# Help! am new to cnc



## RonMa (Nov 11, 2019)

Hi, Am very new to using a cnc router. I want to make simple items from vector art. I have purchased a sainsmart mx3 router which came with Drufel CNC. I also bought Cut 2D software. Its easy to use (or so I think) but I can seem to get the output file that works with Drufel. What am I doing wrong? Also, can you recommend resources to learn?

Thank for you insight.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Welcome to the forum.


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Welcome to the forum, Ron! Add your first name to your profile to clear the N/a in the side panel.

My first guess is that you may not be using the correct post processor in your software. Using your software are you able to manually move the XYZ axes?

David


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## roxanne562001 (Feb 5, 2012)

Welcome to the forum


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## MoHawk (Dec 8, 2013)

Welcome to the forum and Happy Routing!


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Glad you chose to join the fun. We have one member who has written a couple of books for those new to CNC. He goes by Gaffboat here, but his books are under Prof. Henry, the name of his company. His signs and work are phenominal. Here are pix of the two books. I recommend both. Short and direct, they are an easy read.

There are several others here who are making money with their CNCs. And finally, attached is a pdf I wrote on making a living with your CNC, although you'll want to get up to speed and make some stuff to get some experience. One of our members is Polish and started making plaques with the unique Polish eagle on it and room for the family name. Gaffboat makes the most professional plaques and signs for commercial business. Look through his book and you'll see gorgeous designs and finished work. There are others here who are getting very good at CNC and can steer you straight.

The pdf is below the pictures.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Welcome to the Router Forums.

Here is the link to the software site for your control software https://drufelcnc.com/

I suggest you watch the tutorials. Looks like your control software is actually used to generate the gcode so you could do your drawings in Cut 2D then export the file in vector format so it can be imported into DrufelCNC to generate gcode.

I also suggest contacting Vectric and ask them to produce a post processor for your machine so you can just do a direct save of the toolpaths.


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

The Sainsmart mx3 can also run using Mach3, free up to 500 lines of code, $175 for the full version. 

Of course, the DurfelCNC that you got with the unit is probably the free version so it will be limited to 500 lines of code unless you upgrade to the full version for $50.00.

OKAY. I did some more looking and on their site they do provide the Vectric post processor for DurfelCNC control software, here it is, download this file, un-zip and install it in the My_PostP folder for your Cut 2D software.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

MEBCWD said:


> The Sainsmart mx3 can also run using Mach3, free up to 500 lines of code, $175 for the full version.
> 
> Of course, the DurfelCNC that you got with the unit is probably the free version so it will be limited to 500 lines of code unless you upgrade to the full version for $50.00.
> 
> OKAY. I did some more looking and on their site they do provide the Vectric post processor here it is, download this file, un-zip and install it in the My_PostP folder for your Cut 2D software.


Good job Mike. I know he will appreciate your research.


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## MT Stringer (Aug 15, 2012)

To add to Mike's post, I think you will have to create a folder called "My_PostP", and install your file in it. I did this and it is way easier to find your post processor so you don't have to scroll through all the other post processors just to find the only one you use.

Look at my screen shot. You can see the path to the folder. I have a couple of PP in the folder because I use more than one x,y coordinates for zero. I think the second one is for center of the project, and the other one is for x,y zero to the bottom left corner of the project, or something like that.

Hope this helps.


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## marecat3 (Nov 30, 2010)

Welcome to the forum


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

A quick way to install that post processor after you unzip it is to right-click on the file and select Copy, then open Cut 2D, click File, select Open Application Data Folder, double click on My_PostP to open it, then right-click in the open part of the folder, select paste.


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