The world's greatest open source 3D CAM software. (Maybe one day.)

Meshmill is open source 3D CAM software for Linux. It turns STL models into G-code for CNC machines.

This is beta-quality software. Use it at your own peril.

You can Download the latest AppImage to get started. Currently it is only available for x86_64.

Meshmill focuses on:

• ease of installation
• ease of use
• true 3D toolpaths, not 2.5D

At the expense of:

• power
• performance
• high-quality toolpaths

I created Meshmill because I was frustrated with how difficult it was to get other open source 3D CAM software to work.

• If you spot bugs and you want to help out, please create a Github Issue, or send me an email if you're not on Github: [email protected].

• Be careful with the generated G-code. Before running it, check that it's not going to crash your machine, break your tool, or do anything else stupid. In particular, check the generated G-code in another application to satisfy yourself that the paths are something close to what Meshmill rendered.

• If you use it to create some parts, please share pictures of your CAD and your final result :)

How to use it

1. Download a release from the Releases page.

2. chmod +x meshmill-0.1.1.AppImage

3. ./meshmill-0.1.1.AppImage

4. Load your STL file in the "MODEL" tab.

5. Click "Process surface". You'll see that the model turns from your smooth triangle mesh into the blocky pixelated heightmap. This is expected. If you reduce the "resolution" value you'll get a higher-quality heightmap, at the expense of CPU time. You need to judge for yourself what level of precision is required for your particular part with your particular machine and cutting tools.

6. Create a job with the "+ ADD JOB" button.

7. Set your cutting parameters and click "Generate toolpath". Once it is generated it will be displayed on top of the model in purple.

8. Once you're happy with how your toolpath looks, use the "Save G-code" button to save it somewhere.

Development

The GUI is made using Electron. The backend is Go.

I recommend using nvm to manage nodejs.

$ nvm install --lts
$ nvm use --lts

With nvm happy, clone the Meshmill repository and install its npm dependencies.

$ git clone https://github.com/jes/meshmill
$ npm install

And run the application.

$ npm start

The backend for heightmap rendering and toolpath generation is Pngcam. There is a bundled version under bin/.

main.js is the Electron main process. index.html is the HTML loaded in the renderer process.

Useful things to work on

If you want to improve Meshmill but don't know where to start, you could look at:

• make Pngcam generate spiral toolpaths (or any others you find useful)
• make Pngcam multi-threaded, or otherwise improve performance
• implement support for rotary carving
• an interesting example part to load up before the user opens their own model
• some way to generate more than just top and bottom sides (maybe copy the part rotation UI that PrusaSlicer has?)
• support for other tool shapes: tapered ball-nose end mills, bull-nose end mills, v-carving bits
• include roughing calculations in the ETA of the processing time, because it's sometimes significant
• fix the thing where the camera moves to a new position when a new model is rendered (I think it re-positions so that it always looks at the centre of the model, don't know why)
• orthographic view
• adaptive toolpaths
• build Pngcam and Meshmill for other platforms of interest (Windows? Raspberry Pi?)
• reduce feed rate during full-width slotting

Contact me

Meshmill is created by James Stanley. You can email me at [email protected] or read my blog at https://incoherency.co.uk/