First off let me start off by introducing myself, my name is Mark, not a machinist by trade but an auto mechanic. I have acquired a hobby shop with a good buddy; this is where we hang out and work on our own personnel projects. In this shop we have a Bridgeport 2-axis mill with a Proto-Trax Plus controller that has 3-axis display. Along with the Bridgeport we have an older YAM 40” manual engine lathe that we have refurbished with a 2 axis DRO. The controller for the mill can communicate via a 25 pin serial cable from PC with a cad/cam software program. I purchased a cad/cam software package about 1 year ago and have struggled with the support and the company to provide a post that will work on my Proto-Trax controller. We went round and round with emails, phone calls, and even did some remote sessions. This company swore that there post worked but it did not, I asked them to provide me with some of their clients that utilized Proto-Trax Plus, they could not come up with any or did not want to provide me with any names.

In the meantime I made a few phone calls to some other cad/cam software companies and gathered some information and pricing. But at the time I wasn’t in the position to make any new purchases. I never received any callbacks or emails from these companies that I contacted.

I called 1 one those companies back about 2 months ago it was Bob Cad, and listened to the sales pitch, they promised that the software would be compatible with our controller, and they would be able to provide a post, but was still very hesitate in committing to a purchase. I got my buddy involved, discussed a few things, because he was as disappointed as I was in our support of current cad/cam software. We did a demo with Bob Cad and were very pleased with the package, but again very hesitate about purchasing, not because of the software but because of being promised by sales that they could provide support and a post. I then asked to talk to a sales manager or someone with a little authority, they transferred me to Al DePoalo the team leader. Al then explained that Bob Cad was committed to helping me find a solution and that it would work with my current controller, with a guarantee. I talked to Al a couple more times before making a commitment and a purchase. I installed the software and got started immediately; the post that I was supplied did not work. So then I though, here we go again, another cad/cam software package that I’m going to fight with to get the needed post to work on my controller. I called Al at Bob Cad, he said to come by the office bring your controller and PC, it took 2 nights, approximately 3-4 hours to come up with a resolution. I have a post that works with my controller. For the past 3 weekends have been working steadily making parts for our hobby projects. I am completely satisfied with Bob Cad V.24 pro and the support they are provided so far.

The rumors that everyone has been talking about with the emails and phone calls, I have not experienced any of them. Bob Cad has been very good to work with and they have had great support, in my opinion. Al DePoalo has been very helpful in making this purchase a success and I would highly recommend.