Open a DWG, select a closed contour, and export GRBL G-code with real cutter compensation and multi-pass depth stepping. No DXF detour and no CAM software to install — it runs in a browser tab.
Output is a plain .nc file in GRBL dialect, with a toolpath preview and cutting-time estimate before you download.
Open app.caddillo.com and load your .dwg directly — it reads r11 through r2018. You do not need to convert it to DXF first as a separate errand; opening a DWG handles that hop for you and drops the geometry straight onto the canvas.
Click the closed contour — a closed polyline, a rectangle, a circle. It has to close on itself, because that is what gives the cutter an inside and an outside to be offset from. Circles can be treated as drill points instead if that is what they are.
Set tool diameter, cut depth, stepdown per pass, cutter side, feed rate and safe Z. Values are typed in the drawing’s own units and fractions are accepted, so 1/8" is valid input for an eighth-inch endmill.
The actual offset path the tool will travel is drawn on the canvas, with a cutting-time estimate. If it looks right, download the .nc and load it into your GRBL sender.
DWG is what comes out of most professional CAD, so it is what lands in your inbox. Cutting straight from it removes a conversion step and one more place for scale or geometry to go astray.
Client files, vendor drawings and downloaded models are DWG far more often than DXF. Being able to cut from it without a detour through other software is the point.
Fusion and VCarve are heavy installs with accounts attached. For a compensated contour cut on a router, a browser tab is the proportionate tool.
Jigs, brackets, spoilboards and panels do not justify a CAM workflow. Open, select, set six numbers, cut.
The backplot and time estimate tell you what will actually happen at the machine, which is worth knowing before you clamp material.
The offset is computed in the geometry and written into the coordinates rather than handed to the controller as G41/G42. Cut the outside of a 100 mm part with a 3.175 mm endmill and the toolpath spans exactly 103.175 mm — so the part comes off the machine at 100 mm.
As with any generated G-code: read the file, dry-run above the stock, and confirm your work zero before you cut something you care about.
Same CAM export, starting from a DXF.
Want the DXF as a separate file too? Free, one click.
Cutting artwork rather than a CAD part.
Working from a photo or scan instead of a DWG? Resize or convert the image first at imageinseconds.com — free, in the browser, nothing uploaded.
Open app.caddillo.com, choose File ▸ Open DWG and pick your file, click the closed contour you want to cut, then choose File ▸ Export G-code (CAM). Enter tool diameter, cut depth, stepdown, cutter side, feed rate and safe Z, check the toolpath preview drawn on the canvas, and download the .nc. No CAM software to install.
No. Opening a DWG in the editor handles that step internally — the file is read through CADdillo’s converter and the geometry lands on the canvas ready to work with. You can convert to DXF separately if you want a copy in that format for other reasons, but it is not a prerequisite for cutting.
Yes, and it is computed in the geometry rather than delegated to your controller. You pick outside, inside or on-line and the path is offset by exactly half the tool diameter in that direction. The outside path around a 100 mm part cut with a 3.175 mm (1/8") endmill spans exactly 103.175 mm, so the finished part measures 100 mm. Because the offset is baked into the coordinates, your machine does not need G41/G42 support at all.
Anything running GRBL, which covers most hobby and prosumer routers — Shapeoko, X-Carve, Onefinity, MPCNC and 3018-class desktop mills. It loads in Universal Gcode Sender, cncjs, Candle and Carbide Motion. The output is deliberately plain: G21/G20 for units, G90 absolute positioning, G0 rapids at safe Z, G1 feed moves, and multi-pass depth stepping. No canned cycles and no vendor macros, so it is easy to read before you run it.
Arcs and circles stay as true arcs in the toolpath rather than being chorded into hundreds of tiny line segments — that matters because a chorded arc leaves visible facets on the cut edge and produces a much larger file. More exotic curve types are reduced to a tight-tolerance path. If a shape will not select as a closed contour, the usual cause is a gap in the geometry, which you can close with the editor’s join and trim tools before exporting.
The G-code export is free and the .nc is generated in your browser. Opening a DWG uses a server-side conversion, which is free for five files a day without an account; a free account with no card removes the daily limit. There is no trial clock on any of it.
