Starting to get frusterated

[spiked3]

I purchased standard a couple of days ago, but I have been trying for over a week now to get 1 simple part from design to mill, with no luck at all. When I say simple I mean, like cut out a circle. If I am having this much trouble with something so simple, I think I am in real trouble.

Would anyone with alibre and cambam be willing to walk me through, via some IM app? I apologize up front, but the frusterations level is a little high. I chose alibre + maintenance ($400ish) over something else ($85), and can't cut a circle, you can imagine how I am starting to feel.

[ger21]

Do you want to cut a hole? or a disc?

Create a sketch, and draw a circle. Then use Extrude Boss to make a cylinder. Then, create a drawing of the cylinder, with a scale of 1:1, starting with a blank page. Export the drawing as a .dxf, and load into CAMBAM.

Or, download a free 2D CAD program like A9CAD, draw a circle and save as .dxf.

For simple 2.5D stuff, IMO, Alibre is probably not the best choice, due to the extra steps involved to get a 2D .dxf. You need to start with a 2D sketch, then use that to create a 3D model, then create a drawing to get back to 2D.

Also, if you're using Mach3, you can use the Cut Circle wizard real quick.

Never tried CAMBAM, so can't help any there. Good Luck.

[spiked3]

Thanks - yes I finally figured out - this was a bad bad choice for me. $400 thrown out the window. Im going back to viaCAD.

[tjones]

Yes but will you ever need to do 3d machining? I love the parametric Alibre abilities in solids that allow me to make changes very quickly.

I am milling some pretty nice parts right now that I could not have got the work without Alibre.

Another big thing in using a solid modeling program is that you can use the model to help sale your designs or machined parts. No easier way to describe a theoretical design than to use a solid model. And for assemblies you can use it to verify fits, cleances, and machinability.

[blowlamp]

Yes but will you ever need to do 3d machining? I love the parametric Alibre abilities in solids that allow me to make changes very quickly.

I am milling some pretty nice parts right now that I could not have got the work without Alibre.

Another big thing in using a solid modeling program is that you can use the model to help sale your designs or machined parts. No easier way to describe a theoretical design than to use a solid model. And for assemblies you can use it to verify fits, cleances, and machinability.

ViaCAD is an ACIS based, parametric solid modeling program.

Martin.

[jlhersh]

Don't waste anymore time with Alibre the software itself screws up so much it is not even funny. This is after wiping a hard drive installing a fresh op system and just Alibre v11.2. Software is way unstable - I can get it to do simple stuff consistently but you start getting into more complicated full 3D parts with multiple planes, guide curves, lofts etc. it starts doing things like flip flopping (for lack of a better term) 3D Guide Curves, Lofting from a sketch to a surface if you are lucky will work correctly but then other model surfaces just randomly dissappear! Not to mention a change down the list of lets say a extrude cut that has nothing to do with lets say a loft extrusion further up the tree screws up the loft. I could go on and on - NOT GOOD. Have done the same testing now on two different systems. Alibre is OK for simple stuff but if you want to make any complex 3D models good luck!

Not saying I am the brightest guy on the planet or have all the answers but am a UC Graduate with a Major in Computer Science. Have to admit I spent way to much on Alibre and probably way to much time testing it to see if I could get it to work correctly -

Bottom Line- don't waste your time.

But hey who knows maybe in a year or two Alibre will get it right.

Oh Well!

[spiked3]

I have been persistent at it. I bought a course book from learn3dcad.com and have been going through it. The light finally came on in my head, re exporting dxf, and so far that has been ok (that was the reason I started this thread).

I have run into some inconsistencies in the UI, as well as some strange behavior - in particular mirror ops seem very iffy. In one case I could not get a sketch to mirror like I wanted it. I simply closed the 2d sketch, re-opened it, and it worked. I am not anywhere advanced enough to worry about the things you are talking about. And in fact I have found that I already far exceed what the machine available to me can do (homebuilt x3 cnc 3-axis).
So for now, I will use it to model 3d and export into blender for motion analysis and rendering which seems to be pretty smooth so far. And then make the small little simple part I need.
For $99, its a deal. I am not quite sure if I will spend the additional maintenance cost for the upgrade though. Still on the fence on that one. I'm pretty disappointed in CAM possibilities as well, for the price. Visual mill looks equally dissapointing (and far too expensive and is what alibre CAM is based on) - so I need to explore other CAM packages more.

[blowlamp]

Spiked3.
Check out CamBam. It works very well with .dxf and .stl files etc, with excellent support from Andy and others on the forum. You get 40 unrestricted trials to test it out. I use it for all my 2d/3d milling now.

Martin.

[spiked3]

Spiked3.
Check out CamBam. It works very well with .dxf and .stl files etc, with excellent support from Andy and others on the forum. You get 40 unrestricted trials to test it out. I use it for all my 2d/3d milling now.
Martin.

First message of the thread; Would anyone with alibre and cambam be willing to walk me through ...."

CamBam is what I am using. it is why I judge the others that I have tried grossly overpriced. It is still beta, and has a few rough edges, but I agree, I can do, or should say get done with it as much as I could with other programs costing 8 times as much.

The Cam programs I have looked at seem like they are dated. 10 years ago, Binary Space Partitions (BSP) and Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) where a rare skill and I can see why these Cam programs where pricey back then. But now high school programmers learn those skills in simple game programming. Give me 1/2 a mill$ for staff and a year and I could easily blow away any Cam program I have seen. You wouldn't have to sell many copies to break even - 500 @ $1000. And yes, I was a software development manager for a number of years, I am not talking out of my butt. Even now, I am dabbling with a mill simulator with full CSG - what visual mill calls their advanced mode. If in my spare time I get it working, I plan on giving it to Andy to incorporate in CamBam.

Andy is doing a great job with CamBam, but I get the feeling it is a side job for him - it would be nice to see a dedicated effort. I may be wrong though, I have only been following it for a couple of months.

[blowlamp]

What sort of capabilities are you looking for in a CAM system and at what price?

Martin.

[spiked3]

What sort of capabilities are you looking for in a CAM system and at what price?
Martin.

That's a good question - you put me on the spot.
The short answer is Visual Mill with its 'advanced simulation mode' for about $250 - add another $250 for 4th axis - that's kinda what I feel its worth.
Short of that, CamBam with some fixes for $150 is where I will probably stay, I can get things done with it. It would be nice to have it built in or otherwise tightly coupled with alibre. From what I've seen there are problems now with alibre and visual mill stand alone (conversion and scaling issues), and for the $1000 version you do not get csg, only OpenGL stencil rendering, kinda lame IMHO.

[DareBee]

I have never had a conversion or scaling problem with VisualMill that was not my own fault.
Somewhere around 5 years and 3 versions of use.