Another which CAD/CAM question...

[radioactive]

First off, I'm a newbie to CNC. Just got my 3 axis milling machine running on Mach3. I've used autocad before but I'm no pro.

Currently I'm using an old version of AutoCAD to draw up my parts and then converting the files to .dxf. Next I'm importing them to CamBam to create the g-code. It does seem to work ok, but I'm doing very very simple 2D drawings right now...

I'm looking at Alibre Design right now (just downloaded the demo to try out) as well as the Alibre CAM demo.

If my main use is to draw up individual parts to create G-code to machine them out on the mill, is this product a good candidate? I don't have a need to model an entire engine or render the part to see what it would look like. Heck, maybe the demo will do everything I need for right now?

How is their CAM program?

I've read good words about Dolphin CAD/CAM as well as Visual Mill (for the CAM side), but not much about Alibre's CAM portion.

Cost is an important factor, however if one works alot better than the other for my use, spending $1000 isn't out of the question.

[harley4ever]

I have not seen many good reviews of Alibre CAM but I cannot speak about it myself. I will say that I am a dolphin cad cam user and am extremely happy with it. It is cad & cam. The cad isnt as good as autocad or alibre but I use it primarily for the cam purposes. I strongly recommend it.

[radioactive]

I have the demo version downloaded (dolphin), however the only thing holding me back currently is that my home PC is vista and it won't load on it. The garage PC (for the mill) has XP, so I will have to try it out there.

[harley4ever]

Actually upgraded to vista a few months back myself and I have no problems with it. I also opted to use the dongle instead of the activation method though. Not sure if that makes any difference.

[tobyaxis]

First off, I'm a newbie to CNC. Just got my 3 axis milling machine running on Mach3. I've used autocad before but I'm no pro.

Currently I'm using an old version of AutoCAD to draw up my parts and then converting the files to .dxf. Next I'm importing them to CamBam to create the g-code. It does seem to work ok, but I'm doing very very simple 2D drawings right now...

I'm looking at Alibre Design right now (just downloaded the demo to try out) as well as the Alibre CAM demo.

If my main use is to draw up individual parts to create G-code to machine them out on the mill, is this product a good candidate? I don't have a need to model an entire engine or render the part to see what it would look like. Heck, maybe the demo will do everything I need for right now?

How is their CAM program?

I've read good words about Dolphin CAD/CAM as well as Visual Mill (for the CAM side), but not much about Alibre's CAM portion.

Cost is an important factor, however if one works alot better than the other for my use, spending $1000 isn't out of the question.

Alibre CAM is Visual Mill V5.0. If you wait till mid summer it will be V6.0.

[radioactive]

I worked thru almost half of the tutorials for the Alibre Design tonight, it's a very cool program...

Not sure how much functionality goes away after the 30 days is up though...

[tobyaxis]

Not sure how much functionality goes away after the 30 days is up though...

Actually it goes down