Thread: Best CAD/CAM for French Provencal

In your opinion, what would be the optimal CAD/CAM software to draw and produce furniture like a French provencal china cabinet with complex segmented curling arches on the door rails, skirt and curved crown moding? Excluding the carved ornament part – this we assume will need something like ArtCam or substitute. We are buying a CNC router (no software incl) and want to get started on the CAD learning curve.


Our wish list:

• Parametric so we can resize a cabinet easily
• Easily draw the complex curves like on these doors
• Easily create a library of parts that can be re-used on new designs (e.g. a particular shaped door, or particular carved bottom skirt)
• Ability to import 3d scanned .stl files and use quickly (we just bought a NextEngine scanner to scan some of our hand-carvings)
• Not outrageously expensive

We recognize that it might take 2-3 different software packages to do the job. Our current options are as follows:

• AlphaCam to do everything
• MasterCam to do evertything
• Solidworks to do the CAD, VisualMill to do the CAM, Rhino3D to do the more complex free-form things like the scrolled feet.

What are your thoughts on these options – are there other software packages you might consider?