Quick question, After month of going back and forth rather to the buy a MK2 ,I have decided to take the plunge. To start out with I will be mostly cutting simple PVC signs. My question is can I get away with a free software for doing simple designs. Hopefully as I get better of running the machine I will buy the pro version software. Thanks
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@BigDaddy57 - By all means use free software. Easel or Carbide Create are used by a lot of beginners to get started. When you get ready and comfortable with one of those try the free trials of some of the Pro versions before committing.
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Thanks for response.Have you ever cut any PVC? If so, any recommendations
For plastics I think you want an O flute or zero flute end mill, I’ve seen them called both. I haven’t cut PVC but they work great on acrylic.
@BigDaddy57 - I have not cut either PVC or acrylic but see Michael’s response below.
I’ve made some signs out of PVC trim board.
Using the default plastic cutting parameters/feeds/speeds, I have successfully cut with 1/4", 1/8", and 1/16" 2 flute upcut endmills.
I’ve had also used 1/4" 90 deg and 60 deg V bits but find they leave a lot of “shag” that needs to be manually trimmed. Seems to melt and smear with the big V bits so might have to reduce the spindle speed or increase the feed rate to improve that…
And I used Carbide Create (V6) for about a month before I grew out of it 
and ended up getting VCarve Desktop and have barely looked back!
Note though, due to worksize limitation in VCarve Desktop (limited to 24"x24" before needing to tile your job), I find I still do the occasional job in Carbide to avoid moving the workpiece.
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