Is PyCAM good software to use for CNC milling?
http://pycam.sourceforge.net/
What free software would you recommend?
http://pycam.sourceforge.net
It works … if you are not in a hurry.
Last updated almost 2 years ago. Hmm. I wouldn’t use abandoned software.
I like CamBam - the evaluation period is very very generous so you can get a lot of work done in addition to deciding to buy or not. In the end I bought it. I tried PyCam and couldn’t get it to work properly but didn’t try too hard since CamBam was so easy
There’s very little open-source CAM software out there. I’ve written two libraries opencamlib (3D machining) and openvoronoi (2D machining) and summarized what they can do over here:
http://www.anderswallin.net/2014/02/opencamlib-and-openvoronoi-toolpath-examples/
However so far there is little or no interest among programmers to create a working GUI or application around these libraries.
The number of people who think open-source CAM would be nice/cool is certainly large, but people who actually sit down and work out the math and computational geometry and write algorithms are very few indeed.
There is FreeCAD with some existing work on a CAM-workbench, but freecad is very large and complex and might have some license problems with my GPL libraries.
Then there is HeeksCAD/CNC by Dan Heeks which has been in development on and off for a number of years. again not GPL since Dan wants to sell it.
BlenderCAM is some kind of plugin/add-on for Blender.
dxf2gcode for 2D machining.
slic3r for 3D printers might have useful algorithms for cnc mills also?
I seem to remember Skeinforge having useful subtractive cnc features. Unfortunately it has been mostly abandoned in development (I believe). It was designed to be an all in 1 gcode generator. Then you can run the gcode in pronterface if you use ramps or grbl
What we need is an open source package that is well architected with modern technologies (something like JSCut) and open source. Something that people can easily improve and contribute to. We then set up a donation spot or commercial supports or ad-supported system to keep the development going.
The fact remains the writing good software is not cheap. I have used Sheetcam TNG. I think for the cost of $150, it does plenty of good.
@Dat_Chu sounds like a plan 
There is already jscut project btw that integrate to chilipeppr. Having things run directly on the browser is a wonderful thing in more ways than one.
@Dat_Chu but jscut seems to be a 2D-only CAM
We need more developers who would put time into making JSCut 3D compatible as well. So is pycam only 2d?
PyCAM is 3D
@Miguel_Sanchez pycam is theoretically 3d but I had lots of issues trying to get it to generate anything useful for 3d paths without it spinning off into never ending processing or failing for obscure reasons
@Daniel_Would that was what my first comment was trying to address
j’utilise CAMBAM et je suis très content. C’est un trésor bon nvestissement et leur est une vraiment pas chère pour ses capacités.
pyCAM est trop lent…
I’ve made lots of parts with PyCAM 0.5.1. It definitely has some wrinkles you need to work around, but it can be made to do the job. It’s the best open-source CAM I’ve found.
Hmmm…I should mention two things. I will probably not boot into Windows, but use Linux instead. I will probably end up with a ShapeOko2.
I use HeeksCNC for which the current version is windows only… however for the price it can’t be beat 10GBP for the fully licensed version and there is a free version with a nag.