Looking hard.........at OneCnc

[ninewgt]

Guys

I really like Visual Mill dont get me wrong...... and no offense to MecSoft........ But the more I mess with OneCnC (the demo) the more I really like it. I hated it at first because the interface was sooo much differant than anything I was used to, but now that Im spending time with it....... It truely looks like a work horse program. I am getting a lot of people asking for my opinions on CAM software and the more I play with OneCnc the more people I want to tell to try it over Visual Mill.......
Anyway - I am seriously considering getting OneCNC Pro 2003........ for the 3-d solids I cut and all the 2.5 D stuff I need to create and cut it seems to be a strong tool.......

Anyone want to comment??

Tom

[Alan T.]

I also looked at OneCnc but already have my money invested in Visualmill 4.0 and am getting ready to upgrade to 5.0. As a hobbiest, I just can't afford to start from scratch and lose my investment in Visualmill.

The VM 5.0 upgrade certainly is a Major upgrade and thats the route I am going to take. However if I were starting with nothing, I would certainly consider OneCNC as a front runner for my money.

Alan T.

[ninewgt]

Alan

I dont blaim you........ VM is a great program.... it makes machining solids as easy as it gets. I am looking at one CNC because I have really begun to look at the limitations of VM. I have numerous applications for the software and what ended up selling me (if I buy it) is the softwares ability to machine regions of large parts. VM will also do this but OneCNC from what I see and understand so far is more flexible........ I still have more playing to do with it before i make the decision though - part of the reason for my post - to see what others think..... VM can machine regions but when you go to do a finish toolpath on a selected region it does not let you set the limitations in the Z axis as does OneCNC - This is a powerful feature I could really use.... I have to call VM support and ask IF I can do it because VM will do a lot that is not well documented but I tried for 3 hours tonight. I did it with one cnc in 10 minutes......

Now I am trying some other stuff i need to ask some OneCnC pros about but Im going to play first before I start asking questions =)

[wms]

Ninewgt,

I as you know use OneCNC. Started with Mill 2000 Pro and now have Xp series Expert.

I just can't say enough about it and the company behind it. They have been truly amazing. The software is very powerful and I find it a breeze to use. The company has been outstanding. Always very receptive to user ideas and fast to implement them when possible.

As you have seen from the Mill 2000/2003 pro demo, the program is very easy to define areas to machine. You can use extents, as in an area defined by values or by part boundary or by a drawn boundary. Or you can machine separate surfaces only. And yes you can set the z depth to anything you want. Machine only 1/2 of the part depth. Or any other value.

The new tool path logic in the Xp series is still more advanced than the demo of 2000/2003 your have. There are advanced mold tool in the Expert version.

The cam side of things in Mill2000/2003 series is very user friendly, but the cam nc manager in Xp series is so advanced that I would suggest you look into that version. The cam post are fully customizable to fit most any need.

The Xp series also has a tool path preview feature that is out of this world. It like having a movie of your part being cut, interactive in the fact that while it is playing your can zoom in or out, rotate the model being cut, stop and start, step thru, etc. This is a great help to check things out before any cutting is done.

I have found the software to be rock solid and the code is also rock solid.

I have never seen a company, at least a software company, with support as strong as this company. They really care about their end users and respond lightning fast to any issue that may arise. I have seen an update in less than 24 hours in response to an issue, be it a very minor issue. No waiting months to fix stuff, these guys are amazing.

The solid tool in OneCNC are very powerful and easy to use. Once you start using solids you will wonder why you ever use anything else.

[HuFlungDung]

What Ward said!

I know that you pay a little more for the features in Mill Professional XP, but you will simply be delighted with the versatility of the NC manager, once you come to understand how easy it makes it to edit, re-arrange and regenerate your nc code.

As a matter of fact, I will go out on a limb here and say, that for the user with average needs, you might be wasting money to buy Mill Expert XP over Mill Pro XP, because the advanced features in Expert might seldom be called for. However, purchasing Mill Pro XP over Mill2003 is a giant leap in functionality. And, this functionality improvement affects your bottom line on every job you do.

If you go the Mill Pro 2003 route, make an inquiry about the upgrade cost to Mill Pro XP. It is not like you would be making a mistake to buy the less expensive one, then upgrade it later.

[ninewgt]

Will the Pro 'XP' versions run under windows 98 ???? My CAM/CAD computer that I do all my work on runs windows 98

[wms]

Yes it will.

Although not as smoothly as under Windows Xp. It has been optimized for Windows Xp. And Windows Xp Pro is best of all.

Windows 98 is a memory hog and it has issues. These don't have anything to do with OneCNC, just Windows as an operating system.

I have it installed on both Win Xp and Win 98se. No problem on either platform.

[peter]

hi tom
have a go with onecnc you won't look back
have posted a few samples myself on the cnczone
with comment's like you make it look so EASY
well believe me it was
best regards
peter