Rhinoceros

This is a great toolpath creation tool. The writer is working on the 4th axis and for about $100 while it is on sale, it can't be beat! The latest beta supports tapered tools and 2 sided milling.

Robert Grzesek is working on a wonderful piece of software--something that will take your .stl file and output usable gcode to machine your parts. You don't need a degree in manufacturing engineering to use it either--I'm a mechanical engineer and that means I can barely sharpen a pencil without hurting myself. :-) I am using it on a daily basis lately in my garage shop and getting good results. Meshcam is intuitive and easy to use. There is a Yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/meshcam Do yourself a favor and keep track of it as it moves to public release.

I downloaded a trial version of this software and have now used it for several pieces. Before I used this software, I worked in 2D or 2.5D from corel. This software has simply changed what my 3 axis machine is capable of. Its probably not as feature rich as some of the high end CAM software, but having said this its very very capable and incredibly easy to use. If you use Rhino or any other 3d CAD package and haven't tried full 3d machining, then this is defiantly worth a try. There is a 60 day evaluation licence. It works well for me with Rhino, cutviewer and turbocnc. In terms of both price and ease of use its simply a no-brainer. Bernard, Ireland