I'm planning to buy a Tormach CNC mill and am researching CAM software to use with my CAD software (Alibre Pro).

I'll download the SprutCAM demo in the near future, but would appreciate feedback on how easy that is to learn and use for someone that is new to CNC. Does SprutCAM Expert require a dongle or other protection device and is an annual maintenance fee required or can one buy it and use it forever?

Mike

Anybody home here?

Mike

I've been using it for a few months now and LOVE it. Check out my review in the products review section. I've tried about everything under the sun, but Sprutcam gave me usable code first day.

bobcad has a two day sale 7-5-06 (which will be the last one untill the next sale) Bobcad version 20 with 6-cd training sei $700

borrisl,

That's good to hear.

I checked the reviews section here but couldn't find anything on SprutCAM. The page indicates 4 reviews under CAD/CAM but only 3 are displayed - is there a trick to seeing all of them?

Mike

That's wierd, I don't see it either.

I started with BobCAD, but it was depressing how many little steps one has to do to make "good" code. I didn't like the interface, too foreign from anything else I've seen. From there went to GibbsCAM, nice, but too expensive. MasterCAM, an industrial standard. Too expensive, and proprietary interface. And on and on.

SprutCAM is extremely intuitive. It takes very little knowledge of machining or CAM software to get started and make some good code. I've got the expert version, and yes it was a little expensive for my tastes, but nothing like the bigger boys.

I'm of the opinion that SprutCAM is the best and easiest you can get for the money.

Borrisl you did the right thing,when buying software. Always try as many demo first and buy the one you want. (As a side note if you tried bobcad version 19 or order you may want to try them agin version 20 was a great impovement to there software)

Borrisl,

Funny that the review disappeared, but I'm fairly new here and still finding my way around.

BobCAD: It seems most folks either sorta like it or hate it, but those that hate it sure vocal about their feelings. That's enough to turn me away from it.

SprutCAM is extremely intuitive. It takes very little knowledge of machining or CAM software to get started and make some good code.

That's very encouraging and tips me toward spending some quality time with the trial version. I'd be buying the Expert version, which might be overkill for me, but the price is within budget and maybe I'll grow into it.

Mike

I just received my Tormach about a month ago and also use Alibre Pro. I use Visualmill 5 for my CAM software. I tried sprutcam and visualmill demos before buying and found Visualmill more intuitive. They are also very helpful and will give you a demo over the web. I'm really happy with the Tormach overall so far. There were a couple of little glitches, like the coolant wires were backward so my computer control for it wasn't working at first, but the overall quality seems good and the phone support is awesome!

d

d2,

Visual Mill is on my list to evaluate if SprutCAM doesn't work out for me. It seems that it's as important to find software that thinks the same way the user does as much as finding the right feature set.

Has VM been stable for you?

My version of Alibre came with a time-limited version of VM Basic 3 but I've heard that MecSoft doesn't offer any incentive to upgrade and wants the full $4k price for VM 5. If SprutCAM doesn't work out it will be worth calling Mecsoft and finding out for sure if there is a cheaper upgrade path.

So far, all of the Tormach CNC mill owners I've heard about seem happy with the mill and I was impressed with the company when I visited their offices a couple of weeks ago. They seemed to have a good handle on cost/benefit ratios and answered questions honestly.

Mike

Mike

I'm planning to buy a Tormach CNC mill and am researching CAM software to use with my CAD software (Alibre Pro).

I'll download the SprutCAM demo in the near future, but would appreciate feedback on how easy that is to learn and use for someone that is new to CNC. Does SprutCAM Expert require a dongle or other protection device and is an annual maintenance fee required or can one buy it and use it forever?

Mike

Hi Mike, I haven't posted on this forum for quite some time (v.busy) but will try and answer your questions:

Is SprutCAM easy to use and learn? yes it is, but it's like anything, not everyone is going to like it, but most do.

Does SprutCAM Expert require a dongle or protection device? Yes it does. It is supplied with either a Softlock activation or a USB dongle. I sell SprutCAM in the UK and have standardised on the USB dongle and use the SoftLock version for 30 day trials.

is an annual maintenance fee required? Generally no. I say generally because here in the UK we do include a 'support contract' with the purchase of SprutCAM, this includes the use of our Netviewer system for instant online support which our customers make good use of. It also includes upgrades to newer versions when they are available at no extra cost.

can one buy it and use it forever? Once purchased SprutCAM will run forever. I would strongly recommend paying a little extra for the USB dongle version as I have found that the Softlock keys can be unreliable on some PC's......

Outside of Russia SprutCAM is sold through a network of authorised resellers, but all should provide a good level of support for their customers.

I'll try and drop by this forum a bit more often and will be happy to answer any SprutCAM questions......

Dave

Thanks for the info.

Can the USB key on that version be swapped between computers so that SprutCAM will run on either PC (not simultaneously).

Mike

Hi Mike, yes, you can install the HASP USB key version of SprutCAM on as many PC's as you like, the only one that will run is the one with the USB key plugged in.

Dave

Great - thanks!

I am trying to learn SprutCam and I thought.... maybe I should just try cutting a square block. Three hours later here I am. I set the roughing to pocket (I didn't know what else to try) and the finishing to 2D contouring. Of course I end up with a pocket not a block. Most of the stuff I am going to be doing is simply cutting outlines in steel or wood and poking a few holes in them. any help would be appreciated.
Steve

Hi Steve, it's very difficult to advise you as you've given us very little info to workout what's going wrong.
Have you tried doing any of the tutorials? (Help - SprutCAM tutorial).
If you post up the SprutCAM project that you are working on (*.stc), I'm sure you'll get several users willing to help.......

Dave

I will try to place an attachment in here. I am new to this so please bare with me. I did do the tutorials (2d machining) and I sort of tried to copy them as best I could. Let me give you a little background: I am a fulltime knifemaker for the last 15 years. I have been using a Burr King Belt grinder and use a couple of drill presses along with a disc grinder. I just bought a Tormach 1100 and now I am trying to learn all this new stuff (no machinist ) like Alibre Design, Sprutcam and all the DRO stuff on the Mill itself. So if all this is more than you all want to take on to help, I would certainly understand!
This reply page doesn't seem to want to let me send a stc file so I made a dxf file instead. if it doesn't work when I send this I will try a new post with it all alone.
Thanks Steve

Steve, I tried opening your dxf file, but all I got was an empty drawing......
I have created an example SprutCAM project for you which is hopefully attached (Box_example.zip).
I am using build 1.29 of SprutCAM Expert, so providing you are using the same build you should be able to open it.
The project uses a 2D Contouring operation to machine around the outside of a box. The box was drawn in SprutCAM.
If you are using a different build (Help - About), let me know which one you are using and I'll see if I have that version to install.

Dave

Dave
With the example you sent me I can now compare the "mess" I had to your example and now I can easily see where I was wrong! Thank you . It sure helps having a reference. The tutorials are not bad, but this made more sense to me. I seem to have read that SprutCam has trouble going from mm to inches, is that true? It would help if I could use inches instead of millimeters, at least for end mill sizes and depth.
Steve

Dave did you build your example with SprutCam? I did mine with Alibre and am not getting the same results as your example. In fact I copied your example settings that you have in SprutCam and mine didn't even run. I exported the Alibre "box" I built as a dxf file and then imported it into SprutCam. Then I did all your settings you had in Parimeters and tried to run it and all it did was sit there. Is importing a dxf file a "bad" thing?
Steve

By the way I am using SprutCam 4.0 if that helps.
I just re-read your reponse earlier (above) and I now see that you DID use SC. I will attempt that. The tutorials were very helpful in learning to do some drawings.

Hi Steve, I'm glad you've made some progress. You can use dxf files very successfully in SprutCAM, all that you might need to do is join the geometry together to create contours.
You can view a short video tutorial here (http://www.download.sprut.co.uk/Working_with_DXF_files/Working_with_DXF_files.html) that I created some time ago on using dxf files in SprutCAM.
There have been some problems in the past with using imperial units in SprutCAM, but as far as I'm aware it is a lot better now.

Dave

Dave Thank you for the turtorial, I did go through that one earlier, but after watching it again I discovered that I was trying to do all this with a Part file not a sketch file. I will take another shot at it with this "new" revelation. :)
I know I have not gotten anything perfect yet, but I am doing better now than a week ago and if I keep trying I will know a heck of a lot more next week.
Thanks again Steve

Steve,

I'm using Alibre Expert with SprutCAM on a Tormach mill as well and have found that it is best to export the Alibre part as an IGES file and then import that file manually into SprutCAM. Using the Alibre-> SprutCAM add-in has created problems for me if there are any circular features in the part. Both Alibre and SprutCAM are aware of the issue (thanks to Dave for the assist with Sprut Tech) but I've heard of no resolution yet.

Also, it seems that no matter how you get the Alibre part into SprutCAM, it will be imported with metric units. SprutCAM has always offered to convert that to imperial (inch) units on import, but I set SprutCAM to default to inch units in one of the Option screens.

Mike

Thanks Mike,
I have seen the setting to imperial units but was not sure if imperial was the same as "good ol" inches.
Steve

Yes, you can do that...

Greg

Hi,

Just curious if anyone else is having problems getting the folks at Sprut to respond to emails. Have emailed them many times over a few weeks time now trying to get a eval key. No response with their registration email and no responses from their support email address. Obviously not going to make a long distance phone call to Russia!

Got a eval key from them once a couple months ago (after about a dozen tries) and then found I couldn't get their software to work, tried contacting their support for help concerning it locking my notebook and no response. Finally figured out the problem was Aero Color Scheme (on my own) but by that time the Eval Key had expired - it was for a prerelease version of the SprutCAM2007 anyways - a couple revs back I think.

Anyhow? does anybody know what is going on with this. I have a bit of a problem spending $$$$$$$ and then maybe they will respond with a software key or maybe they will just ignore? This conerns me plus I still haven't been able to spend anytime evaluating the software.

Have spent some time with MeshCAM (Interesting little package) - which will generate G-Code during eval and also VisualMill seems to be a nice package which is not expensive - maybe not quite as many features but has people right here in Southern California who respond to emails - both cases software evals working without any problems.

So didn't know quite what else to do but try posting here to see if anyone knows what is going on with them - since they do not respond to emails.

Thanks for any insights into their response problem - I really would like to spend some time with their software before I make my final purchase decision,

- Jon

Jon, I am the SprutCAM agent in the UK and Ireland, and I too sometimes have problems with contacting them via e-mail. I'm sure it's not a case of them ignoring you. Once you get outside of the main Russian city's, the internet infrastructure can be quite 'flaky', and I think that this is the cause of the problem for Sprut.
They contacted me a while ago saying that they were looking to transfer everything to a new server in December......hopefully this will solve their problem.

Jon, send me a PM if you would like to download SprutCAM 2007.......I can get you up and running with a 30 day trial straight away.

Dave