Is Dolphin Partmaster Pro good?

[bkboggy]

The question is plain and simple from the title. How does it compare to other CAD and CAM software out there? Can it hold its own? What are its limitations comparing to other software?

-BK

[harley4ever]

Here is my opinion. There are hundreds of cadcam systems out there. They range from freebies to some in the high thousands. If you are trying to compare it with mastercam or surfcam, well its not in that ballpark. Youre also talking about a 15 thousand dollar price difference. Dolphin offers its software for right around a thousand dollars, for what it cost, I think wonders of it. It has paid it self back several times over to me. It all depends on what you are trying to do. At work we have a seat of surfcam and sure it's quite powerful. But I know myself, I could never afford it. When we have very complex 3d prototypes surfcam is a must for us. For our everyday work, dolphin is very simple and gets the job done very nice. So the question for yourself should be, do you have a couple grand to drop or are you on a budget. If you have a few grand, look at options like mastercam, surfcam, gibbs, espree. If you're on a budget, I think dolphin is a very good option. Take a look at some of they're videos. That will give you an idea of what its capable of.

[bkboggy]

Videos, I could not find, let me check them out and I'll give my opinion. Thanks for the information by the way, I've never heard of it until you've mentioned it. I am actually very budget tight. I'm in the military and about to get out.... with this economy who knows if I'm dumb for even building a CNC and buying stuff... heh....

[harley4ever]

I am a pretty avid member of a few different forums and i would be willing to bet there are still some cad cam systems I dont know. It seems theyre are new ones weekly. What branch of the military were you in? Congrats to you and a thank you as well.

[bkboggy]

I'm still in the Navy, getting out in July, and no problem.

[bkboggy]

Looks like pretty darn good package and so incredibly easy to use (tried demo). If my budget would not be so tight right now I'd buy it in a heart beat. I'll have to comeback to it later on.

[dblox]

I purchased Dolphin CAM after looking at multiple packages under the 1k USD mark (there arent that many...)

What sold me was the simplicity. Picking an outline or shape in the CAD side, converting it to CAM data and generating usefull toolpaths is very straight forward.

It does have some little quirks; obviously this is no 25k software package.
I still proof the code every time I run a file, but I've never crashed a tool or done something totally unexpected.

The worst I've ever seen it do is post a complete circle on a tool lead in instead of a short large radius arc (no problem for an external lead in, and I've made probably ten parts so far, with this one being the only error not caused by me).

I'd like to see some additional features, which I'll suggest to DCAM.
They seem to be open & friendly; willing to work with customers.

Personally, I think this software invaluable if you are trying to make parts regularly and are tired of hand coding. If you need 3d CAM, and have the money, choose Sprut CAM (this is what I want eventually).

If you want to be able to make 2.5 parts easily, this is a fantastic way to go.

I'll be posting some videos of some pretty cool parts soon on youtube.

[Khalid]

Who said its good???.... Its Excellent.. I just used a Demo of Partmaster Lathe and its simply Excellent....No other word i have in place of EXCELLENT...

[harley4ever]

I agree with Khalid. I think it is a very nice program. I use it on a daily basis and couldn't imagin being without it now.

[2Bits]

I've had the software for a week, I'm a hobby user and for a total package I am extremely happy with it. I found the learning curve to be low and while I have had a couple issues trying to get my illustrator designs into it because of splines, I've come up with a work around. Their tech support has been extremely quick to respond (they responded on a weekend!). I actually expected less support because of being a hobby user which was not the case. I can definitely recommend this product.

[bkboggy]

Yeah, they've been extremely friendly with me when I was asking them questions about the software and the demo was extremely easy to learn. I mean, I have no experience with such things and I was able to just jump in and go. I am definitely considering this software for the future (when budget permits) and all of your feedback has reassured me that it is the right choice.

[Teyber12]

what are your guys thoughts of the standard vs. advanced version for the mill? ($600 v 1k)