Hey folks I saw this posted today on YouTube and got really excited about Version 10!! I'm still working with 7 here, but boy oh boy am I ready for this upgrade! It looks like they have finally started to make Rotary Machining not be such a mental exercise. It kind of makes me mad because figuring it out on my own was kind of a badge of honor with the old versions LOL. Check it out it's looking sweet!
During the August Tormach Open House they mentioned other nice features like face milling, scalloping, Feature Based Machining, and several other features that sounded pretty nice. Sprut must be close to release - I think that they are currently working out bugs in SC 10.
That's great to hear! I have to sell some more work to get ready for this expense. I'll probably look for it in the first quarter of 2016. It was farther down the list for quite a while for me because I had already paid for 7 and it could still do what I needed it to do. With some new designs rolling around in my head I can see where I could save a lot of time on the CAM end with an improved package. Thanks again for the heads up!
Yeah it could be. I got a quote to upgrade to 8 and 2 weeks later 9 was released and I was outside of the window. I probably would have been able to get to 10 for <$1,000 over the course of the upgrads if I would have been paying attention when 8 first rolled out. There was so much grumbling about stability in 8 though in the beginning I couldn't jump into those waters.
Maybe I've just learned to think like Sprut over the years, but each succeeding release seems to be markedly better than the last, so I've been happy to pay the upgrade fees.
I totally understand. I find it to be an amazing value. I've been using the package since Tormach started offering it and the pace of Sprut's evolution seems to be becoming more rapid- which is exciting for us.
This is one of my gripes with Sprut. I also have 7 and can not upgrade to 9...my only option is to buy the new version outright. Most software has different upgrade paths for current users, but it seems Sprut doesn't feel the same way about us.
Yeah it kind of hurts a bit that we get zero credit for the spend. I have 2 licenses for 7 that are going no-where if that makes you feel any better LOL. I felt extra bad because I missed it by a few weeks. The positive thing is that it is still the most powerful program that one can get for the price that I know of. A small shop can get the job done with Sprut and a few other low dollar programs. Yes the learning curve sucks, but it's way flatter than it used to be when I was using 2007.
In the higher end or non-hobby software world it is not at all uncommon for vendors to require annual maintenance payments and to impose penalties on those who fail to pay the maintenance annually. GeoMagic, my CAD program, requires lapsed users to pay all missed years of maintenance to get current and I think that SolidWorks recently announced that they are moving to a annual rental fee structure - fail to pay the fee and the software stops working. At least SC 7 is a permanent license and there is no annual maintenance fee - you only need to pay for upgrades at each major version release.
I use Rhino and Sprutcam, both were a one time buy and have drawn or cam' ed anything I have needed so far. I am not a fan of the rental software, that eats into my tool fund...................
Hence why I don't typically buy those types of software when I can avoid it. My statistical analysis software provider (Minitab) has the model I like. Buy a license and own it...use it forever and NO DONGLE. Pay to upgrade on their established scale when you want as features improve. I wouldn't have a complaint with owning Sprut 7 forever either, but the dongles do fail and you are left with NOTHING unless someone from the company really does you a solid. Thankfully I was given a solid favor by the folks at Tormach with a software license lock that expires within a year, and still possess one functional dongle that I am using for my second license. Either way I'm covered. I just wish that there was a communicated policy/plan....I never saw one, because if I knew that I was totally out when 8 lapsed I certainly would have paid the $ then. Lessons learned for all.
Popspipes I have the exact same combination here and am real happy with what I can do. I also have a few of the Vectric products at my disposal and use them from time to time when it makes sense. By the way the Vectric upgrade program pricing and process is simply AWESOME! We live in an amazing and ever evolving time for the small scale manufacturer! Having said that, however, I still am not a fan of the cloud based CAD/CAM programs though, but that could change with time.
I have the exact same combination here and am real happy with what I can do. I also have a few of the Vectric products at my disposal and use them from time to time when it makes sense. By the way the Vectric upgrade program pricing and process is simply AWESOME! We live in an amazing and ever evolving time for the small scale manufacturer! Having said that, however, I still am not a fan of the cloud based CAD/CAM programs though, but that could change with time.
I have rhino 4, I was recommended it by a friend, he had tried many and found Rhino to be the easiest to learn, he was pretty much right. I just dont like rentals, car payments, etc, thats just a thing with me.
I was told by one of the Tormach guys that I can get a spare dongle if mine fails, I havent tried to order a spare though to see if it can actually be done.
Just to let you know there isn't dongle support anymore. When the dongle fails it's toast and if you really, really, really whine/beg you might be able to get a software unlock for your version 7 for 365 days. Jacob and Eric (when he was still there) really did a great job helping me, but I essentially need to upgrade in 205 days from now or risk the prototyping/machining portion of my business income on the failure risk of unsupported dongle 2. Start saving up a few 55 gallon drums of swarf to help pay for the upgrade to 10 when it comes out LOL.
Oh yeah and not to veer off topic, but FYI I started with the old Alibre- HATED IT and moved on to Rhino 4 as well. When Rhino 5 came out I was impressed with the gumball feature and some of the modifications to the surface commands. I upgraded and have been way happy with it! Sprut loves the IGES files that it generates and if I set everything up layered by Fixtures, Stock and Parts my import times and model handling in Sprut are way quick. It's a great combo.
pickled - I use Alibre Design (now GeoMagic Design) and have been generally productive with it and can't recall any problems with IGES files that were exported from it to SprutCAM except in the very early version (SC 4?) back in 2008 or so. It sounds like your CAD workflow is better suited to a different product and it seems like life gets a lot better when you find a CAD and/or CAM program that works in a way that makes sense for you. The downside is that it takes a lot of time and effort to trial candidate programs until you find one that meets your criteria and budget.
I've been playing with Onshape and like it so far, the limits of the free plan are a concern as are the consequences of going to/from the Pro plan ($100/month). The cloud aspect doesn't bother me too much, but I would really like a simple way to archive models to my local hard disk or independent cloud service, like DropBox. GeoMagic Design is costing me $400/year to maintain and the last major update a few weeks back was pretty meager with improvements so this will be my last year with GMD unless they really turn things around.
MichaelHenry you nailed down the time frame when I was getting started with all this craziness. The learning curve was steep enough that I couldn't deal with two packages that couldn't shake hands at the time. I also found the old versions of Alibre to be so click intensive to get anything done that they were truly counter-intuitive for me. The need to render concepts for my clients pushed me to the Rhino world. It was also much better with mesh editing the output from 3D scanning. I do a bit of everything here. Production prototyping, pilot tooling, test equipment...etc. etc. Knife making is also evolving from a hobby as well. I just love having the capacity to refine everything in house. It's a great time to be in the cottage mfg and consulting world.
Saving my $ up for buying Sprut 10!
Re: Saving my $ up for buying Sprut 10!
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