BobCAD posts vs. Mastercam posts

[justCNCit]

Just asking for a comparison, Mastercam is said to put out the best posts for g-code milling. Does Bobcad even compare, and if so, how much worse is it.

Will it work for most 3D machining, and what options can be changed and adjusted for creating a toolpath. What do people think in general. Comparable?

[lakeside]

call you mastercam dealer and ask how much for a custom post ($2500). Now call Bobcad and ask the same question(free). Does that answer your questions on post?

[tobyaxis]

From a little (very little) experiece with MasterCam and Lots and Lots with BobCad/Cam, I have to agree with Lakeside. Mastercam is great software at a great high price. But when it comes down to Freedom in Posting a Program the way you want it, Mastercam does not compare. No freedom to do what you want to do, only what Mastercam wants to do. Menus are too long and time consuming just to do a simulation. Ha Ha Ha, it doesn't even have a G-Code Back Plotter. For the Price Mastercam should be able to import a Model and Machine it without a Programmer. ($5,500.00 for 2-1/2 axis is a joke)(and $12,500.00 for basic 3D). BCC can do a lot for the $$$ I paid. It may not be the best, but it gets the job done without hidden cost for options.

This is my opinion, of course. Put it to the test. Bobcad/cam 20.6 Full 3Axis with Solids. What Mastercam basic 2-1/2 axis can do? Boxes if your lucky.

BTW: If you like Programs that are too large for your control to handle, by Mastercam.

Hey Lakeside

tobyaxis

[justCNCit]

I don't have the time to test out Bobcad like that, so I've posted here to get results from other knowledgeable CNC machinists.

I can't afford MC, so I'm looking for a reasonable alternative to it that can still put out decent 3d toolpath posts and give me standard functions when dealing with manipulating solids/surfaces.

Reading up on some of these posts, I hear that VX is a good program so I checked it out but it looks expensive. Also Rhino, dled it but didn't seem to come with posting ability. These three things I need:

- Decent 3d toolpath posts, comparable to Mastercam.
- Reasonable ability to manipulate solids and design solids and surfaces.
- Affordable cost, like 1-2 grand at the most.

I really need to know what the quality of the posts is. That's the selling feature of MC.

[lakeside]

bobcad has a sale on version 20 for $500 it will do what you are looking for as for post bobcad has scrip abitly to custom post yourself real easy

[Rekd]

Originally Posted by lakeside Does that answer your questions on post?

In a word; No.

Mastercam posts are OPEN SOURCE. They are thier own programming language. There is almost NOTHING you can't do with them. You can make the changes yourself.

Chances are there's a post that will work out of the box (FREE) with purchase. Or you can modify your own if you're comfortable with it. (Basic mods are VERY easy and can be done by most anyone, especially considering how much more support is available for Mastercam vs Bobcad.)

When you buy Mastercam, just make sure they put in writing that you want a post for your machine that does 'this and that'.

Does that answer your question??

But post processors shouldn't be the deciding factor. Power, reliability, support are also big reasons to base a choice on.

[lakeside]

mastercam is a far better program than bobcad for complex 3d shapes (and you are paying a great deal for that). You can also write scrip for both of them. but this is an area that most people are not skilled in so. if it's not an out of the box post (and most of them are, bobcad disk is also full of most common ones) You will pay your mastercam dealer for a custom post and bobcad you don't or is mastercam now offering free custom post.

[HuFlungDung]

The drawback of Bobcad is getting the post whipped into such good shape (via scripts) that it gives you perfect output. A good script will generate a good workable block of code, if it was correctly written. But, that script may not be transportable from one machine controller to the next. So, they have oodles of custom scripts to call for various machine posts.

But not only that, you have to be extremely careful in how you generate the gcode, to prevent unexpected movements from being posted.

You have to do more in Bobcad to generate gcode as well. One of the big headaches is remembering to do the tool up/tool down insertion in the proper places, at the proper times. If you mess with the ordering of gcode in the editor window, then things get out of sync.

If you mess up and have to redo a section of your program again (because you don't like how it ran on the machine), then you've got a major editing operation, including cut and paste to do in the nc editor.

It will keep you on your toes, and you will become intimately acquainted with your programs, but I would never call it quick or handy, and that is what a "real" machine post should do for you.

[Rekd]

Originally Posted by lakeside mastercam is a far better program than bobcad for complex 3d shapes (and you are paying a great deal for that). You can also write scrip for both of them. but this is an area that most people are not skilled in so. if it's not an out of the box post (and most of them are, bobcad disk is also full of most common ones) You will pay your mastercam dealer for a custom post and bobcad you don't or is mastercam now offering free custom post.

The scripting in Mastercam is not post related, though it can be used with the posts. The posts in mastercam don't need scripts, it is it's own programming language. complete with looping, if/then/else, reading and writing 'buffer' files, and most other functions and methods you need to perform just about any kind of logic you need.

As for posts 'just the way you like them', MP is easy enough that you don't likely need to pay for a post when you can ask here or on eMastercam how to make it do this or that and not have to pay a dime. It's when you get into the real complex 4 and 5 axis vectors that you might need professional help. And if you're doing that kind of work, you had better get the right post.

[Rekd]

Originally Posted by tobyaxis From a little (very little) experiece with MasterCam

You admit to not having experience with Mastercam yet you say it's incapable of making more than a box???

But when it comes down to Freedom in Posting a Program the way you want it, Mastercam does not compare. No freedom to do what you want to do, only what Mastercam wants to do.

Mastercam gives you more freedom than ANY other package I've seen when it comes to posting or modeling or toolpathing.


LoL, "only what Mastercam wants you to do", lol. You might not be aware that, with Mastercam, you generally have multiple ways of achieving the same end result, giving it more versitility than most packages I've used.

it doesn't even have a G-Code Back Plotter.

Last time I tried Bobcad, it wasn't much more than a backplotter with a graphical interface to make some edits.

This is my opinion, of course. Put it to the test. Bobcad/cam 20.6 Full 3Axis with Solids. What Mastercam basic 2-1/2 axis can do? Boxes if your lucky.

I take it your 'limited' experience with Mastercam was drawing a square and putting a toolpath on it, right?

I'd appreciate it if you would quit making false claims about Mastercam because you obviously don't know of it's capabilities. Is it expensive? Yes. But you get what you pay for.

[lakeside]

over all tool mangement and total over all function mastercam has Bobcad beat. The question always comes down to is price If you need the options. Let face some facts.If you are just doing 2 1/2 -3 axis programing (no complex vector moves) Bobcad sells version 20 for $500.00 compared to mastercam 2 1/2 axis on sale for $2000 maybe? So the real question for any buyer is do you need the abilty or not? as for making false claim about master cam here one that not false mastercam for the price is not in the realm of a dyi or anyone who just needs 2 1/2 axis or basic 3d and not a whole tool mangement system

[Rekd]

Originally Posted by lakeside The question always comes down to is price If you need the options. Let face some facts.If you are just doing 2 1/2 -3 axis programing (no complex vector moves) Bobcad sells version 20 for $500.00 compared to mastercam 2 1/2 axis on sale for $2000 maybe? So the real question for any buyer is do you need the abilty or not?

If we're going to face 'facts', how about if I send you a database of a housing I do with the Mill Level 1 package and see if you can make it in Bobcad. Don't get too nervous, though, it's only a 'box with a few holes in it'

You can see some samples over in the Picture Gallery.. http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/showg...500/ppuser/508