So let me get this right about Bobcad.....

[jrmach]

So jrmach, what is it about the post that you think in BS?

Sorry,I had one of the worst days in my life,,,Women problems

[posthocfallacy]

Sorry,I had one of the worst days in my life,,,Women problems

I haven't had one of those days for quite a while. It's been at least 24 hours. I hope everything works out well. I appreciate the response. PHF

[jrmach]

I haven't had one of those days for quite a while. It's been at least 24 hours. I hope everything works out well. I appreciate the response. PHF

if I could sleep and put the bottle down.........
16 years and poof !!! gone before I knew what hit me

[BurrMan]

Damn brother...... A good start will be putting the bottle down..... Then you can Sh*# on me here if you need to. Then, it will slowly get better!

[jrmach]

yup,I quit for 3 years because of stomach problems,,,I really drank hard for years,,anyway about a month ago I started just a few and all is great,,,blindsided by the women and I started drinking professionally the last 2 days...I am slowly pulling my head out of my a** and straightening up.

When I said I was sorry to the above poster it was cause I was a little overboard,,,,however I politely say I believe little of his story and that is my opinion and I do not care to debate it.

[gulliver22]

I'll throw my two cents in on my experiences with CAD CAM software, as I currently own Solidworks (2010, standard version), BobCAD v26 (I think) Mill/Lathe Pro version, and BobCAM for Solidworks v3. I have tried just about every CAD/CAM package out there before settling on Solidworks for the CAD (including Alibre, Inventor, Fusion 360, CATIA, OneCNC, etc etc) and too many CAM products to mention. I originally bought Bobcam for Solidworks when it was V1, and it was pretty much the same experience that posthocfallacy stated (high pressure/"deep discount" sales tactic). V1 was a joke because it was so buggy and so little features. The only reason that I have BobCAD was because the salesman threw it in free when I upgraded to Bobcad for Solidworks v2 (maybe v3, cant remember for sure). Here it is v3 and its still very buggy and not full featured (no in program help, and the online help is a joke, crummy simulation, etc). I've settled on Solidcam for the cam side now, though I know its cost puts it out reach of most hobbists. I do not like BobCAD's method of CAD design, Solidworks is much easier to use for me (and I have no formal CAD/CAM experience, I learned each and every CAD/CAM package on my own). I really liked Alibre, it was easy to use and priced reasonably, but it had some glitches that I couldn't live with (I do a mostly 3D and it had a bug in it's surface creation from an object to another object, hopefully fixed by now). In my experience, there is NO inexpensive CAM package that is a decent product. Its sad that you have to spend $5k and up to get something that works well. I know there are a lot of BobCAD fans, and that's cool. I just think it's interface is about 10 years behind and it's not intuitive.

[BurrMan]

This post doesnt really make sense in that a salesman wouldnt "throw in" v1 while your buying v2 or v3. And why would one load v1 when they just purchased v3?

Its understandable that you moved on to a different solution because you couldnt learn bobcad by going about it alone. Some people just like to see what strikes them best as a method..... but to say its buggy and no good and then throw out "fans", seems more insulting than informative. There are many users who use it and use it well..... that doesnt make them hobbiest fans. It just means you didnt/couldnt/wouldnt learn to use it well.

[Poseidon]

It is fair for a software company to charge for updates but not bug fixes. If an issue crops up that was not identified in beta testing then the company ought to stand behind their product and notify users of available patches and provide them for free. As for Solidworks, it is quite easy to draw with the software; especially 3D modelling. BobCAD has a BobCAM plugin for Solidworks but I have yet to try it. The de facto CAM plugin for Solidworks seems to be SolidCAM but its interface is far more convoluted than BobCAM. To date, I am cuurently drawing with both BobCAD(V27) and Solidworks. Anyone who started with CAD in its infancy will be more comfortable with BobCAD. For those coming into CAD at this juncture, Solidworks is a better choice.

The other CAD software I am currently trying to learn is Siemens' SolidEdge ST8. But that is not what the thread regards. I do apologize for going off on a tangent.

[gulliver22]

This post doesnt really make sense in that a salesman wouldnt "throw in" v1 while your buying v2 or v3. And why would one load v1 when they just purchased v3?

Its understandable that you moved on to a different solution because you couldnt learn bobcad by going about it alone. Some people just like to see what strikes them best as a method..... but to say its buggy and no good and then throw out "fans", seems more insulting than informative. There are many users who use it and use it well..... that doesnt make them hobbiest fans. It just means you didnt/couldnt/wouldnt learn to use it well.

You misunderstood BurrMan, on a number of points.

The salesman threw in BobCad v26 when I upgraded Bobcam for Solidworks to V3. I know it's confusing because of BobCad's naming convention, since they have BobCam (cam for BobCad) and BobCam for Solidworks. Nowhere did I say I did not learn Bobcad, you're making an incorrect assumption there, as I also stated "I learned each and every CAD/CAM package on my own". I did learn it, I just didn't care for it. I never sad Bobcad was buggy, I said Bobcam for Solidworks was buggy. Read a post thoroughly before you attack the poster.

[gulliver22]

It is fair for a software company to charge for updates but not bug fixes. If an issue crops up that was not identified in beta testing then the company ought to stand behind their product and notify users of available patches and provide them for free. As for Solidworks, it is quite easy to draw with the software; especially 3D modelling. BobCAD has a BobCAM plugin for Solidworks but I have yet to try it. The de facto CAM plugin for Solidworks seems to be SolidCAM but its interface is far more convoluted than BobCAM. To date, I am cuurently drawing with both BobCAD(V27) and Solidworks. Anyone who started with CAD in its infancy will be more comfortable with BobCAD. For those coming into CAD at this juncture, Solidworks is a better choice.

I use to train employees on computer software (Lotus 123, Wordperfect, Word, Excel, etc.. And yes, very long ago!! In my experience, ANYONE that had previous DOS program experience (Lotus 123/Wordperfect) really hated the equivalent Windows programs. Users that had never used a computer before really liked the Windows programs. The DOS users also had a hard time just using the mouse at first. Just boils down to what was originally learned, and having to completely relearn a new system or methodology.

[BurrMan]

...........Edited..........

Yup, read your post. It clearly stated the salesman "threw in" V1 while you were upgrading to V2 (or v3).......... Confusing naming conventions? No, I'm not confused... V22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and V1, 2, 3, 4 etc.... It's pretty simple stuff......

Read a post thoroughly before you attack the poster

Ahhhhhh. It's like you are reading from a script!!!! Its very hard, to read my post as "an attack"... Although that's a pretty overused M.O.

[gulliver22]

Yup, read your post. It clearly stated the salesman "threw in" V1 while you were upgrading to V2 (or v3).......... Confusing naming conventions? No, I'm not confused... V22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and V1, 2, 3, 4 etc.... It's pretty simple stuff......

Ahhhhhh. It's like you are reading from a script!!!! Its very hard, to read my post as "an attack"... Although that's a pretty overused M.O.

You're misquoting me! I said "The only reason that I have BobCAD was because the salesman threw it in free when I upgraded to Bobcad for Solidworks v2 (maybe v3, cant remember for sure)." I never said they threw in V1. They threw in BOBCAD V26 when I upgraded BOBCAD FOR SOLIDWORKS.

[Jon.N.CNC]

I'll throw my two cents in on my experiences with CAD CAM software, as I currently own Solidworks (2010, standard version), BobCAD v26 (I think) Mill/Lathe Pro version, and BobCAM for Solidworks v3. I have tried just about every CAD/CAM package out there before settling on Solidworks for the CAD (including Alibre, Inventor, Fusion 360, CATIA, OneCNC, etc etc) and too many CAM products to mention. I originally bought Bobcam for Solidworks when it was V1, and it was pretty much the same experience that posthocfallacy stated (high pressure/"deep discount" sales tactic). V1 was a joke because it was so buggy and so little features. The only reason that I have BobCAD was because the salesman threw it in free when I upgraded to Bobcad for Solidworks v2 (maybe v3, cant remember for sure). Here it is v3 and its still very buggy and not full featured (no in program help, and the online help is a joke, crummy simulation, etc). I've settled on Solidcam for the cam side now, though I know its cost puts it out reach of most hobbists. I do not like BobCAD's method of CAD design, Solidworks is much easier to use for me (and I have no formal CAD/CAM experience, I learned each and every CAD/CAM package on my own). I really liked Alibre, it was easy to use and priced reasonably, but it had some glitches that I couldn't live with (I do a mostly 3D and it had a bug in it's surface creation from an object to another object, hopefully fixed by now). In my experience, there is NO inexpensive CAM package that is a decent product. Its sad that you have to spend $5k and up to get something that works well. I know there are a lot of BobCAD fans, and that's cool. I just think it's interface is about 10 years behind and it's not intuitive.

Did you try inventor Hsm? I found solidcam to be terribly buggy, especially with imported models, I don't know how many times I had toolpaths that took more than a few same setting repeat try's to generate and that poor single core in my processor that got so abused by it not to mention the crashes. I love modelling in solidworks and still own a license however I tried inventor Hsm, same engine but what a difrence, toolpaths always generate unless your asking it of the impossible. Gui is nicer and quicker to generate toolpaths I suppose because it has multi core support. So Inherently I now have licenses for inventor and solidworks but it's inventor Hsm that took pole position for me with solidcam being a complete flop.

[magicniner]

You're misquoting me!

EDIT: One could only know this for sure if posts remained unedited ;-)