PowerMill question

[Dan B]

I have been working with the Feature sets in PM, attempting to use the "Recognize holes" command. I find that PM consistantly ignores at least a couple of holes per job. If I check in CAD, the holes do not differ from the ones that are recognized. Any ideas as to why this happens, or how to prevent it?

Thanks

Dan

[Oopee]

Hi Dan, just saw this post
I use PM mostly fo3D, but I have noticed the same thing (even with earlier versions too )
Have you found any explanation?
I have noticed that "use pairs" command finds more holes than "recognice holes", but in all I have found that finding and creating features would need some attention at Delcam

Osmo P

[Dan B]

I was told to adjust the closure tolerance, but I found that this does not work in most cases. Holes that were ignored will sometimes be recognized, but then holes which were recognized are now ignored.

So far, I'm not real impressed with PowerMill, or the Delcam support. PowerMill does have advantages over WorkNc, and if I was just starting out, I would opt for PowerMill. But already being a WorkNc user, I'm having trouble justifying the $78,000 we paid for 2 seats. It's not that much better!

Dan

[Dan B]

I would be interested in hearing from any WorkNc users who switched to PowerMill. According to the guys at Delcam, there is supposed to be quite a few of you out there.

In what areas do you find PowerMill superior to WorkNc?
In what areas do you find WorkNc superior to PowerMill?

Also, were you allowed an evaluation period before purchasing? We were not, which I find kind of odd. We bought the software (10% down) with the understanding that we could return it if not satisfied for a refund. In hindsight, this seems like a pressure tactic to me. I'm sure it will be a nightmare if we decide to ask for our money back!

After a 6 week wait for a Fadal post-processor we are now ready to start cutting some jobs with PowerMill. Is it the quality of the toolpath that justifies the expense?

I would appreciate any insight. I have to explain to the bosses why we need to spend this kind of money. It's pretty hard to convince them that it's worth it for slight improvements. I was hoping to see dramatic gains over Worknc, but I haven't.

Thanks

Dan

[Dan B]

I should clarify something. The $78,000 I mentioned earlier is for 2 seats of the full blown 5-axis software, and is in Canadian dollars.

Sorry to the folks at Delcam for any inconvenience that this caused.

Dan

[Stevenlpkr]

Dan B

I am new to the forum, and a Powermill / Powershape user from way back. I was just wondering what your opinion of PowerMill is now.

Steve

[Dan B]

Hi Steve,

We returned it for a refund not long after that post. I was not impressed with the lack of support we were receiving, and didn't find PowerMill to be any better then WorkNC for our application.

Dan