So, I have had a Sainsmart 3018 Prover for a few weeks now and I just got a NextWave Shark HD500 a week or so ago. Prior to this I have had ZERO experience with CNC machines.
My learning curve actually wasn’t as steep as I thought though since I have had a vinyl sign cutter for well over 15 years and have been 3D printing for about 7 years or so. I have a grasp on things moving round on an X, Y, and Z axis.
Ultimately, it ends up being about the software with these things. Sure, you need some hardware knowledge but once the machine is built and is sound it ends up being about the design of the file, and the sending of that file to your CNC via Gcode. Gcode is what tells the machine how and where to move from start to finish and everything in between.
The Sainsmart 3018 Prover doesn’t really come with software, except for Candle which is only a Gcode sending program. So I guess I meant to say it doesn’t really come with DESIGN software.
The Next Wave Shark HD500 comes with Vectric Vcarve Desktop which may be among the best in design software. But know this:
- First you draw a design
- Then you generate a Toolpath to carry out that design.
- Then you send that Toolpath via generated Gcode to your machine.
It is possible that those 3 simple steps each require their own software. Some software can do all, some can do 2 of those things, some can only do 1.