STEPCRAFT CNC machines are sold in an a la carte fashion were you purchase the base machine (210, 300, 420, 600, or 840) and then you can customize your system with any of the systemheld attachments, accessories, or software programs that we offer.
The base STEPCRAFT CNC machine will come with a UCCNC, which is our machine control software.  This program will allow you to configure, move, jog and setup the machine as well as run G Code files to operate the CNC. You can think of UCCNC as an "operating system" for the STEPCRAFT CNC.
Additionally, you will receive a UC100 Parallel to USB interface with your STEPCRAFT.  This device allows you to connect to your computer using a USB cable. The STEPCRAFT uses a parallel bus on its control board, which is very common in the world of CNC router systems.  Parallel busses are very fast in comparison to a serial bus system.  Since many projects that you could run on your CNC might contains tens or hundreds of thousands of lines of code, it is important to have a fast control board architecture.  The problem with this is that it is very uncommon to have a parallel interface in a modern computer.  USB, Firewire and Thunderbolt are the common interfaces of today.  So to make sure you can use your STEPCRAFT CNC with any modern day computer, the UC100 is used.
The UC100 is a coded device, which means you can not use it without a license file that matches the device.  Your STEPCRAFT CNC will come with a license file (either on a USB stick in the box or will be emailed to you).  This file will be placed in the UCCNC folder on your computer and it will automaticlly verify that your UC100 matches when you start UCCNC.
Every new STEPCRAFT CNC sold in the USA, Canada and Mexico will include a card which gives you a full year of Autodesk's Fusion 360 CAD/CAM software for free.  Fusion 360 is a very powerful 3D CAD/CAM package that will really extend the limits of what you can create on a STEPCRAFT CNC. There is more of a learning curve for Fusion 360 than there is for other programs like the Vectric and Deskproto programs.
The STEPCRAFT CNC does not include CAD/CAM software (other than the free year of Fusion 360), a spindle, tooling or other accessories or attachments.  You will need to purchase these items separately or you can consider purchasing a Complete System Package, which will come configured with everything you need to get started as soon as your machine arrives.