Easel CNC

This is Easel. It is a CAD and CAM program rolled into one free online product that Inventables rolled out a while back. I have loved the idea of an all in one program but until this point I have not been able to find a decent free option. As of a few days ago Easel.com updated their software to be fully compatible with the most recent GRBL software 0.9g. I am the kind of person that likes to be on the edge of technology and I have been keeping my Arduino up to date with the most recent releases of GRBL. Until this point Easel was only compatible with a previous GRBL release. With all of that said we are finally in the game and able to play with this very interesting software. 

As you can see Easel gives a live 3d preview of your design. The "Show Toolpaths" button allows you to preview the gcode prior to actual cut in this preview I chose to hide the materials in this shot so I could see all of the toolpaths.

Mounting the end mill into the router prior to the cut. I'm using my 1/8" collet adapter to reduce from the stock 1/4" collet. As I wrote in my CNC Machine overview this adapter works okay but I have to pry the two halves of the adapter open to be able to insert a bit. So it's not ideal but it functions and allows me to use bits that I had used previously with my Dremel.

I then secured my workpiece to the cut bed. As you can see I had to re-surface my cut bed due to some rather significant inconsistency in the surface height.

Zeroed all axis and now ready to cut!

Once you have completed your design and are happy with the look you then select "Carve" on the screen and you are presented with a dialog box that walks you through the preparation steps necessary before you start your cut. This is such a great checklist before your cut to ensure you didn't make any errors previous in the design process. 

I was very pleased with the cut process and the generated G-Code as it was fairly well optimized.

I am very happy with this cut. Considering It took less than 5 minutes to design, getting results like this are fantastic. 

The add tabs feature worked perfectly leaving just the right amount of material to securely hold your work in place.

In conclusion I am extremely happy that Easel is now compatible with the current GBRL release. I look forward to future feature upgrades but as it stands this program is full of enough features to be able to make nearly anything that you could think up. 

One word of warning is around the CNC machine that you are using. The default feeds and depths are set for a Shapeoko 2. If you are not using that machine (I am working towards that purchase in the hopefully near future) please make sure to keep in mind what your machine is capable of cutting and don't push it beyond those capabilities.

Thanks for reading and I hope you can take some time to give Easel a try.