NativeCAM 2.0b — Python 3 & GTK3 port for LinuxCNC 2.9 / Debian 13 Trixie

Hi Zbigi,

Great to hear it's working!

Regarding the "Master treeview minimal width" — yes, this is a known
GTK3 issue. The setting uses set_size_request() which GTK3 ignores
on paned widgets. Will be fixed in next release using set_position()
instead.

Thanks for the feedback — every report helps improve NativeCAM!

Best,
Axemas

Hi everyone,I've recorded a short video demonstrating NativeCAM 2.0b (Python 3 / Gtk3) running on Debian 12/13. You can see it in action here:Video: In this video, I demonstrate basic operations and G-code generation, showing how the new Gtk3-based interface handles the workflow.P.S. For those who want the full experience: please note that to correctly display tool orientation in the preview, some modifications to the core LinuxCNC files ( and ) are required. I will provide more details on these tweaks if anyone is interested.Best regards, Axemas

axemas wrote:

...
Thank you so much for the kind words — it really motivates us to keep going!
...
Thanks again for the feedback — users like you make open source
worth working on!

Axemas

No no, WE open source users are the ones who should be thanking YOU!In a world where so much revolves around power, money, profit, and exploitation, it’s really great to see people like you and many other kind folks here on the forum working on such a huge and brilliant tool like LinuxCNC and making it freely available to everyone. And doing all of that in your spare time, simply to help others bring their machines to life or even rescue them, just to make people happy without expecting anything in return or having any hidden agenda.I can’t really contribute much myself, other than pointing out features I might be missing, testing things, and give feedback how well everything works. Or telling other hobbyists how great this community is and how much fun it is to be part of it. For me, it’s just a great hobby that brings me a lot of joy.As I mentioned, I’ve been using NativeCAM on my milling machine for years and I still absolutely love it. I’m very grateful to Fern and all the other developers who have contributed to it over time.When I started converting my lathe about a year ago, it was immediately clear that I wanted to use NativeCAM Lathe. I also quickly realized that for lathe work you don’t really need a separate CAD/CAM system, especially with that brilliant polyline function combined with tool compensation. Whats means a lot to me. So I was quite disappointed and sad for me to discover that this feature was never fully completed. Unfortunately it seems that development on it has stopped and we have to accept that. (Still hoping Fern is doing well and is just busy...)All the more reason why it feels like both Christmas and a birthday at once to hear that you’re planning to take this on and continue his great project that he put so much work into. Thank you very much in advance, I’m really excited to hear that!

Feel free to share your progress with the community while you’re working on it, or if you run into any issues or need someone to test things. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s really excited about this and would be happy to help if possible. I’ll definitely be following the project on Git as well.

Greetings Tom

Hi Tom,

Your message really made my day, thank you for such kind words!

I completely understand what you mean — there is something special
about this community. People helping each other bring dead machines
back to life, sharing knowledge, no profit motives. It is rare and
valuable.

I want to be honest — I am not a pure altruist here. I do commercial
CNC work and NativeCAM improvements help my work too. But that is
exactly why open source makes sense to me: fix something for myself,
share it back, everyone benefits. Fern built this whole framework —
I am just adding pieces I need on top.

Good news to share: basic lathe polyline with G71 cycle is working!
Here is a short video showing a stepped shaft profile being generated.
Ø50 → Ø30 → Ø20 with chamfer and fillet. Toolpath renders correctly
in AXIS preview.



Still some minor bugs to polish before I release it on GitHub. Once
it is stable I will post here and invite everyone to test. A few more
things planned before release:

- G70 finishing pass after roughing
- Profile validation (prevent non-monotonic paths)
- Pocket cycles (G71.1 / G71.2)

Your feedback is exactly the kind of contribution that keeps this
alive. Users like you who test, report bugs, and cheer us on matter
just as much as the code. Thank you!

Best,
CNC Proton

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. As far as I know, Tormach uses LinuxCNC with PathPilot as well, right? As long as the modifications are released again, like you said, everyone benefits!

Wow, I’m absolutely thrilled about the video I can’t wait to test it! Unfortunately, my machine isn’t operational yet; I’m still struggling with the Beckhoff driver. If you need multiple testers with real CNC lathes who can provide faster feedback than on the forum, Peter alias Talla83’s Discord (I assume you know him from his YouTube videos) might be an idea. It’s more like a chat there, and people reply quickly. There are also several lathe users and generally many smart, helpful folks.

This isn’t meant to poach users or replace this forum. I’m happy to be here, and in the long run, knowledge is better preserved here. So please post here as well so other users can find it more easily later. For faster feedback - for example, when you’re at the machine and need input from others - the Discord is hard to beat. Just an idea
The Discord mainly has German-speaking users from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, but everyone understands and replies in English too. discord.gg/dyd8M9wJ

I installed nativecam, but when I run ncam --help or another command I always get this error: /usr/bin/env: «python»: No such file or directory, apparently the path it is looking for is different, I am using DEBIAN 12.