CAD, CAM, CNC Control Software Discussion.

Strange.

Dealing with Bobcad over the last couple days leaves me feeling "weird".
Don't get me wrong, I think I got a pretty good deal, but when they invoice you for $5800 but charge you less than 10% of that, well, reminds me too much of buying a new car or life insurance.

Oh, well, with any luck the SW will do what I need. Hopefully I won't have to change my phone number. I finally got it to where I can remember it, lol.

On a related note, in talking to my salesman, he said he talked to an engineer as well as the head salesman, he says they have no idea when nesting is due or how much it will cost. I said that's strange because someone (I didn't say who or where) is quoted as saying it's due in a couple weeks, according to the head of sales. But he did say that since I'm a customer that they'll call me when it's available and they will give a 75-80% discount :rolleyes:

So, I guess I won't be holding my breath, lol.

Now if I could only get MasterCam for less than 10% :cool:

Thanks for the help guys!
 
What Bobcad V23 have you in cnc 3 or 4 axis for inlays?


Bobcad V23 Mill
Bobcad V23 Lathe
Bolcad V23 Art
Bobcad V23 Wire EDM
 
fiolledapool said:
What Bobcad V23 have you in cnc 3 or 4 axis for inlays?


Bobcad V23 Mill
Bobcad V23 Lathe
Bolcad V23 Art
Bobcad V23 Wire EDM
Click to expand...

Bobcad V23 Mill is what you would want. There are those on here that use older ver. however if they where to buy new would go with V23. The cam side of the software is different, and IMHO easier to learn and use. The users of the older software aren't interested in learning a different way to post programs. Also not ready to through another $500 at software that already works fine for them. Now to answer your question, V23 mill will only post in 3 axis simultanious however V23 will generate A axis movement simultaniously instead of X or Y axis. This will acomplish 95% of what you would need a 4th axis for complex machining and 100% of what we need. V23 mill just doesn't diplay the A axis correctly on the CAD screen. It will also index on the 4th axis but I just wrote a macro program for this as it is easier for me to use. I just cut and past my program into my Mach3 macro program and set how many indexes I want.

Jim.
 
I got Mill and Art. Art was thrown is as an incentive.
I'm pretty sure I'll be able to do everything with just the Mill package. I just got it installed on my machines yesterday, so I haven't had much time to mess with it yet.
The setup I'll be using for now is:

Autocad for CAD
BobCAM Mill for CAM
Mach3 for control

I'll know more in the next couple weeks. I'll post back with some feedback then.

Frank
 
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Jr's Farm said:
I got Mill and Art. Art was thrown is as an incentive.
I'm pretty sure I'll be able to do everything with just the Mill package. I just got it installed on my machines yesterday, so I haven't had much time to mess with it yet.
The setup I'll be using for now is:

Autocad for CAD
BobCAM for CAM
Mach3 for control

I'll know more in the next couple weeks. I'll post back with some feedback then.

Frank
Click to expand...

Nice, if you have any questions let me know as I use both Bobcad and Mach3. I will always be interested in any inlays that cue builders are working on. Can you tell me what machine you will have or did you build one?

thanks, Jim.
 
Mc2 said:
V23 mill will only post in 3 axis simultanious however V23 will generate A axis movement simultaniously instead of X or Y axis.

Jim.
Click to expand...

I can't verify this, but I thought that the Z axis could also substitute, meaning any 3 axis' at any one time:

X,Y,A
X,Z,A
Y,Z,A
X,Y,Z

Is that correct or am I missing something?
 
Mc2 said:
Nice, if you have any questions let me know as I use both Bobcad and Mach3. I will always be interested in any inlays that cue builders are working on. Can you tell me what machine you will have or did you build one?

thanks, Jim.
Click to expand...

Jim,

I'll most certainly look you up if I have any questions.

As for the machine, I decided to purchase my first one ready-made (sort of). It will come in pieces so I'll be assembling it and providing the control system, steppers and switches, so I'll be at least doing some of it. I don't want to provide any machine info until I've had a chance to shake it down, but once I do I'll post some pics and feedback to be sure.
Hopefully it will be done this week so I can get started :smile:

Frank
 
Jr's Farm said:
I got Mill and Art. Art was thrown is as an incentive.
I'm pretty sure I'll be able to do everything with just the Mill package. I just got it installed on my machines yesterday, so I haven't had much time to mess with it yet.
The setup I'll be using for now is:

Autocad for CAD
BobCAM Mill for CAM
Mach3 for control

I'll know more in the next couple weeks. I'll post back with some feedback then.

Frank
Click to expand...


Autocad generate G-code??
 
Jr's Farm said:
Jim,

I'll most certainly look you up if I have any questions.

As for the machine, I decided to purchase my first one ready-made (sort of). It will come in pieces so I'll be assembling it and providing the control system, steppers and switches, so I'll be at least doing some of it. I don't want to provide any machine info until I've had a chance to shake it down, but once I do I'll post some pics and feedback to be sure.
Hopefully it will be done this week so I can get started :smile:

Frank
Click to expand...

Sounds great. I can't wait to see what you post. I will always have an intrest in this area and always looking for better ways to build a machine. If you haven't purchased a control yet then check out the Gecko stuff. I prefer these over others I have used or seen.

Jim.
 
Jr's Farm said:
I can't verify this, but I thought that the Z axis could also substitute, meaning any 3 axis' at any one time:

X,Y,A
X,Z,A
Y,Z,A
X,Y,Z

Is that correct or am I missing something?
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure that only the x or y axes can be substituted. Mach3 though will run up to 6 axes at one time. The limitation is Bobcad here.

Jim.
 
Mc2 said:
I am pretty sure that only the x or y axes can be substituted. Mach3 though will run up to 6 axes at one time. The limitation is Bobcad here.

Jim.
Click to expand...

I still haven't got to this point just yet, but given their business model I wouldn't be surprised if it's that way just so they can charge you for another $200 add-on module.

Speaking of which, anyone know how much I should expect to pay for the Predator "Backplot" feature?

On a related note, I'm just about finished shaking down my machine. A couple of setup items left and verification processes to do and I'll post some pics and info.

I also wanted to thank everyone who posted and PM'd with their experiences. When it works this place is a great resource! Thanks again.

Regards,
Frank
 
Jr's Farm said:
I still haven't got to this point just yet, but given their business model I wouldn't be surprised if it's that way just so they can charge you for another $200 add-on module.

Speaking of which, anyone know how much I should expect to pay for the Predator "Backplot" feature?

On a related note, I'm just about finished shaking down my machine. A couple of setup items left and verification processes to do and I'll post some pics and info.

I also wanted to thank everyone who posted and PM'd with their experiences. When it works this place is a great resource! Thanks again.

Regards,
Frank
Click to expand...

Frank I can't answer your question. I know that Bobcad doesn't own the Predator software so they will not deal much on the price. I can tell you that in cue making it is not needed and that the verify option works well enough for my needs.

Jim.
 
Jr's Farm said:
Are you saying that the 10 disk, $395 training CD set isn't specific enough for inlays?
Click to expand...

My experience has been that the CD's do a good job of teaching the advanced 3D programing but fall short on the basics.
If you dont know anything about CNC or how to program g code the CD's will leave you with a lot of basic questions.

BobCad does have a feature that will draw the tool path lines from a G code.
From that you can draw the Contour lines.
That is also just one way to verify your program before the bit meets the wood.

BTW ... cue inlay work is very basic 2D and all that fancy 3D stuff it just wasted.
Ditto for the nesting programs ... I would rather lay out the pieces myself.

The last offer from BobCad to upgrade to the latest version was $150.
I use version 20 for all my 4 axis work and see no reason to upgrade any farther.
 
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WilleeCue said:
My experience has been that the CD's do a good job of teaching the advanced 3D programing but fall short on the basics.
If you dont know anything about CNC or how to program g code the CD's will leave you with a lot of basic questions.

BobCad does have a feature that will draw the tool path lines from a G code.
From that you can draw the Contour lines.
That is also just one way to verify your program before the bit meets the wood.

BTW ... cue inlay work is very basic 2D and all that fancy 3D stuff it just wasted.
Ditto for the nesting programs ... I would rather lay out the pieces myself.

The last offer from BobCad to upgrade to the latest version was $150.
I use version 20 for all my 4 axis work and see no reason to upgrade any farther.
Click to expand...

The cad/cam software that I use is a private label, not normally sold to the public. It has been around for about 18 to 20 years but has always served me well and has let me do about anything that I desire. If "nesting" is what I believe it is which is giving the dimensions of a piece of material and the software figuring out the best way to get the most inlays out of it, then, I would really like that. Entirely to much inlay material wasted with present system.

Dick`
 
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