Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Visual Mill vs Visual Mill Basic questions

Hi Michael,

I am a long time user of the full version of Visual Mill, actually since
version 2.5 about 4 years ago. At the time I was looking for a CAM
solution, and before I discovered VM, I had been seduced by the
Graphical User Interface (GUI) of SurfCAM. I contacted the local rep
and was dismayed to learn that 3D would run about CDN $15K. Ouch! The
guy was quite condescending about the low end packages, but did
eventually suggest BobCADCAM - which I duly looked at and bought a
copy. I only wanted the CAM functions as I already had purchased my CAD
software, IronCAD which is a powerful solid modeller, at the time, it
was well ahead of what Solidworks and SolidEdge could do and it has just
about every import/export file format you can imagine. Anyway, I spent
several weeks, trying to import a file from IronCAD into BobCAD - with
almost total lack of success. The documentation in BobCAD was terrible,
and I just could not figure it out. I ended up selling it on eBay.

It just happened that it was around trade show time in Toronto, and I
attended a show where many CAD and CAM solutions were being
demonstrated. That was where I first saw Visual Mill and when I learned
the price, after the SurfCAM experience, I was VERY interested. I still
had almost no experience about using CAM software but decided to spend
the $100 (refundable) trial for a 30 day licence of VM. Sadly, even VM
is rather deficient in the documentation field, but it does come with an
excellent set of tutorials in its "Getting Started" guide. I worked
through those tutorials several times and was amazed at how much I could
then achieve. I was making chips and the parts were actually resembling
my CAD designed parts. Wow! Over the years, I have learned a lot more
about creating tool paths and minimising cut time etc., but still
approach this stuff as a continuous learning experience... Anyway, I
agree with Bob's comment, most likely you can get by with the basic
version and here's why. In previous (earlier) versions, the "clear
flats" algorithms were not as clever and I found I needed Plateau
Machining and Valley Re-Machining a lot to clean up flat surfaces and
crevices respectively. Now this is handled perfectly in Horizontal
Finishing so I rarely use Plateau any more. The only other "Full
Version" commands I use are Horizontal Re-Roughing (with a smaller
roughing tool), and occasionally still use Valley Re-Machining. I also
use the Toolpath Instancing frequently - to machine multiple identical
parts in the same setup. None of these would be show stoppers, they
just save me time, and instancing reduces tool changes etc.

I would recommend trying the 30 Day full version trial of VM and then
decide if you really need it or can get by (most likely) with the basic
version.

If you don't have CAD software yet, you should also consider Vector - it
is available with integrated CAD CAM for a lot less $$$ - there's
probably a free (or low cost) trial available for it, too. But I love
my IronCAD and Visual Mill and find them robust, reliable, intuitive,
and with excellent tech support. I won't change for anything!

The Visual Mill "Getting Started" guide can be downloaded by
"interested" people. It might go a long way to helping people
understand the CAM - machining workflow... It's at:
http://www.mecsoft.com/Mec/Downloads/VisualMill5.0GettingStartedGuide.pdf

Happy learning!

Cheers, Peter



Michael Moore wrote:

>Hi Bob,
>
>I considered dropping you a note before I made my post but if I did
>that then no one else would have access to the information. It
>seems to me that sharing information is what these groups are for,
>and I'm probably not the only person who is just getting their feet
>wet (or damp) with CNC who has similar questions, so maybe you
>
>
>