I've been contemplating buying some cad software--been looking at onecncxp and visual mill 4. Just from the demo's I really am drawn to onecnc. I was talking to someone at Mecsoft who sales visual mill and they said that onecnc was originally bobcad. They said Auscad bought rights to it and have developed it further. Doesn't really matter to me wondering if anyone has heard that before. Also the V.P. for Mecsoft basically told me that onecnc wasn't a very good product. I don't like to make judgements but when someone runs down someone elses product that's a turn off for me. All products have their pro's and con's.

Just thought I'd share what I learned even though it's probably not important.

Hi Brt,

Don't let them put you off. Onecnc Xp series or even the previous version Onecnc2000 (now Onecnc2003), is a far cry from Bobcad. Many versions ago, the two programs had some common roots, but that's about it.

I came from a Bobcad background, so I can speak from experience. The fact that Bobcad up to the present day version 18, does not handle solids and surfaces, is proof enough of a vast chasm of difference between the two developers.

I can also say that Bobcad was (is) easy to use, for what it can handle adequately.

Onecnc is also easy to use, even though it is capable of handling more advanced models.

Both softwares have a sort of.... machinist's intutition, to them, which makes them ideal for someone to use, who has had a little machining experience or cnc exposure already.

You can also test drive Onecnc XP series for 30 days (last I heard), so that you can be sure that what you get is what you expected.

There is a phenomenal amount of goodies that have been added, at no extra charge, to OnecncXp Mill Professional, and Mill Expert, since they first came out. The developer is right on top of any issues that come up, too.

I heard the same story about the evolution of OneCNC from someone at OneCNC.
I only used BobCad v17 before buying 2000Mill Pro, which has upgraded at no cost to 2003Mill Pro.

I agree with everything HuFuDu says. Also, the sales agent should be able to find other strategies to sell his product.

Brt,

You can also set up an online demo of the xp series stuff, so you can see what an amazing piece of software it is.

AS for the "common roots" more like seperate roots that crossed for a very short time, then one grew and the other well......


Spend some time and look thru the posts here to see what other user have to say about onecnc.

Here's a link to the new web site:http://www.onecnc.net/index.htm

Brt, It is a shame when a company has to try and run down another product to try to sell their own that generally shows they have a bad product. We have onecncxp we do molds we also have mastercam and prefer onecnc better. When we were looking for new cam we looked at getting an extra mc was so expensive because we needed full solids handling so we looked at onecnc visual mill and surfcam. As you can see we chose onecnc. Visual mill in our opinion was hopeless for our use because although you can import some solids it converts them to polygons and the surface tolerance was not good enough for us. It has no cad ability it has no modeling ability part splittting or any of the tools that you need for our work. We got it for evaluation but really it was no comparison whatsoever as it is in a different class altogether. It did not have any of the features that onecnc or mastercam offered that we needed for molds so it did not rate for comparison. I think you can buy visualmill real cheap though.

brtlatjgt,

From what I have been abble to find out both BodCAD and OneCNC shared the same source code once upon a time. From that point they went different directions. I think when OneCNC first started selling in the US they used the same mailing address as BobCAD. I responded to your thread about which CAD / CAM before. I will say I have never evaluated a lower / mid-range CAD / CAM system where someone was not putting down the competion (EXCEPT for BobCAD), or claiming to be better than the higher end SurfCam's and MasterCam's of the world.
The two systems you are looking at are VERY different. VM4 does not have the CAD abilities that OneCNC does. VM5 is supposed to incorporate a liitle more CAD ability. OneCNC does not have some of the feature VM has, such as working directly with files from SW or SE. There is also a petty good price difference between VM and OneCNC XP.
Please, do yourself a large favor and follow the advice I gave you in your last post about which CAD / CAM. It is the ONLY way you can be sure you are going to get something you will be happy with. Do not let salesman sway you one way or the other. Their job is to sell. It is support that has to face the customers.

:) hi everybody
the truth comes out when you see the end result
trust me i support onecnc
people only say and make up story's when they can't compete
best regards
peter

I like the OneCNC sotware, although I wish the documentation was a little better. Bought BobCAD 6 months ago. What a waste, on the other hand the docu. was better then OneCNC. The software just wasn't good. Guess you just can't win.

Are there any good books out on OneCNC ?

D printer,

Sorry, but as of now there are no books on OneCNC software.

I found it to be pretty straight forward.

If you have an specific questions you could post them up and we will see if we can help to you get acquainted with the software.

Also there are lots of good post here, to look through that may help you out. And there is the OneCNC web site as mentioned above. Also find the link above.

Them you could get real good and write a book, and make lots of $$$$.... :D

:) hi d_pinter
do as ward as said "HIT" the forum you are welcome
no matter what your problem is
best regards
peter

Hi,
I'm setting up a machine for CNC and am constantly looking at software. Too many times I read comparisons between software that have me chasing web sites only to find out that instead of hundreds of dollars, the difference is thousands. I guess I am one of the few who have a budget to work under. I don't think anyone should mention Bobcad with Onecnc unless they also qualify their comment with price ranges. ....Gee Whiz! Of course lower prices are going to have compensations, but if it does what's needed then that's enough.

Hi Bloy2003

Your point is a good one. The problem is to really know what is needed. When experienced users are making recommendations to a new user, we have no way of knowing what they are expecting.

You think its a whopping difference in price, but most of us figure we got a pretty good deal with OneCNC, compared to the price of anything else out there, with the capabiities that OneCNC has.

By all means, if it works for you, then cut your new teeth on Bobcad. Lots of us did :)

D_Pinter, and guys,

This just In.........


Here is a link to a New OnCNC book. Due out in December 2003.

This is a "Third party" book.


http://www.f1help.biz/ccp51/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?usr=51F2587890&rnd=2996215&rrc=N&affl=&cip=216.250.43.133&act=&aff=&pg=cat&ref=OneCNC


Was just given the Ok to let everybody know.:D

WMS,

Thanks for the link. Does this mean OneCNC will soon be supporting 4 and 5 axis?

mastercam is about the best there is outhtere for the price. You will probably comeback and say that there is a big price difference between Mastercam and OneCNC . Well there is a big difference in price between OneCNC and Bobcad...... By the way I was fortnate enough to get a copy of the Bobcad 19 that handles solids and it looks pretty darn good to me, especially for the price. I had imported a file from Solid Works and got to machine the part within 10 minutes. If interested I will email you a pick of the screen shot from Bobcad 19 and a pick of the machined part. Notice, I am NOT selling you anything, just giving you my opinion. I do training for Bobcad as a independent consultant and I come across different cad-cam package users everyday. There is not a perfect system. One is better than the other, one is simpler than the other, one is more expensive that the other. The bottom line is what you can afford and what you need it for. Also what is your skill level. You can just be a person that never used a cad-cam package before and invest in a system like OneCNC, spend $3000 for it and not even get a book to learn how to use it. No software out there has a "Cut Part" icon on it LOL. Regards,
Sorin

I spoke to OneCNC and it does in fact come with a manual.

Since Sorin brought it up, Onecnc allows you to create models and do the cam as well. This means you do not have to purchase Solidworks to start working with solids and surfaces. It is my understanding that Bobcad 19 will import the solids, but if you actually have to edit the model (which happens nearly all the time, IMO), what is Bobcad 19 going to do to help out?

You can answer here, or over in the Bobcad forum, as you see appropriate. We would all like to know.

Bobcad18+Bobcad19 + Solidworks = ?? for cost?

You can just be a person that never used a cad-cam package before and invest in a system like OneCNC, spend $3000 for it and not even get a book to learn how to use it. No software out there has a "Cut Part" icon on it LOL. Regards,
Sorin

The differance may be that OneCNC comes with a online help file that is a total size of 48,146KB and Bobcad 19 has one that totals 896KB.

Are there any good books out on OneCNC ?

And He was asking about a book, not a manual. OneCNC products come with 3 seperate manuals.

1) CAD Tutorials Manual > for the Cad side of things
2) Tutorials Manual > for combined cad drawing and part machining.
3) Getting Started > a setup and configuration guide.

All Free! No extra charge.

hi
i downloaded bobcad v19 demo last night
it looks like v18 as been repaired with a few extra bits

Hi HU, I was just reading through this thread and kept seeing BobCAD-CAM's name come up. I don't know about the guy from Visual Mill but I really don't think he knows what he's talking about. I'd be happy to sort him out. However, that doesn't mean Visual Mill is a bad product. One CNC is a great product. No doubt about it. Robert Francis has done an excellent job of developing a CAD-CAM system. Yep, years ago we all used to be friendly business associates.

The BobCAD-CAM Version 19 product is pretty much the ground work for a lot of useful functions to be added in the future when it comes to the machining of solids and surfaces as well as CAD design. It is a major jump from the Version 18 system and we are already getting a lot of good feedback.

As an author of training books and CD Video training products, all I can say is they are very important to the success rate of your customers. Look at what MasterCAM has done with their training products! Anyway, One CNC is NOT BobCAD-CAM and BobCAD-CAM is NOT One CNC. There is NO relationship there. Maybe an icon or two, that's it. We are simply two CAD-CAM companies that are attempting to provide manufacturers with solutions for making their parts, getting it done in the greatest industry in the world and making gang-loads of money! There is no, one system that is the "best" in the world. The question is....Which is the "Best" for what the manufacturer needs for his shop.

CNC Dude;)

Good luck with version 19, Chris. I hope to read some unsolicited praise from your users about the improvements you've come up with.

Thanks HU. Have you had any time to have a look yourself?
CNC Dude

It has been OneCNC's position and philosophy that what is best for the user is what works well and provides the complete set of tools to machine any part with confidence. The accuracy of our position is confirmed by the continual success of our customers and their positive feedback.

OneCNC is not the cheapest product on the market, nor was it intended to be. Yet it is by far the most cost effective solution available. OneCNC is a full hybrid (surfaces, solids, wireframe) design and hybrid machining solution that incorporates tools and technology not available in any other system and is still within the economics of paying for itself with the first job.

But as we all know price for many shops is a factor when purchasing software. This factor unfortunately creates its own set of problems by failing to provide the shop with the complete set of tools. We know this to be a fact as thousands of these shops have migrated from these low functionality products to OneCNC.

For most this migration was the difference between survival and growth as a company and an inability to compete domestically or abroad for a lack of good, reliable technology.

Technology is but one of many factors in a shop's success, but when you take a shop that historically has only drilled holes and cut a 2D profile or two and have them machining complex mold cavities on the first day they receive the product you have provided them with an enormously broader capability and job range.

My point is, there are cheap systems that make claims with pretty pictures yet offer very primitive levels of technology and there are systems in the $12,000 to $15,000 range that may or not be worth their costs, but since the reseller is pocketing 1/2 the sales price I'll leave that decision up in the air.

Then there is OneCNC; a product line that's affordable, easy to use and excels in the most demanding environment, your shop.

OneCNC USA

Originally posted by OneCNC
~snip~ but when you take a shop that historically has only drilled holes and cut a 2D profile or two and have them machining complex mold cavities on the first day they receive the product you have provided them with an enormously broader capability and job range. ~snip~

OneCNC USA

Whoa, deja vue! I should submit my story to "Field and Stream's" "This happened to me" column :D

Originally posted by CNCdude
Thanks HU. Have you had any time to have a look yourself?
CNC Dude

Chris, I was curious and did take a look. But, the best review will come from someone who is really intent on making the program work for them. It would take some time to get used to the new functions and how to work them. I've not got that much incentive to dedicate time to do that anymore.

but since the reseller is pocketing 1/2 the sales price I'll leave that decision up in the air. Well I know you are talking about me.I would love to be able to keep 50% that would be a sweet bonus..

i got both the quicktour and 2003 demo cd in the mail
2 days ago got into onecnc forum yesterday . i had some questions i was going to today and now iam not allowed into the form

But with 10yrs of gibbs usage it does look good.
From what i can tell so far it has the posted i would
need already.

fredj

Hi Fjd,

I'm not sure why you would not be able to get in over there, but by all means, ask away here. Please start a new thread of your own in this forum, as this thread has kind of run its course. Thanks.