Today is a big day here at Carbide 3D, we’ve got a huge update to Carbide Create, our 2D CAD/CAM software and a big announcement about it’s future.

First, a little background.

The Start

Two years ago we started Carbide Create from nothing. We wanted to make sure our customers had a way to complete a project from start to finish when they bought a machine from us without having to buy extra software.

Trying to compete with competitors that make machines overseas, we couldn’t afford to license an exsiting package. We had to keep our costs low so writing our own software was the only approach. It was a massive amount of work but it was what we needed to do to compete.

Users of other machines immediately got in touch to see if they could use Carbide Create. We thanked them for their interest but we wanted to keep it for our customers only. We thought of it as our competitive advantage.

Carbide Create grew slowly over the last two years until it became a fairly capable program and along the way we realized another thing:

Our machines are the best in their respective classes. They come with everything you need and they have a great workflow. We make them here in the US and we provide excellent customer service. We don’t compete on CAD/CAM software alone.

So we made another decision.

Carbide Create is Now Free for Everyone

As of today’s release, Carbide Create is free for everyone to use, not just our customers. We’ve removed our proprietary gcode format so it outputs “normal” gcode now.

It’s not cloud-based and it doesn’t require activation, registration or license codes. This is not a trick to lock you in or control you. Once you download it, we cannot take it back. (Can you tell that we’re not a fan of “The Cloud” for CAD/CAM?)

We also added a bunch of features

New Features:

Vector offsets

Added Help link to header

Removed gcode encryption

Support for open vectors in contour toolpaths

Object grouping

“Starting Depth” option for contour and pocket toolpaths

Corner options for rectangles (fillet, inverted fillet, dogbone and tee)

Improvements:

Join command now can close a spline

Better pocket linking behavior

Better V-Carving linking

Improved dragging logic

Hide toolpaths in design mode

Better zoom/pan behavior

What’s next?

Where we go next depends on you. We assume that we’ll get a lot of feedback in the next few days and weeks so we’ll take a look at that feedback and update our todo list. If you have any thoughts, email us. If you love or hate some part of the program, let us know.

Go see more about Carbide Create CAD/CAM here.