Re: My CAD CAM evaluations

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., "deansala" <adsala@p...> wrote:
> I just want to share some of the research that I have done so far in
> the search of a CAD CAM package. I have a Shoptask retrofit with
> CNCPRO as the NC (Mach1 is in my future). I am not a professional
> just a hobbyist. The kind of CAD CAM requirements that I have been
> looking for are at least 3d. 4th axis and lathe abilities are also
> desirable. My test criteria was to see how easy it would be to draw
> and make tool paths for a simple "dish" with a 2 inch diameter either
> parabolic, sphericle or whatever.
>
> Here are my oppinions after trying to make a dish with the listed
> CAM/CAM packages. Note these are the demo versions.
>
> POWERSTATION
> price: quoted $1495 for the whole package
> comments:
> I found powerstation very hard to use. It's windows interface is not
> very user friendly. I write GUI's for a living and I found that
> powerstation did not adhere to windows guidlines.
>
> BOBCAD
> price: qouted $495 for version 18 they are desparate
> comments:
> I found Bobcad very hard to use. I tried the tutorials and only got
> one of them to work. The modify mode is a joke. I actually found a
> Bobcad tutorial that makes a dish and it did not work! I must have
> spent 30 hours with Bobcad getting nowhere so I removed it from my
> computer.
>
> VECTOR32
> price: quoted $795 for the nerbs version
> Very much like Bobcad with a few bells and whistles. The support is
> better. The tutorials are better laid out and there are alot of them
> but very difficult to get them to work. After 4 hours no dish.
>
> Capsmill
> price: expensive
> When I started playing around with capsmill I found that it worked
> much like the above programs so I did'nt waste too much time with
> it. A very annoying dialog box pops up for every entity drawn asking
> for coordinates. Can't it just let my mouse move it first then let
> me refine the coordinates later! NO!
>
>
> The four above mentioned programs above are not typical drawing
> programs. You almost need graph paper and pencil next to you with a
> sketched part on it to see the coordinates. They are probably
> perfect for reverse engineering where you want to copy an existing
> part. Importing drawings may work. But I had problems importing too.
> These programs must be for a different breed of machinist. All that
> I can figure is that these programs were originally made for DOS in
> the early 80's. When the mouse was invented computer drawing took on
> a whole new light that these programs have not come up to speed with.
>
>
> I wanted something much easier to use so I can get going on my
> projects. Heres is what I liked.
>
> TURBOCADCAM
> price: $495 I purchased this.
> comments: I like this program. I was able to make a dish and a
> hemishpere. The tutorials work! You can drag, manipulate, resize,
> rotate with just the mouse. Comes with a huge amount of symbols.
> Machine setup and tool selection is very easy. I would highly
> recommend TCC. Unfortunately it only does 2.5d so I did not get tool
> paths for a 3d dish. Oh well. It does well with 2.5d parts.
>
>
> RHINO/VISUALMILL
> price: not quoted yet but online purchase for $1495
> comments:
> These are actully two programs. Rhino does the Cad. VisualMill does
> the CAM. I am very impressed with the demo versions so far. Within
> an hour, I had drawn a parabaloid dish and created tool paths all in
> solid form with finish cuts. VisualMill is by far the most powerful
> CAM program I have seen yet. Both Rhino and VisualMill know how to
> use the mouse too! VisualMill does 3d and 4th axis (5 axis not
> available yet). I bet with a little manipulation it can do lathe
> too! I tried both VisaulMill demo versions 3 and 4. 3 will produce
> G code. 4 will not produce G code until purchased. I believe I will
> purchase Rhino/VisualMill.
>
> Conclusion
> Both TurboCad and Rhino have similar drawing abilities. The CAM part
> of TCC and VisualMill are similar as well. They organize your part
> cutting specs in a tree (eg tools, paths etc). They are both lay out
> what you are doing very well. If 2.5d is all that you are interested
> in then purchase TurboCadCam.
>
> Comments welcome