Thought I’d mention here another possible option here. Apologies if it already came up, I scanned the thread. The experimental aircraft association annual membership is $40. You get access to a free student edition of solidworks that has options for all the add ons (mold making, electrical, cam). This is what I’ve used for a a few years until I started playing with Fusion. I’m not sure if it’s just training/muscle memory but I always found Solidworks to be a MUCH better sketch/design workflow than Fusion. It’s the reason I also found Onshape to be a good fit to design in (onshape was founded by Solidworks founder). It’s been a while since I’ve used either, life got in the way of my hobbies last few years, but I think Solidworks now has a built in CAM module that is also available as an install option in the educational version.
I invested a lot of time in Onshape years ago only to be burned with the change in free terms. PTC now owns Onshape so I can see the free tier disappearing down the road. Seems like affordable (not free) is probably the best anyone can hope for in a mature easy to use CAD package. It sucks I have so much training in Solidworks but I don’t like the parent company (Dassault). I’lll never be able to justify the cost of a full seat either.