Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Bobcad 17 Review

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you Mike. I use QuickCAD every day. I
can set my accuracy level to .0000001"

That should be accurate enough for anyone.

You CAN also do those "move/trim/extend" to any co-ordinates. All you need
to do is highlight the object and type in the co-ordinates you want.

Perhaps your using an old version? Mine is Mellineum edition Version 7.
It's great for 2D drawings.

I use RHINO for 3D but it doesn't have anywhere near the ease of use that
QuickCAD has.

Smoke

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike <mnels@...>
To: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@egroups.com <CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@egroups.com>
Date: Sunday, December 03, 2000 12:41 PM
Subject: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Bobcad 17 Review

>I've recently completed my first significant project in Bobcad 17.0 and
>have to say it's a decent little package. For those of you considering
>buying a modestly priced CAD package, and you need G-code, it might be
>worth a look. Here's a review from a CAM novice's viewpoint.
>
>I came from Autodesk's Quickcad (which is the "light" or "home" version of
>their software). Quickcad is fairly intuitive to use if you're familiar
>with most modern Windows applications. It's difficult, however, to do
>really accurate work in Quickcad. In many cases, your accuracy is limited
>by the mouse and zoom level. For laying out the floorplan to that shop you
>want to build, this isn't a problem. For CAM work, it can be a serious
>limitation.
>
>Bobcad, on the other hand, let's you specify or move/trim/extend virtually
>anything by exact X Y coordinates and it will support resolutions beyond
>0.00001. This works much better for CAM work! Once you get the hang of it
>(which took all of a few hours), the user interface is easy enough. It's a
>little clunky in areas (for example they could have put the right mouse
>button to good use) but it gets the job done. It even appears to be bug
>free. Imagine, a Windows program without bugs! <snicker>
>
>The installation has a serious flaw for some folks. At least on my system
>(Win2k), it forces the install to the C drive. I have multiple logical
>drives, and the C drive was NOT my first choice. There doesn't appear to
>be any way around this. Forget installing it to a network drive, for
>example. The install otherwise went smoothly.
>
>As a drawing package, it's simple but effective. It appears to have
>unlimited levels of undo (a good thing for this draftsman) and unlimited
>layers. The zooming works well. You cannot do some simple things like
>automatically draw a rectangle, but you can draw a new line parallel to an
>old one (or tangent to an arc). The documentation is OK but not
>great. Some things are a little weird until you know better--i.e. if you
>print the drawing with certain elements selected, only those elements
>print. I didn't see this in any of the docs or help files.
>
>There are not a lot of options. There doesn't seem to be a snap grid. It
>doesn't support fractional precision or advanced scaling. There's no built
>in title block. There are very few page/print options. You can't pick
>the arrow head style on dimensions, etc. On the plus side, it often does
>exactly what you want it do even for the automated operations so the lack
>of choices hasn't been a big problem for me (yet?).
>
>The text function is weak. Considering most are going to use this package
>for making parts, this shouldn't be a huge problem. It does dimensions
>fairly well (at least if you like the way it does them) but other text
>seems to be an afterthought (it's on the dimension tool bar). Once you
>place text (which can be a trick to do neatly without a snap grid), I
>haven't found any way to edit the text itself. If you're looking for a
>package to do text engraving (nameplates, plaques, etc.), this isn't it.
>
>Where it really shines is with the CAM features. It does automatic
>radiusing, offsets, circular bolt patterns, fillets, chamfers, splines,
>gears and more. If you need to make a pocket or unusual shape on a
>surface, it has several canned routines (spirals, etc.) to help generate
>the repetitive 3-D toolpath to perform such material removal easily. Most
>of these automatically apply the tool radius and check for
>interference. It's pretty slick and you're way ahead of using a non-CAM
>friendly CAD package. I haven't explored the full 3-D or lathe
>capabilities. The lathe support seems to be a simple "lathe mode on/off"
>that performs some axis/coordinates translation.
>
>The G-code generation works well enough. Once you get your drawing done,
>you simply open the split NC window alongside your drawing, pick a tool,
>reference a start point and you can either have it automatically generate
>the G-code, or you can do it yourself one drawing element at a time. It
>shows the toolpath superimposed on the drawing as you go with directional
>arrows. You can back up, edit, re-order, things, etc. For a novice who
>doesn't know G-code very well, it's great (even educational). For me, it's
>far more straightforward than trying to use a translator
>package--especially because if you need to change your drawing, it's right
>there and you can edit anything.
>
>You can set up Bobcad so it (hopefully) only produces G-code your machine
>software can understand. This is done on a sort of "macro" level by
>editing the G-code for various functions (i.e. so activating the coolant
>pump doesn't shut off your spindle, etc.). You can save multiple
>configuration files if you have multiple machines.
>
>Finally, as you'd hope and expect, it does import and export DXF format
>files. This seems to work about as well as it does with anyone else's
>drawing package (which is to say your mileage may vary). Single layer
>drawings move from Quickcad to Bobcad and back reasonably well. Multiple
>layer Bobcad drawings create fatal errors in Quickcad.
>
>I realize my point of view is limited, but I have downloaded and looked at

>some other demo and shareware packages out there. Bobcad seems to be a
>simple way to make parts for someone who doesn't have the time (or money)
>to use a high-end CAD/CAM package. As I said before, in many hours of use,
>it's yet to cause a protection fault, erase half my drawing or fail to
>operate consistently. That alone is impressive these days.
>
>Mike
>
>
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