Hi ONEFINITY community! I’ve put in my order today, so now I get to live in great anticipation (anxiety?) over the next few weeks. I am new to the cnc world, and a MAC user. Any starter tips/recommendations are always welcome… Have a great day everyone!
P.S.: Great shoutout to Ben @MyersWoodshop also, whose YouTube videos really helped solidify my decision! Thanks!
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If you are using Vectric VCarve for your design software, I suggest Mark Lindsays videos on YouTube for beginners. He starts at the very basics and builds on the benefits of the design software.
You’re going to need a table or enclosure. Look up threads on this forum or the FB page for lots of great designs and ideas.
Cable management, monitor upgrade, spindle vs router, t-tracks vs Myers waste board…again there are great ideas on this forum and the FB page.
You’ve got a lot to learn but others are here to help, just ask.
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Hey, thanks a bundle for the welcoming words and advise, @gad5264! Much appreciated! I should check out Mark Lindsays’ videos (if I haven’t seen one or the other yet), but I am a Mac user and I think Vectric VCarve is not supported for MAC. 
Oh, and about the table and enclosure @gad5264, I will be looking at those more in detail over the next weeks. I definitely think an enclosure will be a good thing to have. Also, I am planning on using t-tracks with MDF waste board strips that I can then easily replace as needed.
If you are a Mac user, then the Vectric software won’t be an option unless you run Windows in a virtual machine on your Mac using VMWare Fusion or Parallels or some other virtualization software. This means you’ll need to also buy a Windows 10 licence. If you really want to run Vectric and don’t want to spend a lot on a new machine, you might want to just consider buying a used or refurbished laptop or desktop that comes with Windows and use that. It might come out to the same price as buying a Windows licence separately.
If you want to stay with the Mac and have a very powerful design solution, I’d recommend Fusion 360 from Autodesk. They have a free personal licence and you can use it for designing things and generating the g-code. It is a very powerful piece of software but it does have a pretty steep learning curve. Fortunately there are tons of YouTube videos on how to use it. In particular look for the ones from Lars Christensen (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo29kn3d9ziFUZGZ50VKvWA). One of the great things about Fusion 360 is you can also use it to design things for your 3D printer if you have one.
For something simpler and easier to learn there is Carbide Create (Carbide 3D) or Easel which might be easier to start with.
I’m a Mac user as well and use Fusion 360 on my Mac and Vectric VCarve Pro on a Windows 10 machine. I’m just starting the CNC journey and I’ve done a few projects on Fusion 360 and a few on VCarve Pro. I’m just new to VCarve Pro, but it looks easier for signs and “sketch” type parts whereas Fusion 360 is a full 3D design package and shines for more complex parts, especially if you use the parametric options for sizing dimensions and such.
Martin
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@mrenters Thanks for your response and all the great info! I was contemplating for a moment going down the used Windows laptop path, but really would prefer sticking to Mac, so some of the other options you highlighted look much more appealing. I am a bit nervous about the steep learning curve for F360 some people including yourself have highlighted, but I am sure it can be done. Alternatively, I am also looking at SHAPR3D, which is a powerful 3D app for iPad. Not sure if that would give me the file output needed for -say- Carbide, but I will look into it. Anything that doesn’t force me having to memorize a gazillion shortcuts will do, ha ha.
@xyz_sven If it helps you at all, I am running Vectric Vcarve Pro on my 2015 iMac in a virtual machine. The virtualization software I am using is VMWare Fusion and I’m running Windows 7. It runs without issue, although there are a few idiosyncrasies (such as you must use the forward delete key where you would expect to use the standard delete key). Vcarve is great software, and I also highly recommend Mark Lindsey’s ‘Vcarve for the absolute beginner’ tutorials on YouTube. My situation was the same as yours - new to CNC and a Mac user - so hopefully this will help you make a decision about which way to go.
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@CNC-Newbie Hey, thanks! Good to know that it works well in your virtual machine (minus those pesky idiosyncrasies you mentioned, of course). I am pretty sure I could pick up a suitable Windows based laptop for $200-300 or so and use Vcarve Pro, so definitely something I will keep on my options list. It does after all seem to be the software of choice by many and hard to pass up on. But I’d still like to see first if I can stick to staying in Macland without losing ease-of-use (and my mind along with it…). I might post my very limited requirements I will have of the ONEFINITY in a separate post, so maybe that will lead to good recommendations. Since I am a newbie I can’t properly communicate verbally what I need. Either way, the machine is capable. Maybe I can get away with a fairly simple software at least in the beginning.
Hi there and welcome! I am a Mac user too, but after I looked at the available options for software that would run on the Mac, I bought a used Windows 10 desktop machine to use in the shop for my CNC work, and went with Vcarve Pro. No regrets so far!
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@Cdavis Do you use Vcarve Pro to create the design as well, or do you just use it to run your machine, i.e. to generate the G-Code and make adjustments/finetune?
All of the above. It is very easy to design with, at least for the projects I’ve tackled so for (nothing elaborate yet)! Mark Lindsay’s YouTube videos are great! I was able to pick up a refurbished Windows 10 Dell desktop with monitor, keyboard and mouse for $150
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@Cdavis My needs won’t be very elaborate, either. Let’s just call it ‘Cuts & bruises’ for now. 
Will start looking for Windows machines, just as a backup plan. $150 sounds very reasonable for a Plan B.
I use Fusion 360 quite a bit for work and while it does have a learning curve, for most woodworking projects it is pretty easy to get up to speed. I like that I can design, render, create shop drawings and CAM all in the same software. I think for woodworking I use about 10-15 commands in the design side and another 10-15 on the CAM side. The parametric options can be very helpful if you are building similar type things.
I am a visual person, so designing in 3D is helpful to validate the design before I start cutting.
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@Martin Good to know Fusion360 can be used relatively easily and ‘lightly’. I will sink my teeth into it this weekend and play around with their free version. Maybe it’ll work for me as well. I don’t see why not.
Offering my 101 video series if you are interested.
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@cyberreefguru Absolutely! Looks like some great tutorials! I will get started right away! Thanks!
@cyberreefguru Your video series is awesome! Thanks so much for sending me your way! I am learning a lot and seems even Fusion360 might be doable at some point. Next on my to-do list… ‘create Flying Saucer’, ha ha! 
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As a previous
shapoeko owner…You made the right decision with Onefinity. rest well 2nite
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i have also been using shapr3d the power of having the pencil to create things is huge but you can only export files with the paid version and i am new so im not sure what other software i would need to actually make it work on the 1finity. any ideas?
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@Unclerico Good to know & thanks for the reassurance! The Onefinity seems to be a solid and maybe (hopefully) even expandable design, so all shortcomings will be operator’s fault.