Yeah, things which I think ought to be automated / standardized:
- endmill entry — there really should be standard files for manufacturers to make which software can import — Autodesk Fusion 360 accepts XML definitions but that’s not widely accepted unfortunately
- feeds and speeds — there’re a lot of different calculators — I’m hopeful for: Optimizing Feeds and Speeds Calculator for Milling esp. since it supports HSM: Optimizing Feeds and Speeds Calculator for Milling — and it’s possible to store endmill settings and feeds and speeds in .tps files for MeshCAM: https://wiki.shapeoko.com/index.php/MeshCAM#TPS_files but AFAIK, nothing else will import those
- integrating those twain should be easier — some sort of machinist notebook might work well, I’ve tried to use Jupyter Notebook for this: Jupyter Notebook as a CNC machinist notebook but it requires more discipline than I’ve been able to summon as-of-yet
There was a neat bit of discussion about what a “Shapeoko.app” might look like on the old Shapeoko forums ages ago — it slightly influenced the wiki, and I think informed some aspects of:
and see the nascent ebook at:
I’ve been trying to work all of this out in a Kickstarter/website/project/book as discussed at:
https://wiki.shapeoko.com/index.php/Design_into_3D
For commercial efforts, Design and Make is notable, and of course, Autodesk Fusion 360 overshadows pretty much everything else for folks who are willing to sign up with Autodesk.