Fabex CNC CAM extension for Blender is an open source solution for artistic, personal, commercial or industrial CAM - Computer aided machining - a G-code generation tool.
Formerly known as BlenderCAM, the Blender Foundation has requested that external projects no longer use the name Blender due to Trademark, so it was renamed Fabex!
It has been used for many milling projects (artistic, personal, commercial and industrial) since its creation in 2012, and is actively developed.
Note
If you are a developer who would like to help, check out the section on Contributing.
Fabex CNC CAM extension for Blender (formerly Blendercam) works on Windows or Linux and MacOS.
- Installation
- Getting Started
- Panel Descriptions
- Tools
- Example of using Profile and Pocket operations
(The full documentation can also be found on the website)
| Feature | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2D & 3D Milling Strategies | Profile, Pocket, Drill, Parallel, Cross, Block, Spiral, Medial Axis and more | ✅ |
| Cutter Types | Ballnose, Ballcone, Bullnose, Flat Endmill, V-Carve, User Defined and more | ✅ |
| 3D Data or 2D Images | Model in Blender, or import 3D objects or b/w images, and generate toolpaths | ✅ |
| Layers & Skin | Leave material during Roughing to ensure that your Finishing passes have enough to work with | ✅ |
| Inverse Milling | Cut an inverted piece for joinery, e.g. Male to Female connector | ✅ |
| Ambient Around Model | Restrict Cutter to specified radius around the model | ✅ |
| Protect Vertical Surfaces | Cutter moves vertically next to surfaces greater than a threshold angle | ✅ |
| Stay Low | Keeps the Cutter low, if possible, to reduce travel time | ✅ |
| Stock Material Setup | Enter material dimensions & location, or get them from your 3D model | ✅ |
| Operation Simulations | Use toolpaths to generate a 3D mesh simulation of your finished product | ✅ |
| Arc Retract | Retracts cutter in an arc, rather than straight lines to reduce travel time | ✅ |
| Pack Curves | Arrange selected curves to fit on a plywood sheet for bulk cutting | ✅ |
| Slice Model | Vertically slices model into a series of curves to be cut and stacked to recreate the 3D shape | ✅ |
| Automatic Bridges | One click to add Bridges/Tabs to keep your work in place during Cutout Operations | ✅ |
| Chain Operations | Combine multiple CAM operations into a Chain, Export as Gcode, or create a Chain Simulation | ✅ |
| Adaptive Milling Speed | Adjusts the operation feedrate relative to the chipload calculation | ✅ |
| EXPERIMENTAL - Available in the Extension, but not yet fully supported | ⏳ | |
| EXPERIMENTAL - Available in the Extension, but not yet fully supported | ⏳ | |
| Currently only possible via manual indexing | ⏳ | |
| Currently only possible via manual indexing | ⏳ |
Note
All features listed above are for Blender 4.2.1 and up. For previous versions of Blender, check the Releases page.
- GRBL
- ISO
- LinuxCNC - EMC2
- Fadal
- Heidenhain
- Sieg KX1
- Hafco HM-50
- Centroïd M40
- Anilam Crusader M
- Gravos
- WinPC-NC
- ShopBot MTC
- Lynx Otter o
- ...
.
├── config/ - # 'startup' and 'userpref' blend files
├── documentation/ - # How to Use (Wiki) - files
├── Examples/ - # Bas Relief & Intarsion operation demo files and images
├── scripts/
│ └── addons/
│ └── cam/ - # Main Addon Folder
│ ├── operators/ - # Blender Operators
│ ├── post_processors/ - # CAM Post-Processors
│ ├── presets/ - # Quick access to pre-defined cutting tools, machines and operations
│ │ ├── cam_cutters/
│ │ ├── cam_machines/
│ │ └── cam_operations/
│ ├── properties/ - # Blender PropertyGroups to store Machine, Operation, Cutter data
│ ├── tests/ - # Developer Tests
│ │ └── test_data/ - # Test output
│ ├── ui/ - # Blender User Interface
│ │ ├── icons/ - # .png files for custom icons
│ │ ├── menus/
│ │ ├── panels/
│ │ └── pie_menu/
│ ├── utilities/ - # Low level helper functions
│ └── wheels/ - # Python Dependencies (as binary wheels)
└── static/ - # Logo
Originally created by Vilem Novak, the addon is currently maintained by Alain Pelletier and a team of contributors.
If you are a developer who would like to contribute to the project, please fork and open pull requests.
If you wish to contribute to the addon, your code must be GPL or a more permissive license (e.g.: MIT, Public Domain).
Tip
If you need help or want to discuss about BlenderCAM you can join the Chat Room #BlenderCAM:matrix.org on Matrix.
Hirutso Enni, Kurt Jensen, Dan Falck, Dan Heeks, Brad Collette, Michael Haberler, dhull, jonathanwin, Leemon Baird, Devon (Gorialis) R, Steven Fortune, Bill Simons, Carson Farmer, domlysz, Mihai Moldoveanu
Fabex CNC CAM extension for Blender is licensed under GPLv3, UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED.
Note
Some files in this addon use code from other sources, see the file docstring a the top of each file for attribution and license information.
Please ensure that you read and abide by the license terms given for each file.
Warning
THE AUTHORS OF THIS SOFTWARE ACCEPT ABSOLUTELY NO LIABILITY FOR ANY HARM OR LOSS RESULTING FROM ITS USE.
IT IS EXTREMELY UNWISE TO RELY ON SOFTWARE ALONE FOR SAFETY.
Any machinery capable of harming persons must have provisions for completely removing power from all motors, etc, before persons enter any danger area.
All machinery must be designed to comply with local and national safety codes, and the authors of this software can not, and do not, take any responsibility for such compliance.