CNC Tool Library Converter (Beta)

Stop typing your tool library in again

Tool vendors usually publish libraries for one or two CAM programs. Your own library lives in whatever program you started with. When you switch software, or buy cutters from a vendor that only supports someone else's CAM, you end up typing diameters, flute lengths, angles and feeds back in one tool at a time. With hundreds of tools that takes days, and every value you type is a chance for a mistake.

This converter reads the library file itself and writes it out for the software you use. It converts geometry, tool numbers, vendor and part numbers, and feeds and speeds for each material wherever both programs can store them.

What it reads and writes

Supported tool types: flat, ball and bull-nose end mills, V-bits, chamfer mills and engravers, tapered ball and tapered flat mills, drills, spot and center drills, thread mills, form and radius mills, face mills, dovetails, slot cutters, taps and reamers. Inch and metric tools can be mixed in one library.

How it works

1. Upload the library. You can add several files, for example a FreeCAD .fctl together with its .fctb bits, or libraries from two vendors. Their tools are merged into one library.
2. Choose the program you are moving to.
3. Check the preview. It lists every tool with its type, dimensions and feeds, and the notes say what the target program cannot store.
4. Download the converted library. A sample file with the first 10 tools comes with it, so you can test the import in your program first.

Importing the converted library

Fusion 360: open the Manufacture workspace and go to Manage → Tool Library. In the library tree on the left, right-click Local and choose Import libraries, then select the .tools (or .json) file.

VCarve, Aspire, Cut2D (V10 and later): open Toolpaths → Tool Database and click Import under the tool list. Select the .vtdb file and pick the tools or groups to add. Feeds and speeds are stored per material. Choose the material shown in the conversion notes (for example "Hardwood") in the database's material list to see them.

Carbide Create: open Help → About → Open Data Directory (on a Mac: Carbide Create → About → Open Data Directory) and copy the .csv into the tools folder. Then restart Carbide Create. The library is named after the file. To show it only for one machine or material, rename it Library+Machine+Material.csv, for example Upcut+Shapeoko+Hardwood.csv.

FreeCAD 1.1: unzip the download. In the CAM workbench, open the Tool Library editor, click Import library and select the .fctl file in Tools/Library. Leave the Tools/Bit folder next to it, because FreeCAD looks for the bits there.

FreeCAD 0.19 to 1.0: unzip the download. Copy the files in Tools/Bit into your tool-bit folder and the .fctl in Tools/Library into your library folder (both are in the tools working directory used by the ToolBit Library editor). Then reopen the editor.

LinuxCNC: make a backup of your current tool table first. Then replace the file named by TOOL_TABLE in your machine's INI file (usually tool.tbl) with the downloaded file, renamed to match. Choose inches or millimetres to match your machine. Every Z offset is 0, so touch off each tool before you use it.

Feeds and speeds: check them before you cut

Feeds and speeds are copied exactly as the source library has them. Where a unit changes, they are converted exactly (1 in = 25.4 mm). They are only as good as the library they came from. Vendor values assume a certain machine rigidity, spindle power, workholding and material. Check every value for your machine before you cut. A wrong feed or depth can break a cutter, ruin the part or hurt someone.

Good to know

• "Tool database written by a later version" in Vectric. Vendors often export from the newest Vectric release, which older releases refuse to open. Convert the .vtdb to "VCarve / Aspire / Cut2D tool database" and you get the same tools in the older schema-10 layout that most vendor databases use. Newer releases upgrade it when they import it.
• Vendor catalogues. Many catalogues put one row per diameter and one column per variant, such as "2 Flute", "4 Flute - AlTiN" or "Uncoated", with part numbers in the cells. Each filled cell becomes its own tool, with the flute count and coating taken from the column header. If a column has no type, the type is guessed from the name, and failing that from the file name ("Ball Taper Mills.csv").
• Tapered tools. An angle "per side" (Fusion, catalogues) and an included angle (Vectric, Carbide Create, FreeCAD 1.1) are converted into each other automatically.
• Tool numbers. They are kept. Duplicate numbers stay in CAM libraries, where they are common in vendor libraries. In FreeCAD libraries and LinuxCNC tables, which need unique numbers, duplicates are renumbered, and the notes list which tools changed.

What it doesn't do (yet)

• Form tools are converted without their custom profile. Holders, laser settings and Vectric drill banks are not converted.
• Carbide Create keeps one set of feeds per tool, so the first preset is used. Its V-bits have no flat tip, and tapered ball noses become ball noses of the tip diameter.
• A Vectric database stores feeds per material, so each preset material becomes a material in the database.
• Tormach PathPilot's CSV tool table import, Estlcam, and XML libraries (.hsmlib) are not supported yet. PDF catalogues can't be read.

Privacy

Your library is used only to run your conversion, and the uploaded file is deleted as soon as the conversion finishes. The converted files are kept only so you can download them. We never need your designs or toolpaths, only the tool library file.