Re: Surfcam 2002 Free

Excuse the double posting, my service botted me off line just as I
hit "send". Gotta love these 56K dial up connections, but thats all I
can get out here in the sticks.

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., "yethdear0" <yethdear0@y...> wrote:
> Surfcam use to have a logo on their CD case that said "50 years of
> machining experience on one disk". That always irritated the shit
out
> of me. They soon did away with that tho. You can't program skill. I
> do a lot of preaching on that subject. I'm a firm believer that in
> order to be successful at CNC machining and programming, you have
to
> be somewhat skilled in the machining part and the skill doesn't
come
> in a text book or on a disk. Skill is the product of making
> mistakes....hands on, "oh shit" mistakes.
>
> Free is good, but you get what you pay for. 1000 lines of code is
> only a good start. Most of the programs I do average 350,000 lines
or
> more. Thats a lot of cutting and pasting. But that's the main
> difference between the 2D world and the 3D.....the amount of number
> crunching and the size of your files.
>
> Happy toolpaths!
>
>
> --- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., "Doug Harrison" <prototype@c...> wrote:
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: yethdear0 <yethdear0@y...>
> >
> > > The last time I was involved with the purchase of Surfcam, was
for
> > > version 2000. The current pricing then was as follows:
> > >
> > > 2.5 axis version...around $10K
> > > 3axis Plus.........around $15K
> > > 5axis..............around $25K
> > >
> > > That all comes with 1 year tech support. You got your check book
> > > ready?
> >
> > Tech support is about $950 a year after that. And don't forget
> $1,100 a day
> > for training, $150/hour for writing posts, etc. Admittedly, the
> tech
> > support is quite good though.
> >
> > Surfcam, like Mastercam, now "prefers" to do the post development
> for you.
> > This is another way of saying that they will not give or even
sell
> you the
> > documentation needed to develop or customize them yourself.
> >
> > These programs are definitely not for shops on a budget. The
> regional
> > Mastercam rep once told me that most of his customers didn't have
> people
> > capable of using the software they purchase. They buy the most
> expensive
> > package thinking it will eliminate the need for talented people
in
> the shop.
> >
> > Doug