BobCAD/CAM v.s. Dolphin CAD/CAM

Message: 23
Date: Wed, 02 Jan 2002 20:55:07 -0000
From: "mszollar" <mszollar@...>
Subject: BobCAD/CAM v.s. Dolphin CAD/CAM

I'm just getting started in the CAD/CAM world and have begin to
review the different options for CAD/CAM software. I'm looking for
reasonable price (this is only for a hobby), easy to use and full
featured (in that order; see hobby note). I've been playing around
with Dolphin (and like it) and have just downloaded BobCAD and will
play with that as well. I've looked at a few others but most others
have been confusing (IMO) likely because I don't have a backround in
CAD/CAM or they where CAD only, requiring me to use a separate CAM
package (IMO CAD/CAM in 1 package is a plus).

Has anyone else done any eval of the various (lower cost) CAD/CAM
systems? I'd be curious to hear from you if you have; it may save me
(and others on the list) time and $$).

Please; this email is not intended to begin a war; I'm just curous
about the good/bad of the various packages.

Thanks,
Ken

[I've tried most of the less expensive programs, but whether a given one
would work better for you really depends on what you want to do with it.
I've just got an evaluation version of Dolphin, and it seems like a good
program for doing the sort of thing that traditional machinists do- create
pockets, drill bolt circles, cut profiles, etc. It includes basic
part-drawing software, so it's self-contained, but it won't create the
complex 3d surfaces that a modern dedicated CAD program (like Rhino) will.
It doesn't seem to have any import capability either, so its functionality
seems limited to 2 1/2 d parts. It does have modules for lathes and EDM
machines as well as mills, so one wouldn't have to learn a whole new program
to use these tools. Vector is similar, but I found its logic harder to
grasp, although I'd give it the edge for 3d parts. BobCad, in my opinion,
was a notch below either of these, although basically similar in function
and about the same price. The interface was more difficult to figure out
than Vector's (or Dolphin's), its import capabilites were more limited, its
drawing tools were less capable, and its documentation more opaque.

My focus has mostly been on another type of program; translation programs
that don't try to do it all, but can take a model either created in a CAD
program or by scanning a 3d object and create G-code that a CNC mill can
execute, carving complicated arbitrary forms. In this category, I like
DeskProto the best, especially the beta 3.0 version, which supports a rotary
4th axis parallel to X. I like the simplicity of its interface, its
flexibility, and its speed in dealing with relatively huge polygon surface
files. It's one of the more expensive programs in its category, but they're
responding to competition by introducing a "lite" version at a much lower
price (but minus some of the cooler features of the 3.0 version).

MillWizard is about the simplest as well as the cheapest program that can
successfully deal with imported 3d surfaces; it tries to fool-proof itself
by taking the user step-by-step through the process of orienting the part,
choosing a tool, defining the surface steps, etc. This can become tedious
after a while, though, and it generates toolpaths fairly slowly.

STLWork 2 is another program that does basically the same thing; its main
selling point is the ability to create "waterline" toolpaths parallel to the
x/y plane in addition to "rasterizing" toolpaths which are parallel to x/z
or y/z. These can be handy for objects like raised lettering, but it
requires STL input, in the form of surfaced 3d polygon meshes, and won't
deal with 2d text objects (neither will DeskProto or MillWizard). Its
learning curve is steeper than MillWizard's, but not terrible. The older
version, minus the waterline function and some other improvements, is
available for less money.

A program that straddles the gap between machinist-type programs like
Dolphin and prototyping programs like DeskProto is RAMS. It can deal with 2d
files as DXF as well as 3d files as STL, although it has no built-in CAD
program. It has peck and spot drilling cycles, plus Profile cutting (the
same as "waterline"), Hatch (to remove material between lines), Slot, Spiral
and other standard machining strategies. The interface and documentation
could use improvement, and the simulator is a joke, but they're working to
make it better. A Rhino 3dm file format reader is in the works, but they're
still having problems getting it to recognize trimmed surfaces. They are
also working on a "true" 4th axis capability in their "Gold" version, but
they will want more money for that when it's ready, possibly taking it out
of the "lower cost" category, although if they pull it off it will be the
cheapest program out there that writes code for 4 axes moving
simultaneously.]

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com
Discounts on 3d Scanning, Modeling, and Milling Products