BobCAD problems?

B

BeachCues

Beach Cues
I work for a small manufacturing company as a tool designer and CNC programmer . I am currently drawing my cues in solidworks and programming using camworks . I am fortunate to work for a company that allows me to use the machines to mill all pockets and inlay pieces for the cues that i have made to this point. I plan on purchasing a CNC router next year and have been looking at purchasing bobcad-cam for the programming . My question is for all the cuemakers out there that have used or are still using bobcad , do you have any issues with the software? how easy is it to use ?

Carlton
 

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IMO, Bobcad v23 has it's quirks, and is far from perfect. Having said that, v24 is the most current version, and it's possible that it has been improved. Bobcad is a lower cost option, so will never have all of the capabilities of larger, more expensive CAD/CAM packages, but it has all of the basics needed for pool cues, and then some. If you are an experienced CAD/CAM user, there will still be a learning curve, but I'm sure you will be productive very quickly.

You can download a free trial of v24 from their web site, but I believe it will not generate G-code. However, be warned that if you give them your correct contact information when downloading the trial that they will call you repeatedly. They also have BobCAM for Solidworks, which might work well for you.
 
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I did purchase it this afternoon . I figured that it will do most of the things needed and what ever it wont do I can always do it at work :thumbup: . I also got the bobart just incase I want to project some 3d images onto the cue .

Thanks
Carlton
 
I use BobCAD v24, and I think it's great! Then again, I haven't used any other CAD/CAM programs, so maybe there's something better out there? I'm not a school-trained machinist - I just learned by trial and error, and watched the training DVD's. Five years later, the only two things I'm limited by now are my imagination and the sharpness of the inside corners due to tool bit size.

With your knowledge of Solidworks, you'll have no problem figuring out BobCAD.
 
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