functionality have not been updated in a very long time (e.g. country listing has not been updated since ~1997 - not joking)
Ah that sucks. BUT, if it makes you feel any better, I used the ‘trial’ version forever, and never noticed anything that was limited. Every so often it would remind me to ‘buy it if i liked it’ but still kept working for me.
I’ve moved over to a LowRider v2 machine now, and it still works just as well for me, tho, it is the paid version now. Christian is good people, I’ll reach out to him and see if he accepts any other forms of payment.
Thanks for that. I’d appreciate it. If he could switch to stripe that would be awesome. I can pay using stripe.