JetCad3 CAD/CAM

Hi everyone,

I’m building JetCad3 — a native parametric CAD and CAM application for people who design and cut real parts. The goal is a serious design tool with full 2D/3D modeling, sensible exports, and practical CAM for sheet cutting, without locking you to one vendor’s cloud or one OS: JetCad3 runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. More about the project: jetcad.io

Right now there are two workspaces you can use end-to-end. The system is ready for daily plasma use, I've actually been using it for a few years in my shop as I've been at this for quite some time before making it publicly available.

Drafting (CAD)
Full 2D parametric sketching and 3D solid modeling (extrude, revolve, sweep, helix, and friends), re-editable feature history, assemblies / multi-body workflows, and the usual import/export you’d expect for fabrication and printing — e.g. DXF/SVG for flat patterns, STEP/STL/3MF for solids. There’s also a parametric geometry generator for common mechanical parts (gears, sprockets, pulleys, splines, etc.) so you’re not always redrawing the same primitives from scratch.

Plasma CAM
Toolpath generation tuned for plasma tables: arc-preserved G-code (G2/G3), kerf compensation, lead-in/out, pierce delay, feed/speed controls, auto-nesting (several effort levels), and cut simulation with a live DRO-style view so you can sanity-check the program before it hits the table. If you’re already on SheetCAM or Fusion 360, there’s an AI-assisted post processor converter: paste your existing post, get something native to JetCad3 you can iterate on — handy if you’re comparing workflows or migrating gradually.

Laser CAM (roadmap)
Laser CAM is not shipping yet, but it’s a major focus. The plan is to cover CO2 flat-bed style cutting as well as fiber galvo workflows — different kinematics and process assumptions, so they’ll be treated as first-class paths rather than a single generic “laser” mode bolted onto plasma.

Why I’m posting here

A lot of LinuxCNC users live at the intersection of Linux on the shop floor, real G-code, and actually cutting parts. I’d like to find a small group who are interested in trying JetCad3 seriously — running real jobs, pushing edge cases, and giving candid feedback.

Testers would be marked Staff on the JetCad3 community forum, with free access to all current JetCad3 features for as long as they want to stay in the testing group (no fixed end date tied to “please churn out bug reports by Friday”). In return, I’m hoping for honest reports: what works, what breaks, and what would make the tool fit your workflow better — especially on Linux and with plasma (and later laser) in the loop.

If that sounds like you, reply here and mention roughly your setup (OS, table/controller if you’re comfortable sharing, and whether you’re more CAD-heavy, CAM-heavy, or both).

For anyone that's not really interested in being a tester but may be interested in trying out JetCad3 on their own time, there is Free / Hobby use available. You simply download from the website for your preffered platform (Window, Linux, or Mac OS) and click Free / Hobby at the sign-in window (No account creation required) in the desktop app. In the Drafting workspace that limits to one Component with up to 5 Sketches. In the Plasma workspace, you're limited to 500 lines of posted Gcode but you can Auto-Nest across multiple sheets, then post out one or two parts out at a time (to stay under 500 lines of gcode) to complete a large nest cut on your CNC plasma machine. If you feel the system has potential for your workflow, I'm offering 30 day free trial. The trial DOES require credit card input when signing up for the trial but you always have the option to cancel before getting a charge if you change your mind, this is just to keep trial abuse down to a minimum.

Thanks for reading — and thanks to everyone who keeps the LinuxCNC ecosystem moving; it’s a big inspiration for building JetCad3. I've used LinuxCNC for the better part of 12 years from everything between mill & lathe retro-fits to both new CNC Plasma and Fiber laser machines that I used to build for a living.