Freeman Mfg.—Provides machinable wax, urethane proofing board, and other prototyping supplies
DIX Metals—West coast aluminum stainless, nonferrous, precision shapes
Ability Plastics—Engraving supplies, like doublestick tape, plastics, brass, etc.
Chavant—Makers of sculptor’s and prototypers’ modeling clays
Dura-Bar—Continuous Cast Iron Bar Stock
Coastal Enterprises—Precision Board brand high-density urethane foam for tooling and prototyping
Flexbar Machineable Wax—For proofing CNC tooling programs, or remolding
Futura Industries—Aluminum Extrusions: stock, custom-extruded
Byrne Sign Supply—Signfoam—High density urethane foamboard
Industrial Plastic Supply, Inc.—Various Plastics
Machinist Materials—Odd lots drops and surplus plastic and metal
MiniTec Framing—Aluminum extruded components for machine frames, etc.
The Kindt-Collins Company—TB-800 polyurethane tooling board
Coastal Enterprises—Precision Tooling Board: Rigid closed-cell HD polyurethane
TSLOTS—Extruded aluminum t-slot rails, similar to 80-20
FlashCut CNC—A complete Windows-based stepper or servo motion-control solution for those retrofitting a mill, lathe, or router or building one from scratch. Now available at a discount from ComputerSculpture.com.
ACS-Tech80 Home Page—Servo controllers and budget pci card
Acumotion.com—MyTMill and MyTLathe retrofits for Sherlines, etc.
Ah-ha!—Stepper control software and retrofit kits
Ajax—Centroid type retrofit systems but no guarantees, limited support
Allegro MicroSystems Inc.—Dual DMOS stepper drivers
Alzanti—UK-based Stepper Motor Drives, Stepping Motors and Motion Control Equipment
AMETEK—Rotron Brushless servo motors
Animatics—“Smart” Motors with Integrated Controls built in
API Controls and motors—Servos and Steppers
Astrosyn—Hybrid stepper motors in sizes 16 to 42
AutomationEXPRESS—Gecko drives, Servo Motors, Servo Systems, etc.
Automation Intelligence—Digital Brushless AC Servo Systems
Aveox—Brushless servo motors and drives
Axxus—In Canada, Axxus makes a servo controller with power supply
AXXUS AXY300 controller—Drives stepper motors in full and halfstep modes
Bearing Engineers, Inc.—Offering the Advanced Vector servo system
Belfab CNC—A control program for CNC mills
Bodine—Electric Brushless DC Motors
Camsoft—Makers of a PC-based machine controller
Camtronics—Dan Mauch’s kits, controls, motors and info page
Cardinal Engineering—Retrofit Systems from Roland Freistadt of IL
Centroid—PC-based control retrofits by Machines in Motion
Cnc kits.com—Intro to various economical solutions
CNC PRO—Yeager Automation’s DOS-based CNC control system
CNC Teknix—A new servo Controller from Australia
CNC Controller dot com—Windows and Dos based controller software and hardware
M.C.S.—CNC Control Parts, Machine Tool Parts—Robots. Dnc, cnc
ClickAutomation.com—Servo and stepper motors, servo amps, power supplies, etc
Control Techniques.com—Emerson motors, drivers and parts in the USA
DCME—DC Motors with encoders, inverters, tachs, etc.
Copley Motion Systems—ServoTube actuators resemble air pistons
DAK Engineering—Turbo CNC shareware executes G-code programs in DOS
DATRON—Electronic Homepage; servo motor, amp, and controller in one
DeskNC—Real-time control software for DOS
Direct Motion—Manufactures a Windows-based CNC system
DivisionMaster Ltd—Stand-alone rotary axis controller
Do it yourself—2-3 axis stepper control
Electro Sales Co., Inc.—Motors including steppers and DC
EMC—NIST’s free Enhanced machine controller runs in Linux
Freednc.com—Software to control mills in DNC mode
Gecko Drive—Small and inexpensive but high-performing stepper and servo motor drivers
GE Fanuc—Industrial Controllers for Milling and Multi-Axis Motion Control
Glentek—Servo motors and amps, etc.
Globe motors—AC and DC servos and gearmotors
Greco Systems CNC Minifile—A device for “drip-feeding” code into older CNC milling machines. If your machine has the ability to run directly from tape, this might run your large programs, saving a more expensive upgrade
Industrial Hobbies—Makers of the Universal Servo Drive ; ballscrew, servo motor, encoder and timing belt in one
JalaCNC—Freeware stepper control—no microstepping, though
JRACO—CNC servo retrofit kits, Galil compatible software, motors, slides and amps
J R Kerr Controller Boards—Makers of the Pic-Servo motion control card
Jon Elson’s—Pico Systems analog Servo Amplifier
Pico Systems—Universal Stepper Controller
KCAM—Router and Drill Control freeware
KDN tool.—Retrofit kits for Seig minimills
Kollmorgen Corporation—Servo motors with sizing program, also linear motors
Kuper Controls—10 axis motion control cards used in cinematography
Controller Information—From Machinemaster.com
The Motion Group—CNC Controllers and CNC Retrofit kits
Polysci (now Moog)—Servo and Powermax stepper motors
Hobby CNC Page—Dave Rigotti’s
Shelbyville Design & Signworks—CNC servo retrofits for routers
Shinano Kenshi—Motors: servos and steppers
ShopCam—The home page of Shop Systems, with ShopCam software for controlling mills, lathes, or wire EDM machines. They also sell some miniature mills and lathes.
Simple Step—The Simple Step Motion Control System
Spectrum—Stepper Motor Driver—from Haydon Switch and Instrument
Testra Corporation—Manufacturer of SyncroStep Motion Control Systems with Indexers and Drivers for Stepper Motors with encoders or not
Lexica—PC-based CNC control—9 axes standard
LiniStepper—Microstepping drive kit
Machine Master—Is a control retrofit for Bridgeport’s BOSS 3 through BOSS 6 Mills
Mann Made—In Ontario CA CNC via Yasakawa AC servos and DesKam, also slides, etc
MCG—Italian Stepper Motors
MDSI—Open CNC Machine Control from PCs
PC-based CNC controller—From Microsystems of Buckhannon in West Virginia
Mitsubishi Electric Automation, Inc.—Servo motors and motion control
National Control Devices—Cheap servo controller also controls IO, converts serial-parallel runs macros, etc.
OmniTurn—CNC lathes and retrofits for Hardinge
Oriental Motor—Japanese Stepper Motors
Phytron USA—Stepper Motors, Positioning Stages and Stepper Controls Manufacturer
Quickstep—CNC Software for PCs
RUTEX—Australian CNC pulse generator, plus inexpensive servo amps and plasma-cutter controls
Sanyo Denki America—High Performance ISO 9002 Hybrid Two-Phase Stepper Motors
Servo Motor Repair—Of all types!
Servo Systems—Used Robots, X-Y-Z And Rotary Tables, Servo Motors, Step Motors, Motion Control and Robotics
Stepperworld—Complete small stepper system, PS, motors, board for 349 bux
Stepper3 LLC—Stepper motors and drives
Super Tech and Associates—Developers of SuperCam, a non-G code machine control system
Superior Electric—Motors and motion control equipment
TechRep Components—Stepper and servo motors, plus contollers, etc
Torque Systems—Servo Motors, Encoders And Related Products
UniPhase Automation—Servo and Stepper Motors, Drives & Controllers
US Digital—NEMA Size 23 Stepper Motor MS23
Vigilant Products—4 axis motion control PCI boards, resolver to encoder translation
Xylotex—Stepper control board works on 5v 1 amp Power Supply
JM Tools—Jepson Die-grinder
Amazon.com—Makita RF11012 1⁄4 HP Variable-Speed Router
American Science & Surplus—Treadmill motors for variable speeds
NSK—Astro-e 250 spindle
Colombo—Heavy-duty Electric Spindles
CRP Industries—Perske Division High-Frequency high-end spindles
D and R Autochuck—Ekstrom-Carlson and Firmec spindle motors, rebuilds for many router and spindle brands
Dealers Electric—Variable speed VFD frequency drive package
DeWalt—Heavy-duty cutout tool, might make a light-duty CNC spindle
Dremel—Rotary Saw Kit
Dumore Corporation—High Quality 35000 rpm die grinders, etc.
Vision Engravers—Engraving Spindles 30k rpm continuous duty $500
Friesen Electric—Electric Motor Control with Variable Frequency Drives
Leeson.com—DC spindle motors controllable with SCR thyristors
Centaur Tools—ADF collets extensions and nuts
Kress Elektrowerkzeuge Produkte—Expert Line Recessing and shaping machine AKA 26000 rpm router
Layman’s guide—To AC/ DC variable-speed motors here, plus motors
Metabo Die Grinders—From Primetools
Precise Spindles—From the Precise Corporation
Precise Corporation—Makers of Precise spindles
Porter-cable—Routers & Laminate Trimmers
Paragrave Las Vegas—Powercrafter 400k rpm airtool
A schematic Circuit Diagram—For constructing a Pulse Width Modulation DC motor speed controller
Spindle Motor Imports—Precision Tool Imports International Inc.
Techno Isel—Variable High Speed 1.25 hp Router motor
CNC on a Budget—Cheap spindles, boards, etc
TB Woods—E-trac sensorless vector AC converter for speed control of spindle motors
Kerk Motion Products—Lead screws, linear rails, etc.
TBI—Taiwan Ball Screw Industrial Co., Ltd.
A ball screw manufacturers directory—With ball and acme screws and nuts, repairers, etc.
Automation 4 Less—Linear motion hardware, electrical components
Bertelkamp Automation, Inc.—Aluminum extrusions, motion control systems, and components
Bishop-Wisecarver Corporation—Linear motion devices, including modular sliding stages with drive-screws. Nice, but not cheap.
CNC Linx on Yahoostores—Acme Lead Screws
Comptrol—Ball Screw Components and Assemblies
Dependable Acme—Acme Threaded Screws, Rods, and nuts
Grifftek—Bill Griffin’s CNC supplies, including surplus ballscrews and rails
Steinmeyer—Mounting a Ballscrew, from a miniature ballscrew supplier
Exlar Roller Screws—An alternative to ballscrews
BSA—Supernuts & Leadscrews, FineLine Ball Screws and Nuts
Industrial Hobbies—CNC conversion kits include ballscrews, Geckos, power supplies, etc.
IQS site—Linear bearings manufacturers directory list of links
Jena-tec—Ballscrews, precision ballscrews, linear actuators, threads, gears, leadscrews, ballscrew repair
JJC and Associates—Timing belts, pulleys gears rollers clamps, etc
Lovejoy—Mini couplings for shaft motion transfer without damage from misalignment
Macron Dynamics—Linear actuators, drives, positioners, motion components & systems
Stock Drive Products—Mechanical Components, Timing Pulleys, Gears, Clutches, shafts, sprockets, Bearings, Brakes
Motion Industries—Bearings, rails, and power transmission products
Nook Industries—Ball Screws, Acme Screws and slides
NSK—Bearings, Ballscrews and linear rails
Ondrives—UK source of slides shafts, couplings and other linear motion products
ProCom—Singapore based seller of z-axis slides ballscrews motors, etc.
Hiwin—Linear slides, Rotating Nut Ballscrews, etc.
Resources Un-Ltd—Motion control surplus
Roton—Ballscrews and nuts, attractively priced
Ruland—Jawflex Jaw Couplings—Spider type zero backlash
Schneeberger—Linear technology: rails and screws
Techno Isel—LP BallScrews—New Products
Thomson Industries—Linear Motion and Control Technology, see 5⁄8” rolled ballscrews
THS Engineering—CNC and motion control products and consulting
Turnomat—Ball Bearing Gibs Page
Universal—Lead screws and assemblies
U.S.Digital—Optical Encoders, Inclinometers & Motion Control Components @ US Digital
USA Tolerance Rings—For mating cylindrical objects to holes
Baileynet—1 inch dia. induction hardened Hydraulic Cylinder rod 10 bux a foot, also Bearings, Mobile Components
Elrod Machine—Z Axis CNC Quill Drive for Bridgeport retrofits
Green Bay Manufacturing Inc.—Acme screws, nuts, etc.
Industrial Surplus—Timing belts and pulleys
Keystone Threaded Products—Rolled Acme leadscrews and nuts of various types
L. M. Watts—Motion control parts for sale
Circuits—Alan Rothenbush has developed an Emergency Stop circuit and other CNC innovations—see his page for wiring up the Gecko 320 drives
IDEC—MX1C self-contained laser displacement sensor
Switches Plus—44 Series Emergency Stop Switches
All Electronics Corp—Electronic Parts and Supplies—New and Surplus
Allied Electronics—Electronic Components and Equipment; good selection of enclosures
Anderson Power Products—Presoldered and fluxed electrical connectors
Automation Systems Interconnect, Inc.—Breakout boards, relays, power supplies, etc.
AutomationDirect—Pushbuttons, power supplies, I-O cards VFDs, etc.
Axxus—In Canada, Parallel port breakout board, plus relay circuit, etc.
B and B electronics—Parallel and serial port isolators, RS 232 converters, etc.
BEI—Incremental Encoders; Optical Shaft Encoder Products
Bicron Electronics—Toroidal transformers for US and International markets
Black Box—Twisted pair cables and connectors; custom cables available
Bud Industries—America’s largest maker of standard electronic enclosures
C and H Sales Company—Surplus electronic supplies
Cherry Corp—Switches, sensors, electronic controls, etc.
PDF—Continuous flex servo cable
CWS—Coil winding specialists; Toroidal power transformers; custom winding
Daedalon Corporation—Lab power supplies, etc.
Digi-Key Corporation—Major supplier of Electronic components
Dontronics—DIY KIT: 165 Printer Port to 8-Relay Outputs
EKI—Custom Keyboards, Operator Stations, Industrial Computers
Equinox Product Price List—Ethernet serial hubs, RS-232 connectors
Future Electronics Active Catalog—
Gcplus.com—Mic Connectors 2 to 8 pin
Hammonds—Power Toriod transformers for power supplies
Herbach and Rademan—Surplus Electro-mechanical & Scientific Equipment
Hoffman Products—Electronic and electrical enclosures, wireways and troughs
Hosfelt.com—Mic Connectors, various configurations
Line filters for small motors—
Young Industrial Surplus—Electronic enclosures
Jameco—A Major Source of New and Out-of-Production Electronic Parts for Electronic Hobbyists
Kim Controls—Stepper motor Cables, etc.
Kronosrobotics—Robotic driver boards, etc.
Lava Products—Dual Parallel-PCI
LMDC Catalogue—Servo Components, opto limit switches amps motors, etc
Logosol—Servo amps
MECI—Source for Belden Infinity Industrial Control Wire and lots of other stuff
MPJA—Power Supplies and industrial electronics
Neutrik—Connectors, xlr, speakon, audio
Kabelflex from Kebelshlepp—New Flexible Conduit, carriers
Boondog—PC ISA Bus Quadrature Encoder Card
PCI I-O Boards—Parports, analog out, etc
PI Manufacturing—Sells soft spillproof keyboards, lots more electronic stuff
Plastic Enclosures—New reduced pricing on standard enclosures
PLITRON—Toroidal transformers, output transformers, power transformers
PMDX—Makers of the PMDX PPort accessory module and breakout board, which isolates and protects the parallel port
Star Case—Rackmount cases and ATA rack case shipping cases
RP Electronics—Test Instruments, Power Supplies, Inverters, etc.
Alpha Wire Company—Servo Cable
TRC Electronics—Sinpro SPU130 Series, Table Top Switching Power Supplies
Skycraft—Parts & Electronic Surplus cable, etc.
Quatech—SPP-100—Extension PPorts for laptops
Servo To Go, Inc.—A card which controls the ins and outs of servo motion—not a complete solution, but a piece of the puzzle
Stepperworld.com—Fet-3 36 amp high power mosfets, etc.
Surplus Center—Variable DC power Supplies 0-130vdc to 8 amps
The Electronic Goldmine—Surplus electronic parts, motors, etc.
Toroidal Transformers—For power supplies and isolation in various transformer applications
Transformer Technology Inc.—Special unregulated power supplies, good for Gecko drives
Tripp Lite—Line Conditioners regulate voltage up or down
USB to Parallel IEEE 1284 Printer Adapter—Converter Cable
Velleman Components NV—Makes the K8000 pport breakout board with multi IO channels
Skycraft Surplus Wire & cable inventory—A source of Belden infinity multiflex cable
Goos.com—Matsonic Mainboards for P4 processors
Newark InOne—Braided .37 copper tube for shielding cable
Overseas Electronics—Voltage converters for using 220v electricity on 110v machines or vice versa
RENCO—Rotary Optical Encoders for Motion & Speed Control
Switchcraft—High power connectors for panels and cords
2Link—Spring Loaded Engraving Tool for cnc milling machines
ACCU-GRIND—Carbide endmills
Amana Tool—Saw blades and router bits
Antares, Inc.—Engraving cutters and d-shaped tools for acrylic
ARROW TOOLING—Router bits, etc.
Arthur R. Warner Co.—HSS Products, including quarter-inch inserts
Bits & Bits Company—Signmaking and Engraving Tools, CNC Milling Tools, Resharpening
Blake Mfg.—Co-axial indicator for hole centering
Brubaker Tool—Cutting tools including endmills taps drills, etc.
Carbide Depot—New and surplus carbide inserts, endmills and other tooling
Carbide End Mills—Drills, Garr Cutting Tools, feed-speed charts
Cutting Edge Technologies—Carbide and HSS Cobalt Endmills
Data Flute CNC—Custom tooling
Discount Tools—Cutting Tools for metalworking
Drill Technology—Carbide tools, micro endmills, downcut and diamond cut router bits
Sands Machine—Cast Aluminum Precision Tool & Jig Plate (discs)
Century Tool—Insert-based lathe tools—some small ones
CONICAL TOOL—Tapered spiral flute endmills stock and custom
Craftsman Industries, Inc.—Precision ER Straight Shank Collet Chuck extenders
Crown Catalog Group—Engraving cutters, single-flute carbide endmills, etc.
Crystallume—Diamond-coated tools for hard or abrasive materials
Drill Bit City—Resharpened Carbide Drill Bits, Precision Tools
DuraMill, Inc.—Milling Cutters and End Mills
Enco—A wide range of machine shop supplies, including tooling
Discount Tools—End Mills including Ball Nose, Square End, Miniatures and Specials
Chronos Ltd—Manual rotary tables and tailstocks
Free book—On cutting tools and their use on metal—PDF format
Hexel Corporation—The Hexabot hexapod positioning system
Garr Tool—Manufacturer of Solid Carbide Cutting Tools
Hanita—End mill information in detail
Harbor Freight—Step blocks and holddown kits, other Asian tooling
Hartlauer Bits—Router bits from Onsrud, etc with hints and tips
Harvey Tool—Specialty cutting tools carbide and HSS
Hermann Schmidt—Precision tooling
Gordon Engineering Corporation—Quality Metalcutting Technology
Gortrac—Cable & Hose Carrier Systems
Grand Tool Supply—Metalworking tools—cutting measuring, etc. oddball taps
HPI Heartech Precision, Inc.—Rotary tables, toolholders, presetters, accessories
Centaur Tools—Precision Tooling Systems
Kee Klamp—Structural pipe fittings with set screws for corners crossings, etc
Kern Micro & Feinwerktechnik—German micro-machining experts with rotating & swiveling table
M.A. Ford—Manufacturer of solid carbide and high speed steel cutting tools
Micro 100—Miniature carbide endmills, etc.
Mini-Bore—Indexable boring bars and inserts from Kaiser Tool Company, Inc.
Minicut International Inc.—Cutting tools even indexable ballnose cutter
Miteebite—A system of tool clamps
MLCS—Adaptor bushings allow routers to use odd size bits
Multi-Mat—Tacky hold-down material for engraving
NEMI—Vacuum and pinch-block workholding fixtures 2-D digitizer, etc.
Onsrud—Cutters and router bits
NewTechManufacturing—Millabrator 2003 toolsetter
PHASE II—Chinese machine tool acessories like rotary tables, etc.
Plastool—Lathe tools for SHerline and Taig Lathes
PreciseCut—Tapered endmills and intarsia engraving tools in small sizes
PROHOLD—Workholding equipment
Quick-change tool holders—For micro-lathes
R.L. Schmitt Co.—Endmills: blemished and overstock liquidation
Regal Cutting Tools—End Mills
Rose Plastic—Packaging for cutting tools, etc.
International Engraving Devices—Carbide end mills and cutters
SP3—Advanced diamond tooling for machining graphite, fiber and metal matrix composites and other abrasive materials
Spillage.net—Clamp kits and other aftermarket accessories for Taig, MaxNC
National Tool—Sub Miniature Cutting Tools
Thinbit—Cutting tools, inserts and toolholders grooving tools, threading tools, parting tools, boring, turning tools
Thinkandtinker—Carbide Mechanical Etching Bits
Toolsupply.com—VERTEX Precision Rotary Tables
Vinyl-mate—Vinyl-cutting attachment for CNC router
Vortex Tool Company Inc.—Solid Carbide CNC Router Bits, Boring Bits, Tool Holders, Collets, Inserts, etc.
SGS Tool Company—Zcarb endmills, etc.
American Carbide—End Mills, Burrs, Carbide Router Bits made in the USA
Cutting Edge Technologies—Carbide & HSS Cobalt Endmills
Acculube Metalworking Lubricants—OEC Environmental Inc.
American Grinding and Machine Company—“Brute” Machine Bases
Bijur—Automatic Oil Pumps for machine lubrication
Bootdisk.Com—Bootdisks to make modern Windows computers boot up in DOS
BRECOflex, L.L.C.—Catalogs for timing belts, etc.
BUWW Coverings Inc.—Way wipers, covers, enclosures, etc.
Chaski Forum—Machine tools Buy, Sell, Trade, Wanted, Free!
CNC Repair—CNC Repair Parts, CNC Machine Tool Repair, CNC Parts
Digital Producer Magazine—For digital video news and information
Emachinetool—Tools and Machine Accessories
Engineered Lubricants Co.—Oils for machines and machining
Epoxy Surface Plate—Self-leveling epoxy system, with instructions
Gortite—Protective Bellows and Way Covers
Gortrac—Cable & Hose Carrier Systems
AllElectonics—Gearhead motor assembly used for Rab’s 5th axis
High Quality Tool Inc.—Bridgeport mill replacement parts
Igus® Inc. IGUS—Polymer cable carriers, linear bearings, flexible cable, etc.
IMS Company—Injection Molding Supplies and Machinery for the Plastics Industry
PhillyCAST—Epoxy-granite monolithic machine bases and the materials to make them
ITW Vortec—Vortex tubes, Cold Air Guns, and other Compressed Air Solutions for Industrial Cooling, Cleaning and Conveying
J&L Industrial Supply—155,000 item catalog of Metalworking and Industrial Supplies
LittleMachineShop.com—Parts and accessories for mini lathes and mini mills: bellows, emergency stop switch, etc.
LORD MPD—Rubber isolation mounts, etc.
OMW Metalcrafts—Accessories for small lathes and mills
Maryland Metrics—Metric sized parts fasteners tools, etc—rare finds in the US
McMaster-Carr Supply Company—Huge catalog of industrial supplies, good phone service
MILITEC-1—All-purpose synthetic metal conditioner and gun oil (evidently works great in Iraq)
MSC Industrial Supply Co.—Major supplier of machine tool accessories with hundreds of thousands of items; they produce the Big Book
Penn Tool Co.—Sells a wide range of tools and machine supplies
SBM Tools—Bar Puller for CNC Lathes
Shooting Star—DigitalReadout—3 axes 799
Soundproofing.org—Practical Noise Control solutions & Sound Proofing Materials
Stock Drive Products—Sterling Instrument Neg’ator Constant Force Springs
Travers Tool Co. Inc.—Industrial and Machine Shop Supplies
Trico—Makes mister also a leading manufacturer of lubrication, condition monitoring and spray equipment for rotating and metalworking
Pro.Com Used CNC parts—Motors ballscrews drives, etc in Singapore
KBC Tools & Machinery—Canadian and US tool supply
Calearo—West Coast USA Industrial Tooling Supply, DRO Mechanisms
CNC on a Budget—Paul Jones’ Router holder, Sherline-to-Taig spindle mounts, etc.
DEVCO—Automatic oilers like SHOWA, BIJUR, VOGEL, etc.
Drives Warehouse eBay Store—AC Variable Frequency Drives, DC Variable Speed Drives for spindle speed control
EBay Store—JE Campbell Industrial Marketing Industrial Robots, PLCs, Electronic Components
Emission Technologies—CNC laser cutter kit seems relatively affordable
Euchner GmbH + Co.—KG Electronic Handwheels
Trico—Automatic Cyclic Pumps for ballscrew and gibs lubrication
TriTech Products—5-Axis add-on; spindle extender for 3-axis mills
Al Schoepp’s Page—Taig conversion with schematic, handy utilities, foundry work, etc. (see SHOP)
The Basics of CNC—Training materials for prospective CNC operators
Build your CNC Hot-wire machine—For cutting airplane wings from polystyrene foam
Bill Barrows’ cnc-project—Cnc cut aluminum router
The 3-D Buzz—Lots of tutorials, mostly about animation FX, also forums, job boards, etc.
CAD Code forum—Mostly wood industry folks discussing their trade
Chaski’s—Home machine shop forum
CIMCO Feed & Speed Calculator—Downloadable freeware
CNCgurus—A forum on a commercial site
CNC Retro-Fit Links—A strong collection of links that makes this a good place to start for anyone contemplating the conversion of a hand-crank tool to CNC
CNC upgrade—For Taig manual Micro Mill
CompuCut—DIY CNC machines from the UK
Converting an Ordinary DC Motor to a Servomotor—
Country Bubbas DIY DRO kit page—
Cutting Edge CNC—Tauseef has lots of information here on getting software and hardware working together to run a Sherline mill
Cyberkinetics, Inc.—Researchers working on a brain-machine interface—this might be the future of CNC (scary!)
Data Wales—Desktop CNC in Britain. Software notes (covering Rhino, DeskProto, and VirtualSculpt)
Dave Hylands—Machinist Stuff including projects and CNC mods to Sherline mill and lathe
Deadlywind—Max NC thrust bearing modification (JPG)
Digitizing a conga drum with the DeskCNC Digitizing Probe—
Dutro’s—Adventures in CNC retrofitting
Easy Step’n—Book, Introduction to Stepper Motors and parts kit for the electronic hobbyist
Full color 3-D printer—At the inventor’s site
Fundamentals of Machine Tools—A basic guide from the U.S. Army
Glaister Consulting—How to build rtlinux, run emc
GoCADCAM CNC and Manufacturing information.—Forums, articles, etc mostly geared to CNC machinists
Handy chart—Of keyboard, monitor and mouse pinouts, USB pinout, Mini USB pinout, IEEE 1394 FireWire pinout, digital flat panel port, VGA pinout
Hans Wedemeyer’s—MaxNC 10 modifications and derogatory comments about the machine as it was
Heidenhain—Position feedbackvia linear scales or rotary encoders, pros and cons
High Pressure Oiler from grease gun—DIY instructions
Home CNC—Jeff Davis’ site, with kits, plans, motors, etc.
HomeShopAccessories—Plans for an automatic Sherline tool changer
How to make a high-voltage power supply by ganging up 12v PC supplies—
Igus Design Guide—How to use their cable-takeup chain
I-logic—Speeds and feedsdatabase, plus other online utilities
Imagine Robots—Sherline CNC Mill pictures and comments
IMTS—The International Manufacturing Technology Show held annually in Chicago
James Eckman’s Ronin Engineer Page—Taig mods and Metalworking tips, with bibliography
One Half A Manifesto—By Jaron Lanier: Fascinating words from the well-known techno-pioneer
Jon Elson’s Machining page—Includes the Conversion of a Bridgeport mill to CNC, with illustrations
Jones on Stepping Motors—Everything you ever wanted to know about these puppies
Jose’s—Projects and mods for the Taig
CNC Machining magazine—From Haas
An Industry Community forum—Devoted to servo drives
Involute Gear Data—From the Model Engineers’ Workshop
Ken Jenkins—Springloaded CNC Plotter Pen made from a mechanical pencil
Ken Jenkins—Taig mill with Dewalt laminate trimmer spindle
KT Marketing—Tim Goldstein’s site, with info on EMC (a free Linux-based CNC machine controller), various retrofit projects and CNC-related topics
The Learning CNC—Home page
Linux Documentation—Hardware compatibility, etc.
LME Hexapod Machine—A concept for a different kind of carving machine
Low Cost Laser Cutting—Paul Yarin’s MIT project
Machinescraping Tools Videos, and FAQ—
Machining calculation program—
Machinist software—Software to aid the work of manual machinists
Majosoft’s hobby site—Homebrew engraving machines, etc.
Machine CNC—Homebuilt router and 4th axis from wood and hardware store parts
5-Axis Milling—For Marine Modeling—Stephen Hollister describes how to make Plugs, Molds, and Tooling
Majosoft Home-made engraving machines—From the Netherlands, plus how to construct them
Frank Hoose’s Mini Lathe Page—
Mitch—Taig Lathe and Mill plus mods
Modern Machine Shop—The online branch of Modern Machine Shop Magazine—full of info on machining practice and innovations
MMSOnline—Online Metalworking Tools, Machining Calculators, and Engineering Utilities
MMS Online article—Low-Pressure Spraying Coolant System
MMS online article—Interpolating Curves
MMS Online Feature Article—Mapping Your Way To Five-Axis Machining
MMS Online Article—High Speed Machining from NURBS
Motionnet’s Engineering Resources—Links to machines, software, and components
Machine Tools Online—Virtual community for the machining industry
Mold-Tech—All about texturizing steel molds for plastic parts
Motion Control Programming—Using Borland’s C++Builder and Delphi Home of the ClemSoft CNC for Smartmotors (A full blown 3 axis system)
Bill Mumford’s Homemade cnc mill retrofit page—With stand-alone 4th axis attachment
My Taig cnc mill—One user and his cnc-ready Taig retrofitted with a Xylotex controller
North American Model Engineering Society—(NAMES) Exposition, held in April in Wyandotte Michigan
Numerisation—Scanning and 3-D conference in Paris
Onsrud Router Bit—Selection Guide
PC Presentations Productions—Electronic Magazine of Windows Graphics and Desktop Video
Phone-Soft Internet Directory—Annotated CNC Hardware/Software links
3-D Photography—Scanning, subdivision surfaces and surface light fields
Planet 3-D—Bryce, Poser, Amorphium, POV-ray resources, textures, reviews, tutorials, and more
PRIME—The Pacific Rim Model Engineering Expo, where miniature machinists strut their tiny stuff.
Quick Change Tool Post shopmade—
Rainnea Graphics—Rab’s home-built 5-axis router
Rapid Prototyping Journal—A peer-reviewed journal with articles on RP advances
Ron Thompson—CNC Adventures retrofitting a sherline
Sherline—A Sherline mill modified to have a ballscrew in the Z axis
Siggraph Exhibition and Conference—This big annual computer-graphics exposition is well worth attending
SDP-SI—Belt and pulley calculator
Sheldon’s homebuilt Taig CNC stepper control box—
Sinumerik—Illustrated PDF gives info on G-coding, etc.
Spirolaterals—A web-based program for generating Spirolaterals, mathematically generated figures which exhibit a fair amount of variety upon changing some simple parameters—not 3-D, but fun.
Stafford’s Elegant Diamonds—How we do custom jewelry design using CAD technology
The Motion Group—STEPPER MOTOR BASICS
“Mister Rogers”—Teaches us about the RS 232 pinouts
Steve Blackmore’s CNC Page—Taig retrofit, control boards, schematics, etc.
Tap Drill Sizes, etc.—Charts, plus tooling
Thesis Development of a Multiple Axis Position Control System—Function of the Slave Motor Drivers
One man’s start on a Taig Mill Manual—Gibs adjustment
Homebrew Taig conversion—With homemade timing-belt mounts plus bellows (JPG)
Taig Micro Mill—Speeds and feeds chart based on empirical experience
Info on Tapers and Collets—From Dr. Spiff
TRIG-MAN 2000—Shop math spreadsheet program, feed-speed, etc.
Truing big parts on a sherline—Looks dangerous to me…
3-D Artist Magazine—Was a print publication for artists interested in 3-D graphics, with industry contacts, 3-D dealers, service bureaus, schools, classifieds, and artists online. It has ceased publication, but back-issues are still available, and the links still work
3-D Artists—Hub for graphics types, with forum, links, job center, etc.
Toile Metisse—Christian Lavigne presides over this European nexus of interest in digitally-influenced art, even organizing a recent show for the French Senate.
US Digital—Encoder Frequently Asked Questions
Visual Magic Magazine—Mostly concerned with animation
WAPICS—Table des Matieres du Site—Building a CNC mill (fraiseuse) from scratch—in French but illustrated
Wiring the Gecko 320s—By Tim Goldstein
WOODWEB’s CNC Forum—Message Index
Wrathall’s Seig lathe CNC conversion—
ZDnet—Reviews of computers, peripherals, and other hi-tech products
CLISBY—Extremely small machines from Australia; similar to Sherline but really tiny
Harbor Freight Tools—Gearhead mill with dovetail column
Meridian Used Machinery—In Farmingdale, NY
Seig—Korean micromill
Penn Tool Co.—Top Tech Bench Knee Mill, R-8 Spindle
House of Tools—Force Ten mill with dovetail column 1677 USD
Grizzly Industrial—Sells tools made in Asia, including a minimill
HGR Industrial Surplus—Used Machinery, Machine Tools, Machine Equipment
A7 Equipment Brokering—Surplus machines
Cowells—Machine tools from UK—small mill, lathes, etc.
CNC Junior—A cnc-converted mill-drill package with powerful 650 oz/in motors, now available at a discount price at ComputerSculpture.com
Microproto—The new site for Taig CNC mills and lathes, now available at a discount price at ComputerSculpture.com
The Sherline Lathe, Mill and Precision Miniature Machining Page—California-based Sherline makes an extensive range of tools and accessories for machining on a small scale. Sherline products are now available at a discount price at ComputerSculpture.com
Desktop Mills Compared—An attempt to make order out of chaos, listing the features of various smaller CNC mills side by side, along with articles on various CNC-related topics at the home page
Nick Carter’s Taig lathe site—With articles and pictures showing the different ways people use their miniature machine tools.
Milltronics Manufacturing—Big heavy-duty machines, equipped with Centurion controls
Wells-Index—Milling machines, vertical, horizontal, knee-type, cnc, manual, for drilling and boring
Light Machines—CNC mills, including Benchman, ProLight, etc.
Hurco—Metal Cutting Fabrication Systems
Dynamechatronics—Benchtop mills plus VMCs, etc.
CNCut—Scandinavian stone-cutting, poilishing and engraving machines
Datron—Highspeed CNC Machines, micro tooling
Mighty USA Inc.—VMCs, turning centers and some motion-control products, like ballscrew kits
Boeing—Used Equipment and Machinery Homepage
Cielle—CNC machines for jewelry, engraving, etc. including 4th and 5th axis on some models
CNC Automation—CNC Milling Machines and CNC Control Retrofits for kneemills and bedmills
CNC AUTO—CNC Milling Machines and CNC Control Retrofits for kneemills and bedmills
ACCURAM—CNC minimill and CNC 9x20 Lathe with MaxNC CL motion system
Desktop CNC Servo Mill—Supercam’s Taig-gecko servo retrofit
Emco Maier—Austrian makers of the PCMILL 55
EquipMatching—Classified ads for used CNC equipment, etc.
Future fab home—Mini CNC mill, plus various custom machines
G&L Machine Tools—Gidding and Lewis’ big horizontal machining centers
Gemvision—Revo540 4-axis mill with high speed spindle
Haas—Makes toolroom mills, VMCs, Trunnion Tables for Five Axis Machining
Incredible Machine—Precision Industrial Engraving
Intelitek—Products—Spectralight, Benchman, and Prolight desktop mills
MicroKinetics Corp.—Cnc machines and retrofit kits
Minitech—Mini-Mill-3 linear rails ballscrews servo and highspeed spindle on a desktop mill
Model Master, Inc.—Makers of modelmaster mills, etc.
Pathfinders HexVantage Machine—5-axis milling with a hexapod
Red-Cam Manufacturing—CNC Milling Machines RIM 9400 (looks like a Bridgeport)
Rhino Robotics Ltd.—Miamitown, OH makers of small CNC mill and a robot arm
Brian Mumford—Sherline CNC mill pre-release information
Steven Haerr’s CNCTrader Corporation—For used CNC routers and mills
Tecnologie di Bovere Graniti—Stone sculpting via CNC
The Engraver’s Network—Laser machines, routers, and reconditioned Dahlgren engravers
ShopBot—The CNC WorkShop RoBot—Manufacturers of the ShopBot, a CNC router that arrives in kit form—just add a table, a router, and some Unistrut, and you’re in business.
New Hermes—CNC Engraving machines
Torchmate—CNC plasma cutters and shape cutting machines—some assembly required
CNC Automation—Custom Built CNC Routers
Vision—Entry Level Engravers from Vision, also lasers and routers
EDM Network Inc.—New and rebuilt electro-discharge machining centers
C.R. Onsrud—CNC and Inverted Routers
Multicam CNC routers—Including some really large and heavy ones.
Gravers.com—International Engraving Devices
Pacer Systems—A UK-based maker of CNC routers and engraving machines
Machine Tool Camp—CNC Router plans for cutting Wood and Aluminum
BMR Automation—CNC Routers low-cost CNC gantry routers 4 x 8 for 5600
Thermwood—CNC Routers
Vinyl Technologies Inc.—Routers, stencil-cutters, etc.
3score—CNC Machines, CNC Routers, Router Tables & CNC Laser Engraver Systems.
PracticalCNC.com—CNC Routers/Plasma cutters
Align-rite tools—Including routers and laser-scanners that mount on them
Anim8or—Free 3-D animation software
Axyz Automation UK—Specialsing in Routers & cutting tools
Bob Campbell—CNC Router Plans, SoundLogic Breakout Boards, etc.
Camtech Indsutries—CNC Routers and Lasers, some tilt-up models for stonework
Cheap CNC Routers—Wood frame 12 x24 x6, MaxNC motion control
Zoltar—Plans for a homebuilt router, foamcutter
CNC crafters PC Crafter—Small router
CNC in Motion—Makes CNC routers, etc. sells geckobased stepper controller
CNC Router plans from Data-cut—
CNC Routers by CNC Auto-Motion—Standard & Custom Built CNC Router Manufacturer—digitizing and 5th axis options available
CNTMotion—Cnc routers, tool changer, long Z-axis, custom machines
DataCut—Sells plans for a 3-axis router powered by a Flashcut controller
Diversitech—The Auto-Rout system: 2-D cnc router plans, kit
FlexiCAM USA—Routers and engravers
Home-built CNC plans—For sale, using storefront aluminum and hardware store parts
Komo—VR Mach III heavy-duty routers with 5-axis option
Larken CNC—ShopCam routers in Canada
Newing Hall—Engraving Machines, Engravers & Equipment
Pacer Systems—CNC Routers for routing and engraving, in the UK
Precix—Advanced CNC Router and Laser Cutting Technologies
Pro-Technology—TEKCEL K-Series servo-driven router from Australia
Quintax—5-axis CNC Router Manufacturing
Route-a-bout—Desktop CNC wood router
SCMI, and Morbidelli—Woodworking machinery including slant-bed routers
Standard Router, Inc.—CNC Routers products and equipment
Streamline Automation—Canadian MFR of foam-cutting CNC systems
Xenon Research—Small cnc routers from Europe
Aeronaut Automation—Large Format Industrial Plotter Cutters
Quality One Engravers—Quest CNC Engravers new and used, plus repairs, tooling and accessories
Innovate—From IronCad is a fullfeatured parametric solids modeling program with advanced mechanical-design features. An excellent complement to surface modeling programs, now available at a discount from ComputerSculpture.com.
Alibre Inc.—Makers of Alibre Design. Low cost and easy to learn, this solid modeler offers the ability for widely separated users to collaborate on a design online. Now available at a discount from ComputerSculpture.com.
AccuTrans 3-D—File translation between 3-D formats; Successor to STLTrans
Advanced Jewelry Technologies—CAD Jewelry blanks and kits
Advanced Rhino Training CDs—From James Carruthers—build a plane
3-D Canvas from Amabilis—A free 3-D modeling and animation tool
Anatomics—BioBuild software yields STL files for Analysis and Reproduction, especially for medical applications
ArtCam Jewelsmith—A jewelry oriented version of the popular (but expensive) 2-D to 3-D CAD/CAM software
Ashlar-Vellum—CAD, NURBs Surface and Solid Modeling Software
AutoCad—Autodesk is the maker of 3DS MAX, a popular modeling and animation program for the PC. Autodesk also makes Autocad, one of the first products to bring 3-D modeling to the desktop.
Auto cad 2000—IntelliCAD 2001 software with download
Autodesk—QuickCAD for 2-D Drawing (inexpensive)
AutoTrace—Convert bitmap to vector graphics in Java
Beadscape—Mac software for beadwork design
Blender—Is a Linux-based free 3-D modeler that is becoming increasingly popular for web applications
BRL-CAD—Army Research Laboratory—Linux-based solid modeling system—free and open-source but you have to register first
CAD-CAM Components, Inc.—Geometry works 3-D for cylinder surfaces
CADchat.com—Discussion forums for the CAD community
CADCrafts—A California-based retailer of 3ds Max and associated plugins, videos, and plotters
CADfix—Translation and data repair software
CADopia IntelliCAD—Inexpensive 2-D CAD
CADMAX—A program broken into a series of “modules” which seems to be mostly for CAD, with some IGES translation and NURBS capability, and a focus on generating dimensioned drawings.
CadSoft Online: EAGLE Product information—A system for automating the design of printed circuit boards
CadStd—Cad Standard Lite freeware and inexpensive Pro software
Caligari—JewelSpace1—Advanced 3-D Modeling Software for Jewelry Designers by the makers of Truespace
Steve Abbott’s—Computer Drawn Celtic Knotwork
Chartist, by Novagraph—Chart and diagram software
CrystalGraphics—Plugins for Microsoft Office
CNC Utilities—Convert bmp colors to heightfields
CutList Plus—Woodworking Software
D Sculptor—Claims to be able to produce organic forms by photogrammetry
The official DANCAD3D®—Beta Test Web site
Daylon Graphics—Leveller® Heightfield Editor
DeskArtes—3-D software for RP, good for repairing STL files
Digital Goldsmith Matrix—GemVision jewelry design plugin for Rhino
Digital Terrain—Modeling and Mapping Digital Elevation Model
Discreet—Makers of Gmax, a free 3-D content creation prog for gamers
Dolphin CadCam—Now offering free CAD download
Electric Image—Universe 5.0 suite of modeling animation and rendering applications, such as Amorphium
IMSI—The DesignCAD Family of Products
Materialise Software—STLzip compresses STL files much better than Winzip
MeshWorks—Advanced Mesh Editing Software, including Rhino plugins
VectorWorks—2-D Drafting and 3-D Modeling CAD for the Mac
3-D Modelling—With solidThinking
3Dconnexion—Windows driver for spaceball, etc
3DESIGN—Type3 offshoot jewelry program from Vision Numeric
DXF-SVG—Gear Generation Utility v0.96
DXM—Digital ‘X’ Model triangulation software converts contour map data to polygon DXFs
Product Information: ElectricImage Modeler—Coming soon is a solid/NURBS hybrid modeling engine, which sounds interesting.
Electronic Template System—Make accurate stone countertop templates, etc. with a digital camera
Eovia Home Page—Amapi, Carrara and other modeling-rendering programs
Form Z—General purpose solid and surface modeler for PC and Mac by auto.des.sys
4DVISION—Producers of 4dPaint, a program which allows one to paint on 3-D virtual objects. They also sell Sculptor ProTools, a free-form modeling program based on their own “HyperNURBS”.
Free GIS and CAD Software—From GeoCommunity
Freebyte—Mechanical Engineering Software
FreeCAD—3-D CAD with Motion Simulation
FreeCAD.com—A link to free CAD, CAM and CAE programs
Geargen—And other downloadable CAD programs
GemCad for Windows—Faceting software for gemstones
GemVision Matrix—Rhino-based jewelry software
GeoFrac2000—Landscape and terrain generation
Glass House Software—Makers of Powerstation CAD-CAM, Wingraver Pro
Global Mapper—Views and converts DEM and other geo formats
Golden Software Surfer—Map interpretation software
Advanced Rhino Training CDs—From James Carruthers—build a plane
IMSI—Free Turbocad learning edition
IMSI ScanPro—Raster to vector converter
IntelliCAD by CADopia.com—The IntelliCAD 2001 source for CAD users
Kurtz-Fernhout Software PlantStudio—Make 3-D plant models schematically
Lamina Design—Software unrolls compound-curved surfaces—still in alpha stage
Max3D—3-D Luvr—A source for finding plug-ins for 3ds Max, with some tutorials as well.
Micropath Corporation—DEM converter software Map Explorer and USGS data
Minos—A free 3-D modeling program
The Moray—Rendering engine
NewTek Television—Makers of Lightwave, an animation program, and the Video Toaster, for desktop video editing.
Ninos—A French CAD-Cam program
Nevercenter.com—Silo, inexpensive 3-D modeling software
OpenFX—A freeware modeler with plugins available
PhotoModeler Pro 5—Beta Features include Rhino 3dm export
Demonstration of “PicTree” 3-D Pictures—From Octree Corporation A viewer/encoder system for “voxels”, a cubic “voulme unit” that can replace polygons when representing an object in 3-D.
PIXELS: 3-D—A rare find—a 3-D program for the Mac!
Poser 4—3-D character and figure animation and design software
POV-Ray—the Persistence of Vision Raytracer—A raytracing rendering tool that is available as a free “public beta” download. Often used with Rhino, it works on most platforms, including the Mac.
Pstoedit.net—Convert PDF and EPS to DXF, LWO, RIB, HPGL, etc.
PTC—Makers of Pro-Engineer; powerful but complex software for engineering applications
Qwerks—TraceART raster to vector converter
QCAD—Multi-platform CAD from Ribbonsoft
Realsoft—Makers of Real3d
Reflex Systems Inc.—High-Resolution Human Synthesis Software
The Renderman Repository—A site devoted to Pixar’s rendering engine
Rhino 3-D—NURBS modeling in Microsoft Windows
Science Specialist, Inc.—Makers of 2-D to 3-D heightfield conversion program, 20 dollar shareware
SensAble Technologies: Home Page—Developers of a “force-feedback” modeling tool, which gives the sensation of actually touching a model as it’s being created.
Sheet Layout—Woodworking program
Sheet Lightning—Sheetmetal design sw in 3 versions from cheap to midpriced
SoftCAD—Inexpensive 3-D CAD
SolidThinking—NURBS and Polygonal Modeling and Rendering for Mac and PC platforms
SolidWorks—High-end solids modeling program
Steve Abbott’s—Software for computer drawn Celtic knotwork
STLFIX Service—Free automatic fixing of faulty STLs, also point clouds to STL
Strata.com—3-D software that runs on Macs
3Dconnexion—Windows driver for spaceball, etc
3-D Gate—Online magazine with reviews of 3-D CAD programs
Think3—Cad for product design
Toonboom Technologies Inc.—The next generation of 2-D cell animation software
TracTrix—Raster to vector conversion software
VextraSoft—Raster to vector conversion tools
VX CAD-CAM—Solid surface hybrid modeler with CAM modules
Weber Systems—Synergy Silver CAD CAM Parasolid based system works in Linux
TurboCAD—Widely used design software from IMSI
VectorWorks—Modeling, rendering, and architectural software
Visviva Software, Inc.—3-D authoring software for multimedia applications
Wings 3-D—Free polygon modeler exports 3ds OBJ and VRML
Simtel—Geargen v1.10; DOS Design tool for gears
Xara3D—A limited graphics program for web-site use
X-dimension 3-D explorer—Allows one to open many varieties of 3-D files
Web 3-D—Info on the X3d standard, an open 3-D language for 3-D communication in real time; a successor to VRML
ZBRUSH—Seeing is Believing (or not…)
Roland Digital—Has a line of piezo-electric 3-D touch-probe scanners that work well for small textural objects. Some models also have milling capability. They also offer a relatively inexpensive laser-scanner, which can scan objects in the round without touching them. All these products are available at a discount price at ComputerSculpture.com
MicroScribe—A division of Immersion Inc., makes a hand-operated 3-D digitizing arm, which will record points in 3-D space for reconstructing objects in the computer. Now available at a discount price at ComputerSculpture.com
Aculux—Makers of the Laser Ranger, a laser rangefinder with an external trigger, possibly suitable for use as a digitizing probe on a CNC router.
CYBER F/X Inc.—3-D Digitizing, Reverse Engineering, Rapid Prototyping, and CNC-Sculpting by Richard Cavdek, digitizer to the stars, is also willing to take on custom work. Richard’s NURBS surfaces in IGES format import very nicely into Rhino.
3-D Image Solutions—Dimension 3-D scanners liquidation
3-D Photography on your desk—Jean-Yves Bouguet’s 3-D Shadow scanning
Cyberware Home Page—The originators of the laser-scanners used in motion pictures. Although they still only work on UNIX machines, they have come down somewhat in price. If this is still too much, they have service bureaus listed on the site.
Cyra Technologies, Inc.—Makers of Cyrax scanners; good for scanning large and distant objects
FARO Technologies, Inc. WebSite—Another maker of digital arms for 3-D digitizing. They have a range of arms from small desktop units (the SpaceArm) to larger (and correspondingly more expensive) tripod mounted devices.
Geometrix, Inc.—Face scanning systems, etc.
InSpeck—Has a line of halogen light scanners which, they claim, can even capture the hair of a live model—something that has proved very difficult in the past. Rotate Mark McGuire’s head and see what you think…
Laser Design Inc. (LDI)—3-D laser digitizing / scanning systems and services
Laser Rangefinder—Swiss Precision Sensors for the industry—by Baumer Electric AG
Minolta Corporation, ISD—The Japanese optics giant is getting into 3-D scanners, with the Vivid 700 as its latest offering. They aren’t breaking any price barriers, though…
Paraform 3-D Scanning Software and Services—These people are developing some new surfacing software. Check out their “Points to Polys” program, for converting point-clouds to polygon surfaces, which is available as a free download to qualified applicants.
Polhemus—A promising design; a laser-scanner with a hand-held head, which can be directed at hidden parts of a 3-D form.
Raindrop Geomagic, Inc.—Producers of “Wrap” and “Wraplite”; an expensive program (and a somewhat cheaper version of same) for converting “pointclouds” into polygon surfaces. and Decimator, for reducing those surfaces’ polygon count.
The RapidForm 2000—Reverse modeling software, for converting polygons to NURBS, repairing and refining surfaces
REALVIZ—2-D to 3-D from photo sequences
Renishaw—Specialists in coordinate measuring and digitizing with touch-probes
Scansite—3-D Laser Scanning for Reverse Engineering and Animation
Scantech—Scantech makes laser scanners that attach to your 3, 4, or 5-axis CNC machine, for capturing, reverse-engineering, and copying parts. Interesting examples of work done in stone and other materials, based on scanned originals.
Shapetracker—Hand-powered 2-D CNC Template tracing Digitizers
Structured Lighting Technology—Also D Sculptor for photometric processing of organic models
Techno-Isel—Laser Scanner mounts on router spindle for 3-D digitization
B3-D—Scanning and CIMM Consulting and Sales
A Survey—Of programs that create meshes from point-clouds, etc.
Isiweb—Photomodeler 5 photogrammetric software italian lang site
Model Master—Laser scanner with adjustable lenses for very high resolution
MultiCam—3-D Laser Automatic Surface Digitizer
UZR 3-D—Photogrammetric software
XYZ RGB—3-D Scanning Solutions
Delft Spline Systems—In the Netherlands, Delft Spline is the developer of DeskProto, a very sophisticated yet easy-to-use program for translating CAD geometry (as dxf or stl files) into NC tool paths that CNC milling machines can use directly. The new 4.0 version of the program has added many interesting features, like support for 2-D linear engraving, waterline toolpaths, and N-sided milling. Now available at a discount price at ComputerSculpture.com
VisualMill 5.0—From MecSoft—Deluxe 3-D machining software This program does it all—2-D and 3-D milling, with support for 21⁄2-D operations like pocketing and drilling, in an easy-to-use Windows environment, which allows toolpaths to be previewed in motion. VisualMill imports Rhino 3dm files as well as polygon formats like STL and DXF, and outputs standard g-code. Included in the price, you get a custom post-processor written to the specifications of your milling machine. This comes in two versions: Basic and Advanced. The basic version deals with 3 axis milling; the advanced version has support for a rotary 4th axis and many remachining functions. Now available at a discount price at ComputerSculpture.com
RAMS Software—2-D and 3-D milling and router toolpaths from Rhino, still available at a discount price at ComputerSculpture.com
IMSI—TurboCADCAM 2-D and 21⁄2-D CAD and CAM for mills and lathes, now available at a discount price at ComputerSculpture.com
Ability Systems—Companion Software—hpgl to g-code
The accu-carvsystem—CAM and wire EDM solutions
Alphacam—High-end 3-D machining software from Licom in the UK
AutoCAD/CAM/CNC—Suppliers of AutoCode, mechanical CAM software which runs inside AutoCad 14.
Ace Converter—Yeager Automation’s DXF to NC open-source C freeware
Alpha-G—Lathe G-code from DXF files—free software from Cairo University
AutoCut Research—DXF to G Code Conversion Systems for CNC Machine & Controller Upgrades
AutoEditNC 3.0—Free NC Code Editor with feed/speed calculator
Bezarc®—Illustrator DXFs to toolpaths
Bitmap to G-code program—Free but Linux-only I think
BobCad CAD/CAM—A relatively low-cost system for generating part drawings and toolpaths.
C N C Logic inc—Quebec-based CAD CAM solutions
Cncezpro—CNC simulation software
CADEM—India-based CNC company, has Capsturn and Capsmill CAD-CAM and DNC for CNC machining.
CAM Expert—2-D DXF conversion and toolpath generation
Cimatron—CAD-CAM software for Manufacturing—quick tooling
CNC ez PRO—A revolutionary real-time 3-D simulator for CNC Machining.
CNC Portal—Freemill, free but limited 3-D CAM from MecSoft
Machinist’s toolbox—CNC Machinist Software
CNC Programming Tools—Dxf to gcode, Holes to G-code, bolt circle code, etc
CNC simulator—From I.I.S.R. Ltd.
CNC Simulator returnware—Simulates toolpaths free but expires periodically
Cstep—A downloadable program to run a plotter or router in 2-D from HPGL drawings
CutViewer—Lets you preview your toolpaths free
Cadcam Software from DELCAM of the UK—. Delcam provides cadcam solutions for 3-D machining and toolmaking, 3-D designing and modeling, mold making, inspection and reverse engineering.
Desktop cnctimer—Freeware utility estimates time to run a NC file
DeskART—The Deskam family of products, including DesKam, DeskArt, DeskNC, and DeskEngrave
Devcam.com—New CAD CAM program from Australia for 2500 bucks
Discriminator—CNC editor
Dolphin—2-D, 21⁄2-D and 3-D milling software from the UK, generates mill, lathe and edm code
Edgecam—CAD-CAM software designed by Pathtrace
ESPRIT—CAD-CAM solution for CNC machining and G-code programming of mills and lathes
Excalibur—XCAD, XCAM with NURBS
EZCAM—CNC CAD-CAM now with web-based CAM, Rhino 3dm support
FastCAM—Inc. Lots of “Fast” software, like FastPlot, FastNest, FastCut, etc.
FeatureCAM by EGS—CAM software recognizes features of 3-D files
Finnieston Group—BioSculptor Orthotic and Prosthetic CAD-CAM Systems
FILOU—MXCNC simulator, does DXF conversion too
Free CNC Utilities—Padder Wrapper and Scan2cnc
GALAAD—Integrated CAD-CAM software for Windows
Gcode2000—TTFtoDXF, BarNester free translation and nesting programs
GenGCode—A program that generates G-code for simple shapes—no CAD required
GFMC—Software for cutting model airplane wings from polystyrene foam
Gibbs—3-axis milling, solids modeling software—for Mac as well as PC
Glass House Software—Makers of microcimm and powerstation xpert 2.5 and 3 axis CADCAM for under 300
Graphitech—Makers of Cimagrafi, a high-end 2-D art to 3-D toolpaths program
HPGL to motion control software for hobby use—
Image To G Code—Make photo engravings with your CNC
PicEngrave Beta Software—Engrave a photo from an 8-bit black and white bitmap—shareware
IMService—Sells Vector CADCAM, line and arc based machining software.
ImageCarve—Software converts images to G-code to be carved with your CNC router
KCAM Router-Mill Control—Kellycam g-code translator
Kentech Inc.—Machine Shop—Kipware CNC Software converts from one controller format to another
Lathe Quick Code—By Wayne Hill
Licom’s AlphaCAM—Now with 5-axis programming
MadCAM—3-axis milling, mold and die plugin for Rhino
Mark Thomas—GenGCode makes G-code for simple shapes from dimension inputs
MasterCam—A leading high-end CNC program favored by machine shops
MultiCAM—CNC Lathe CAM Software
Majosoft’s engraving software—Free to hobbyists
MeshCAM—Simple inexpensive CAM software for 2-D conversions and some 3-D
MetaCut—A toolpath optimization program
Microcimm Software—Powerstation 2000, Wingraver Pro, etc.
Millit—CAM for hollow objects, with automatic tabs and cavities
Millwizard—A low-priced model-to-toolpath program from the UK.
Moldex 3-D—Has CAE analysis tools for mold fill and flow, also Rhino Plug-in
NCCS—2 to 5 axis toolpaths, with modeler
Nuform—From A.S. Thomas—3, 4, 5 or more axis machining software
Open Mind—Hypermill CAM to 5 axes compatible with Think3
Picasoft—Suite of interesting 3-D CNC products from France
Posthaste—Configurable Post Processor generates posts for any machine, any system
Powerstation 2000—New version supports solids—free download
Quick-Link—A NC code editing program
Rainnea Graphics CNC Toolkit—5-axis toolpaths using 3dMax script
RSM Trace Software—Converts TIFF to g-code, dxf, or HPGL
Rudy’s cnc freeware—XY only G-code
Scanvec Amiable—Makers of Enroute router CAM and signmaker software
SeaGull Technologies—CAM for the Mac, plus homebrew routers
Sescoi USA—Makers of WorkNC CADCAM for molds tools and dies
SprutCam—Russian CAM program makes toolpaths from NURBS surfaces
SURFCAM—3-D CAM software
TahlCAM—CNC plugin for AutoCAD
TopSolid®—CAM software from Europe
Type 3—A highly-regarded high-end Cad-cam system
VERICUT—Simulation software for milling machines
Vero International Software—The VI Group. Solid and surface based CAD CAM software for the plastic injection-molding industry. Its VISI-series software claims to be an integrated solid and surface, 2-D and 3-D, design and CAM system based on the Parasolid kernel.
3-D art—2-D and 3-D art resources for cg artists, especially furniture models
Brands of the World—Actual company logos for reference only—not clipart
Building environments dot com—Furniture models from mfrs
3-D CafÉ—There are many models in the 3-D CafÉ as well as tutorials, a job board, forums, etc.
DeLorme—XMap 4.0 GIS datasets with topographic views, USGS maps, Satellite Images
Digimation—3-D models Catalog
Flashfire—3-D model sales, custom 3-D modeling, 3-D model conversion, even some free 3-D models
The 3-D Model Forge—Sci Fi and Military Models
Help3d—Models by membership
Highend3d.com—Maya community, also xsi, shake, aliaswavefront, and high end 3-D resources
3-D Lapidary—Gem Models For Use In 3-D Art
Free GIS Data—Geological Data Depot
Mr.Furniture—Lots of furniture models for architects and interior designers
3-D furniture models—For sale from Kit 3-D
MICRODEM—Peter Guth’s program for displaying and manipulating DEM files
Micropath Corporation—USGS DEM files for sale, also converter
Another 3-D models shop—Some as low as 99 cents each
3dmodelz—Some free
PlanIT 3-D—Meshes textures store gallery, sounds software, etc.
Poitra—Has some really nice models of antiquities for sale, among other collections
Portal Obras—Collection—Models & objects (3ds max & textures)
The 3-D studio—Free pre-textured models, mostly for 3ds Max
TuKu Vectors—Rose engine and spirograph patterns as vector graphics for CNC
Turbo Squid—Free and priced models in various formats
Ultra3D—Free 3-D models of contemporary furniture
3dup—Free models in various categories—furn, arch, nature, etc.
USGS—Geographic Data Download
The Viewpoint model bank—With over 5000 textured models made with 3ds Max in mind
Virtual Anatomy—Skeletal and other models
Visible Productions—_Anatomy models, also Virtual Sculptor program for working with them
Web2CAD.co.uk—Parts from multiple manufacturers in CAD format
ProtoShape.com—Bathsheba Grossman (also under Computer Sculptors, below) has launched an artist-run prototyping service, featuring a Sanders II Modelmaker FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) machine, which builds up layers of a waxy plastic that burns out completely, making highly-detailed lost-wax castings directly from STL files possible at last.
Albright Technologies, Inc.—Rapid Plastic Prototype Molding and Low-Volume Production These folks have developed a new system for producing rubber molds (yes, you heard that right) for plastic injection. This means the mold is less complex to make, and a short run of parts in nearly all engineering plastics is correspondingly less expensive.
3-D-Cam—Rapid Prototyping, Rapid Tooling, Stereolithography Service bureau
2L Inc. machining—CNC machining and moldmaking. Machine Shop specializing in complex 3-D surfaces using the latest solid modeling CAD-CAM software.
AccuArt—Scanning and RP services in Bradenton FL
Advanced Technologies—Custom 3-D printing with z-corp machine
Alt’s Tool & Machine—5-axis machining plus fabrication in San Diego
BNT Studios—Subtractive RP Slide Show, pictures of steps in modeling and milling an action figure
Daniels Engraving—Engraving and foam sculpture carving
Direct Dimensions—A reverse-engineering to solid output service bureau catering to sculptors as well as industry
DORNFELD—Is a contract machine shop specializing in precision miniature parts
Master Machine—A job shop in Canada specializing in molds
Double O Laser Services—Custom and stock laser-cut parts
Dynacept—Rapid prototyping, tooling, and molding
Emachineshop—Send in your designs and have them machined in a variety of materials using a number of techniques
Quickparts.com—Instant Quotes for Rapid Prototypes
Janicki Machine—5-axis milling—mostly marine molds and plugs
JCADLine—Turn your jewelry sketch into a 3-D model, or an actual piece of jewelry
JewelTech—RP for jewelers—solidscape, 4-axis CNC, metal molds, casting, etc. in WA
William Kreysler & Associates, Inc.—In Petaluma, California, Wm. Kreysler has built his own machines for carving foam on a large scale, a technique he uses for his own architectural-scale fiberglass work and offers to sculptors on a cutom basis.
M2 Systems—Service bureau for cad-cam and RP jewelry production
MicroSystemsGeorgia—CAD model makers, CNC operators, and design consultants
Mollicam patterns and molds—Boat plugs a specialty
North End Composites—Fiberglass and Composite Development
Rodeo Marble Corporation—Custom waterjet stonecutting from CAD files—who said digital art can’t last?
The 3-D Factory—RP services for jewelers
Cymro Jewelworks—A 3-D service bureau in Florida offers a range of techniques from RP to lost wax casting and moldmaking
LGM—In Colorado makes full-color RP models for architects
M2 Systems—In Connecticut uses a Solidscape 3-D printer to make models for jewelers
Satellite Models Home Page—A prototyping house that offers CAD model development and CNC machining on their 10-foot by 5-foot 5-axis milling machine. Exhibits and sculpture enlargement a specialty—check out their Bernini reproductions.
Scitech—Makes custom models using various RP techniques like stereolithography and 5-axis CNC milling
Shapetracker—Cuts parts on a 3-axis router
Shared Replicators—Stereolithography and other RP services in OK
TGC—CADCAMCNC SERVICES AND TRAINING
Toybuilders—Now kids can design their own toys, send a digital file to this company, and receive the real thing in the mail, painted and ready for play.
3-D Cam—Rapid Prototyping, Rapid Tooling, Stereolithography
3DE—Rapid Prototyping service with SLA-500 and SLA-5000 plus CNC in Pompano Beach FL
ART—Rapid Prototyping with a 3-D systems SLA-250-40 stereolithography machine
Stratasys—Dimension 3-D Printer builds parts in ABS plastic
Envision Tec.—Perfactory RP system with Mask Projection and Digital Light Processing
Protosystech—Rapid Prototyping Services in India
Rapidcast Technologies—Rapid prototyping and foundry services combined
RePliForm, Inc.—RepliKote metallic coating for RP models Prototype and Replica Tooling
Solidscape—ModelMaker and Patternmaster 3-D rapid prototyping systems
Stereolithographers, LLC—Medical Models, etc via RP
3-D Systems—Makers of the Actua 2100 thermopolymer-based “concept” prototyper, as well as conventional SLA machines.
3DSNASUG—3-D systems Stereolithography users group
Direct Dimensions—Rapid Solutions to 3-D Problems RE scanning prototyping, etc.
DPT—Rapid Prototyping using Stereolithography (SLA), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), and Rapid Tooling
Howstuffworks—A simple explanation of How Stereolithography (3-D Layering) Works
NineDots Inc.—Canadian Rapid Prototyping WebSite
Protomarket—A place where consumers and vendors of Rapid Prototyping services and machines can meet in cyberspace
RPDRC—The Rapid Product Development Resource Centre in Hong Kong put out this guide to RP, with special emphasis on architectural modeling
SARE—European foundry research bringing RP to metal casting
“Scale Models from Thin Air”—An August 2000 article in Architecture Week examines the work of several architects using new technology to build better models
Soligen—Has developed technology to create a ceramic mold for casting metal directly—no wax is harmed in the process!
Stratasys—Makers of the Titan, a machine that uses SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) to build up relatively strong models by fusing layers of engineering plastic powders like ABS and Polycarbonate
New Manufacturing Technologies—At Sandia National Labs
The Rapid Prototyping Family Tree—Links arranged schematically, by process
University of Utah—Rapid Prototyping home page, with many links
The RP&T Centre—Lots o’ links from the University of Warwick, UK
Wohlers Associates—Consulting firm into RP with extensive links
Castle Island—Worldwide Guide to Rapid Prototyping and Solid Freeform Fabrication
Z-Corp—The makers of what they claim is the fastest “3-D printer” on the market. Using ink-jet technology and a starch-based powder, it makes models comparable in surface finish to a sand-casting
Z-Corp (Applications)—Cast metal directly into RP mold made with plaster-ceramic powders
Andrew Werby’s—Computer-mediated jewelry and sculpture, using Nature as a Starting Point.
Digital Sculpture—Art Metalwork in Silver & Bronze—In Santa Cruz, CA, Bathsheba Grossman creates mathematically precise forms that intertwine in space, which she realizes by combining the latest Rapid Prototyping techniques with the ancient art of lost-wax casting.
A 1999 show—At the Computer Museum in Boston showcases various different approaches to the use of digital technology in art
Keith Brown—Of Fast-UK brought together many pioneers of computer-influenced sculpture for the Manchester Intersculpt show
Stewart Dickson’s—Work in mathematically-based model making and the “concretization” of abstractly-derived forms
Sue Dorman—Techno series black plastic jewelry from FDM machine
Intersculpt—A world organization of computer sculptors!
See the 2nd Digital Sculpture Competition—And how the competitors fared
An Essay—About digital sculpture on the International Sculpture Center site
Another ISC article—Details how women sculptors including Mary Visser and Mary Bates use computers in their work
Arcadianclock.com—CNC-engraved clock dials
The Art of Motion Control—Bill Shapiro’s Egg-bots, plasma-cut sculptures, engravings, robotic sculpture, etc.
Surfcam’s—Article explains the process of creating sculptural work using scanners and CNC
AM98—Carlo Sequin’s writeup of the Art and Math conference
The CALM Project—UK artists explore rapid prototyping as an output alternative
Demand Designs—Custom cnc jewelry and machining
The digital giraffe—An accomplished digital printmaker takes on the challenges of 3-D modeling
JBD Studio—Rhino-designed jewelry
Explorations—Stanley Lechtzin at Tyler has been leading the way, training the next generation of jewelry designers in the lastest CAD and RP techniques.
“Gonads of the Rich and Famous”—George Hart’s ball-shaped openwork forms developed using RP techniques
Jon kammerer’s—Wooden guitars have no square edges—their thin rounded shells are CNC-milled from solid blocks using Surfcam
The Orchid Jewelry Making List—Featuring CAD Jewelry Designer Jesse Kaufman
Michael Keighery—Techno Potter see CNC mao-lifesaver
Land Run—Shows the process of CNC-carving a model in foam, covering it with clay, then molding and casting to make a bronze
Tom Longtin’s Home Page—Tom Longtin uses some new rapid prototyping processes to build organic-looking parts from computer files.
The Maitrya project—On the Delcam site, the Maitrya Project consists of large Buddha figure built using modern technology.
Artwork of Harry McDaniel—Neptunian Frolic—Harry used Rhino to build a digital “wireframe” model, which he duplicated in actual wire to form the structure underlying the complex organic forms of this concrete sculpture.
Millennium star—Rings, etc. designed in Rhino
Phil Orenstein’s 3-D Modeling—Mathematically based 3-D models made using a CAM system
Anthony Padgett—A sculptor concerned with ancient religious themes but uses various modern 3-D techniques—see “Sprach Zarathustra”
David Peasley—USGS Topo Carvings
Rainnea Graphics—Celtic and Pictish Art carved wiuth CNC equipment
Stereolithography Sculpture—Micheal Rees uses stereolithography to create sculpture derived from anatomical scans and abstract geometry combined.
Satellite Models—See examples of sculpture enlarged via 5-axis CNC milling
Art, Sculpture from Scansite—Showing, among other things, a large statue of Duke Ellington being carved by machine.
Carlo Sequin’s—Digitally based sculpture, some realized using stereolithography techniques, also his “sculpture generator”, a C++ program to develop some tricky topographies in 3-D
Solid Terrain Models—This California company made some striking high-relief maps (of Mt. Everest, among others) on view at the National Geographic Society’s Explorer’s Hall
Telesculpture 2003—Allowed many artists to send in work by email, which were built and exhibited at the Exploratorim in San Francisco
Woodforms—A UK-based sculptor explores the possibilities of woodcarving using CNC tools and scanned natural forms
