Camp path
First shop — CAD, then cut and assemble
Tinkercad (think) → Inkscape or Carbide Create (exact mm vectors) → EstlCAM / Carbide Create / Easel (toolpaths) → makerspace or a later desktop CNC.
Shop pipeline
CAD to CNC.
Camp Starblock designs in Tinkercad. Fabrication, for now, is cut and assemble. When a spindle shows up — camp mill, makerspace, or a job sent out — the same millimeters have to survive the trip through CAM. That trip is CAD → export → CAM → control.
01
CAD
Design the part. Camp starts in Tinkercad so mixed ages can share a file. Think in millimeters. The family kit plate is the first CNC object — 2.5D, not a 3D surface job.
02
Export
CNC wants closed 2D curves. DXF or SVG of the top view, scale locked to mm. STL is a mesh — useful later, wrong as the first file into a hobby router.
03
CAM
Assign stock, bit, origin, and operations: drill or mill the holes, then profile the outline with tabs. Simulate. Then post G-code for the controller you actually have (often GRBL).
04
Control
Zero the work. Hold the sheet. Cut inside features first, outline last. Measure the hole. If it binds, change one number and recut a coupon — not the whole plate.
Live plate
The family kit plate is the first honest CNC part: flat Baltic birch, four holes, one outline. Change the bit. Watch the cutter centerline move. G-code below is a preview, not a post for a live machine.
Top view. Holes first, outline last. Dashed line is the cutter center, not the part edge.
Toolpath studio
Family kit plate
60 × 60 mm. Four 6 mm holes on a 40 mm square. First CNC part because it is flat stock, not a 3D cube.
- Hole strategy
- Helical mill
- Depth passes
- 3
; Camp Starblock kit plate — preview only. Not a post for a live machine. G21 G90 G17 G0 Z8 ; hole 1 G0 X10 Y10 G1 Z-2 F180 G2 I1.5 J0 F400 G1 Z-4 F180 G2 I1.5 J0 F400 G1 Z-6 F180 G2 I1.5 J0 F400 G0 Z8 ; hole 2 G0 X50 Y10 G1 Z-2 F180 G2 I1.5 J0 F400 G1 Z-4 F180 G2 I1.5 J0 F400 G1 Z-6 F180 G2 I1.5 J0 F400 G0 Z8 ; hole 3 G0 X10 Y50 G1 Z-2 F180 G2 I1.5 J0 F400 G1 Z-4 F180 G2 I1.5 J0 F400 G1 Z-6 F180 G2 I1.5 J0 F400 G0 Z8 ; hole 4 G0 X50 Y50 G1 Z-2 F180 G2 I1.5 J0 F400 G1 Z-4 F180 G2 I1.5 J0 F400 G1 Z-6 F180 G2 I1.5 J0 F400 G0 Z8 ; outside profile, climb, tabs later G0 X-1.5 Y-1.5 G1 Z-2 F180 G1 X61.5 F600 G1 Y61.5 G1 X-1.5 G1 Y-1.5 G1 Z-4 F180 G1 X61.5 F600 G1 Y61.5 G1 X-1.5 G1 Y-1.5 G1 Z-6 F180 G1 X61.5 F600 G1 Y61.5 G1 X-1.5 G1 Y-1.5 G0 Z8 M5 M2
Four stacks that actually work
One-app CAD/CAM
When a parent already lives in Fusion
Fusion Design → Manufacture: stock, tool, facing/pocket/profile, simulate, post for GRBL or the shop controller. Same file. Steeper, fewer handoffs.
Open stack
No license, Windows or Linux
FreeCAD model + CAM workbench → G-code → Universal Gcode Sender. Slower UI. Zero subscription.
Send-out
Until the camp owns a machine
Clean DXF/SVG (2.5D) or STEP (3D) to a local shop. You still own the geometry. The shop owns the spindle. That is allowed.
The handoffs that break parts
- Units. Tinkercad defaults to mm. CAM often opens DXF as inches. One missed toggle and a 60 mm plate becomes 60 inches of air.
- Open paths. A hole that is not a closed circle will not pocket. CAM will skip it or wander. Clean vectors before you pick a bit.
- Cutter vs. drawing. The line you drew is the part edge. The machine flies the bit center. Offset is not optional.
- Inside first. Drill or mill the 6 mm holes, then cut the outline. Outline first and the plate walks.
- Tabs and hold-down. A free square on a vacuum-less hobby bed is a projectile. Leave tabs. Clamp the sheet. Then cut.
- Post processor. Fusion G-code for a Haas is not GRBL. Match the post to the controller or the first line is already wrong.
What camp does now vs later
Now: design the connector and the plate at home. Cut and assemble by hand. Learn fit. Later: the plate is the coupon we mill first, because it is 2.5D. The 20 mm cube waits until the shop has a spindle and a vise. Do not skip to 3D surfacing to look advanced.