I will probably be buying an IH mill with the CNC package shortly. However, that is only half the battle.

Any advise regarding cad-cam software would be greatly appreciated. I have Autocad LT for the CAD part, but I need to evaluate the CAM portion of the software suite that will work in conjunction with Mach 2 or 3.

I downloaded BOBCAT CAC-CAM v21 but have not had a chance to really look at this yet. I figure that the users in this forum will probably have some good advise regarding a software package that really works as advertised, if there is such a thing.

The answer might be influenced by if you plan on doing 2D, 2.5D, or 3D milling... I am just starting to look at CAM software as well and there seems to quite a range in price - from free to thousands of dollars.

I want to do 2.5D right away and moving to 3D at a later date. And you are right, there are a multitude of packages out there. As I tell my customers "buying a software package that does not meet you needs is a very expensive mistake". I also advise them to talk to the end users for an unbiased opinion...which prompts this post

For 2D and 2.5 D work SheetCAM is well thought of and at $159.00 it doesn't break the bank. You can get used to working with 2.5 (most work is 2.5D) and take some time to explore if and when you want to go full 3D. It's not a tiny step and the better 3D packages are not cheap. SheetCAM works seamlessly with MACH so you have no issues there.

Investigate Rhino 3D and MeshCAM before you rare back and write a whopper check (or even a Mini-whopper (:_)

BobCAD users seem to fall into two catagories: Those that love it and those that hate it. Not many in the middle. What you find is that it's the software that the user puts the investment into and really learns how to use it to produce parts, that they LOVE! BobCAD could never hold my attention long enough to want to invest the time.

In the vein of your quote you need to define what you NEED rather than what you think you need. Only experience will resolve that. Get experience as cheaply as you can.

mach for interpretuer, and bobcad/cam v20 and up (i use v21 for 3d and Aaron himelf uses v17 for 2d) is the combination that Aaron and myself use.

In my opinion the software you need depends on the type of work you do not on the machine you do it on. This seems to be especially true for 3D and less so for 2.5D. It seems that when a 3D application is developed it primarily targets a particular type of work. You should define what type of 3D work you will do then go to the various CAM forums and see whose there, what they make and how they feel about the software.

Just a Thought.
Regards
Phil



mach for interpretuer, and bobcad/cam v20 and up (i use v21 for 3d and Aaron himelf uses v17 for 2d) is the combination that Aaron and myself use.

I'll second the Sheetcam approach. It's a great way to start messing around with cnc machines and as previously noted, most work is in 2.5D and Sheetcam is very easy to use but also quite sophisticated when needed. I may upgrade one day, but for now, I haven't out grown it yet.

Bohica - Bend Over Here It Comes Again

Why dont you guys use Geopath? Its kind of pricey but it is simple to use. And it has options in the cut screens to get very detailed with your cute.

3D cutting is very easy.

And you can import .iges files from your cad software into it seamlessly.

About 80% of machine shops here in silicon valley use it. I personally use it in my garage shop. And love it.