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How did you choose your CADCAM?

Awl --

I know the big shops use the big-ticket items, and some of you may not have had a choice. But for the smaller guys that did pro-actively choose -- and I'm presuming that would be the "affordable" programs -- what guided your decision, how did you go about it? How important is/was the support? What kind of support, at what cost?

I'm looking at Bobcad, Rhino, onecnc, in particular bobcad's V21 because first, it's relatively cheap ($800, which ain't so cheap for me, but it's not $8,000), AND it seems to have a pretty wide user base -- not mastercam-wide, but wide enough; Sam I think uses bobcad (which version??). Altho I've heard lots of slurs against the company. What's up wit dat??

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a comparison chart of their products (product matrix) :
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For me, given the mostly 2, 2.5-D nature of my stuff, the cad is proly as important as the cam -- I think. I'd like to be able to do prints, esp. the kind where you get standard front, side, top views, AND the isometric, axonometric views, or some mixture.

Gibbs seems to be pretty highend now, as well.

Anyway, all opinions/war stories welcome.

Reply to
Existential Angst
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The easiest to lean, easiest to use, and still all the power you need.

Design CAD v22 $49.99

Reply to
Richard

I got V20 to help a friend who needed to up grade. With BobCad they are sal= esmen with quotas and you can always get a better price by dickering and pu= tting them off for a while. For $800 I would expect the latest version wit= h all the bells and whistles. My last upgrade to Ver 24 was only $200 for M= ill pro and BobArt and predator simulator.

GeneK

Reply to
GeneK

Relatively speaking bobcad is cheesey. But they seem to have good support, lots of training material, and for 2d stuff is got gimmic after gimmic. The learning curve is real short. And on top of that it can do complex stuff with a little help from the user. The system runs fast on old computers, and seems very compatable. I havnt made prints with it, but id be shocked to see it cant do standard drafting good.

The real question is post support. Cam systems are all about the posts. Will you get a perfect post from bobcad? That I don't know. Are they editable? Again, i dont know. Find those 2 things out, and if ok go with bobcad. At that price you can move up the food chain later.

ps: I think they should of called it boobcam.

Reply to
vinny

They hound you to death with offers, trying to get you to upgrade, etc. I think they tried to tell me that my free tech support already expired, but I'm going to force the issue if necessary. I haven't even started using the software yet.

I haven't yet delved into it, but I got v24, BobArt Pro, and the training DVDs for a good upgrade price. I started with v21, Mach3 and a FOUR 620oz stepper motor kit, with switches, DB9 connectors, Gecko G540 quad drive, etc. for $729, so I know you can do better than $800.

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or

Yeah, they don't say "products", they call them "solutions" and don't give pricing online.

salesmen with quotas and you can always get a better price by dickering and putting them off for a while. For $800 I would expect the latest version with all the bells and whistles. My last upgrade to Ver 24 was only $200 for Mill pro and BobArt and predator simulator.

-- All of us want to do well. But if we do not do good, too, then doing well will never be enough. -- Anna Quindlen

Reply to
Larry Jaques

But you just admitted you know little about what it can do. What exactly do you not like about it that makes you post your comments? I just ordered V25 and should have it in a few days. I have watch videos and fine it to be just what I need. Maybe you can tell me about any downfalls and give me a heads up when I actually use it.

Thanks.

Al.

Reply to
Allen Drake

"Existential Angst" wrote in news:502c547b$0$11553$ snipped-for-privacy@cv.net:

I haven't gotten into the CAM side of things, but for 3D CAD, I bought Alibre. I'm still getting used to it, but so far, so good.

Doug White

Reply to
Doug White

I found a set of training disks on the torrent sites. Someone told me those

10 disks ship with bobcam.
Reply to
vinny

Yes, they are included in what I bought. I believe I may have gotten everything for just the price of those disks if they are sold separate. There are some online videos that briefly get you familiar and some that someone here

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posted. Those are very helpful.

Reply to
Allen Drake

I got Version 25/Base/Cad/Full Mill/X2 Full Mill/X3 Standard Full Mill X3 Pro Full Training Professional Series A25/Mill/English/Full

for $300.00

Reply to
Allen Drake

WOW!!!

I should bring you with me to my Haas dealer!!!! They are asking $800 for V21 Express alone!! How did you finagle this?

Reply to
Existential Angst

The truth of the matter is that I can get BC into our company and that would be good for everyone. I would like to get MC but they have already told me no way. I can't get a license for SW which all the engineers use. If I need points or missing dims I may wait days. No one cares how long it takes. It's all prototype. I don't punch a clock or even account for my time. If I take 2 weeks then that is how long it takes. You would NOT believe how much money goes up in smoke.

Reply to
Allen Drake

Reply to
Anonymous

What sort of stuff do you design/machine and what sort of capabilities do you need in CAD and CAM? Simple 2D/2.5D parts or complex 3-axis or

4/5-axis stuff? Do you need to make complex assemblies, produce very detailed mult-sheet drawings with Bills of Material, cross sections, detail views, or other "esoteric drawing features"?

I bought Alibre Standard about 10 years ago while working with someone that used Inventor. Back then Inventor was $5k or more with $1k or more annual maintenance and Alibre was a few hundred to buy and $100 or so annual maintenance. A week with the 30-day trial convinced me to buy. Since then I've upgraded to Alibre Expert (the highest level, I think) and been mostly happy with it. Alibre was recently acquired by 3D Systems and there is some concern about how this might affect future development, but the product is pretty good right now and will do most or all of what serious hobbyists or small shops may need.

If you have the money (>$5k) give SolidWorks a serious look. If you have only a few hundred to spend and have modest CAD needs, look at some of the free or low cost programs. Autodesk had a free 3D CAD program available for a while and may still do so and I think that another (PTC?) did as well. These seem to be 1-year licenses that may or may not be extended in the future.

For low cost CAM (

Reply to
Anonymous

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