CAD and CAM are two different jobs
CAD is where you draw or import the shape. CAM is where you tell software which bit you are using, how deep, how fast, and what kind of cut. Some programs do both, some do one. Knowing which stage a problem belongs to is most of solving it.
The split
Why the distinction is worth holding onto
When something goes wrong, the first useful question is which stage it belongs to:
| Problem | Stage |
|---|---|
| The shape is wrong, or the letters are misspelled | CAD |
| Rounded corners where you wanted sharp ones | CAD, usually, or a tool geometry limit |
| The part is the wrong size by exactly a bit diameter | CAM: the profile offset |
| It burns, chatters or breaks bits | CAM: feeds, speeds and depths |
| Toolpaths run in the wrong order | CAM |
| The machine ignores tool changes, or plunges at rapid speed | Post processor |
| The job runs in the wrong units | Post processor or CAM setup |
| The machine loses position or stalls | Machine, not software. See lost steps. |
Combined versus separate
| Combined CAD and CAM | Separate tools | |
|---|---|---|
| Workflow | Draw and toolpath in one place | Design in one, import into another |
| Strength | Fast, fewer file handoffs, a change updates the toolpath | Use the best drawing tool for the job |
| Weakness | The drawing tools are rarely as good as a dedicated one | Every design change means re-importing |
| Suits | Most hobby CNC work | Complex design work, or a design tool you already know well |
Plenty of people design lettering and logos in a vector drawing program, then bring them into a CAM package to cut. That is a perfectly good workflow, and it is why file formats matter.
The workflow, end to end
- Draw or import. Get the geometry right and at the correct real world size.
- Clean the vectors. Closed, no duplicates, no excess nodes. See vector troubleshooting.
- Define the material. Thickness, where zero sits, and where the origin is.
- Define the tools. Real measured diameters, and the feeds and speeds you intend to use.
- Create toolpaths in the order they will run.
- Preview and simulate. Two minutes that saves workpieces.
- Post with the right post processor for your controller.
- Set up the machine and run it.
Tool libraries: define every bit once
Step four above, defining the tools, is where new CAM users lose an evening. Every bit needs its real cutting diameter, flute count, angle or tip radius for a V-bit or ball nose, and a feed, plunge, RPM and depth per pass for each material you cut in. Type it wrong and every toolpath that uses that bit inherits the mistake. Type it right and you never touch it again, because CAM saves it in a tool library (Vectric calls it the tool database) that every job draws from.
Two ways to build one:
- By hand, one bit at a time, from the maker's chart and your own measured diameters. Tedious, and the only option for bits nobody publishes data for.
- Import the maker's library. Some bit makers publish their whole catalogue as a library file you load straight into CAM, with feeds and speeds already filled in. You still adjust for your machine, but you start from the maker's own numbers instead of a blank form.
Spec High Country Tool publish theirs free for VCarve, Aspire and Fusion 360: 69 cutters with feeds and speeds for up to 10 materials, sorted into machine classes (hobby ultralight, light and rigid, then business and industrial) so you pick the file that matches your frame. Each download is a zip with the library file and a README of import steps. Their own instruction, which CHIP would give anyway: run your first pass in scrap. Read September 2026.