Learning Journey - How to "Talk" to My CNC Router

The journey is not yet successful, but I want to make note of some sites I may want to return to as I continue on . . . After we (mostly Louie) got the CNC Router put together, I was eager to test it out!

First try was using Inkscape. I like the software and felt confident as I entered the size of wood, the text I wanted, etc. But then came getting the "GCode" to talk to the "Gerbil." . . . Not so intuitive and not at all successful!
Hackaday has some advice. But the "GCodeTools" for Inkscape link (available from many sources) takes you to a Russian GCodeTools forum . . . with unclear instructions. Lots of frustration ensued. No success with the GCodeTools. I was in so many menus and trying so many settings!

Then Louie suggested I try Easel. Super easy to create a free account (via Inventables) and has the necessary GCode to "talk" to the Router. Super easy to identify the project parameters and hit the "carve" button. . . only there is no 100% free version anymore. It gives you four free carves via the Pro version and then you pay for the software. Louie kept insisting I had done something wrong and told me to go back and carve using the free software. The video we watched showed how easy it was! But that video was made in 2014, as was the video actually from the founder of Easel (which shows that you just click on the "Start Cutting" button.) Oh, how things change! I really like Easel and how easy it is! Part of me is tempted to go ahead and try it anyway. But we were at an impasse and so we were on to software option #3.

When Louie showed me a video on some CAD/CAM software, the guy sounded like a teacher in a Charlie Brown video ("WahWahWah . . . "). Plus he was showing a fairly complex piece of 3D modeling. I said "I just want to make signs by carving on pieces of wood!" I had hit the wall. I was frustrated and just DONE with it all. But it has been a week and I'm ready to try again. I've had two of my engineer sons say that Fusion 360 is definitely the best option for me. They insist that I can use it successfully and start with the project I want, keep it simple, and learn more when I'm ready for more. Sigh. I'll post again later.

Here are some other sites I've left open for ages:
A Random Tree - I like how this guy explains his projects.
Another CNC Tree - I really like his stuff and his writing style . . .
Inkscape and G-Code - These Norwegians were offering hope when I was emotionally attached to using Inkscape. Louie said Inkscape is great for designing projects, but not ideal for communicating with the CNC Machine.
Totally different strategy! - I stumbled across this and I LOVE it! Nothing to do with learning how to use my CNC Machine, but I can get words onto wood with my laser printer and some Polycrylic (watch method #3 at 2:54).  (His site is Fix This Build That.)
Fusion 360 CAM Tutorial for CNC Beginners - This is where I'm at right now. Learning how to use Fusion 360 for what I want to do. So far, so good.

Dad's interests

As I'm getting rid of scraps of paper, I think about the content and meaning. I have a list:

Labrador / oil
Baffin Island
solar system
Ellesmere Island

These were topics I had been trying to find audiobooks about (without much luck). I was thinking of getting print books this summer and just reading them to my dad. The topics interested him and he wanted to learn more. Missed opportunity - but I don't have regrets about it. I tried really hard to keep him supplied with audiobooks. I did my best.

I wrote the above on 1/31/2016. I'm adding the info below on 2/16/2017.

Found a slip of paper to recycle, but had to record it here first. "Dad likes Michael Harvey's book The Third Rail. More by this author? Chicago Way and The Fifth Floor."

The first one had print copies at Pioneerland and Traverse des Sioux, but I never got them to read to him. I did my best to keep him entertained with audiobooks. Moving on.

When I retire . . .

There are a LOT of things I'm hoping / planning to do when I retire, but I could be doing them now. Time management is not a strength for me. In doing a bit of tidying (and tossing), I came across a catalog for "The Great Courses" audio programs. I've checked a few of these out from the public library (and would probably not ever buy them - they're pricey!) and will probably check them out again in the future.

My favorite one to date is the music history courses taught by Professor Robert Greenberg of the University of California at Berkeley. His intelligence and humor make him very interesting to listen to. The catalog has prices for DVD, videotape, audio CD, and audiotape . . . so you know it's old!

I hope these courses still exist in a decade when I'm shifting to retirement life. Even though the title sounds pretentious, the quality is really quite good . . . and less expensive than taking a college class!