CNC-Model Making

[Jefta]

Hello everyone
I am opening this thread exclusively for CNC. Researching the pages of this forum, and others as well as on YouTube, related to the construction of ship models, I found a lot of information for 3d printing and for laser, but unfortunately very little for CNC.
I am a beginner and want to master the use of CNC for model making, and it seems to me that there are many people who find this topic interesting. Now we are in the year 2025 and a lot of new things are appearing. As I said, having researched this topic for some time now, I am more confused and undecided, and I hope to find some help here.
To begin with, I will ask a few questions and some guidelines that interest me. First of all:
-Which program is suitable for our hobby, without costing like a heart transplant  , is it:
- Fusion
- Vectric 2dcut or Vcarv
-Carveco
or someone else?
- How to use the drawing from my monograph and plans and make a piece on my CNC router (small 3018pro), ship decorations for example. On my home printer I can scan:
- BITMAP
- JPEG
-PNG
-TIFF
- MULTI-TIFF
- PDF
I saw on this forum that a workshop for Fusion in model making is offered, I sent a query both here on that topic and directly on the site where it is offered, but unfortunately without any response.
I'm on the fence about buying a Vectric Vcarv and it's not exactly cheap for a hobby but that's about the upper limit I'd be willing to pay. Because this is just my fun and enjoyment in making models, I have no intention of making a business out of this and making money.

Edited yesterday at 12:32 PM by Jefta

[thibaultron]

First, what do you want to do with the CNC? Are you making 3D parts, what materials,  metal and/or wood? What type of machine CNC Router or a full CNC mill. Do You want high precision parts? What size parts are you planning to cut. Personal or commercial production plans.

 

As far as software, I would recommend the Vcarve program (Pro if your machine will be bigger than 24" X 24") if you can design the parts on Sketchup, Fusion, or another 3D program. The other carving programs are subscription based, and not as powerful.

 

Do you have a machine or are you looking for recommendations?

[Cleat]

I bought a Sainsmart 3018 Prover a few years ago.  I bought it primarily for laser etching; I got a package that included a spindle plus some accessories.  For model shipbuilding, I used the spindle to cut a jig that helped me bend brass wire for stairway railings.  I used it to create stairway runners that I had broken.  I used it to cut walnut veneer to cover some plywood pieces for my current built.  I consider it a good learning tool and Sainsmart has very good support.  I learned enough that I decided to buy a bigger CNC router machine for my garage (I made a lake contour map in wood).

 

I’ve used a variety of free and inexpensive software.  When I bought the machine for my garage I bought VCarve which is worth the price; it has tools to design (you can import drawings), it has a variety of tools to create and troubleshoot toolpaths, and it creates G-code to operate a CNC machine (they support a variety of CNC manufacturers).  I’ve been writing myself a manual for CNC processes because I don’t use it often enough to remember everything.  It is helpful the learn what G codes are.  The CNC learning process is steep but VCarve helps reduce the learning process.