SprutCAM 7 Upgrade Now Available

[dkaustin]

Tormach has announced that SprutCAM 7 upgrades are now available. Contact sales@tormach.com and request a quote.

[MichaelHenry]

Do how do you like the new version of SptutCAM? Does it have any new tool types?

Mike

[RTP_Burnsville]

Hi Mike,

Just ordered my update late this week so can't answer your question for a few days.... The main improvement looks to be in the 4th and 5th axis support. My hope is they stop breaking things in new versions which worked in the older ones, I find that very frustrating.

The manual is on-line so that may have an answer for you but I did not see much in that area in my quick look. I am also interested in knowing what folks think of the latest version.

Robert

[justgary]

Robert -

Do you mind if we ask roughly how much you paid for the upgrade? It's interesting that Tormach uses a here's-the-price-no-package-deals approach to pricing, but now wants us to call for a quote to upgrade this specific product.

Unless, of course, the upgrade is so cheap that they are embarrassed by the price...

Regards,

- Just Gary

[dkaustin]

Received and installed my SprutCAM7 upgrade today. Haven't spent a lot of time with it yet, but here are some initial impressions.

The installation couldn't have been easier. When I ordered the upgrade, Bob Miller at Tormach sent me a link to a program that reads the license info from my dongle. This info was burned to the upgrade disk, so the installation program recognized my system without a hiccup.

We've already seen the new interface in some of the most recent tutorial videos, and I like it a lot. The look is clean and uncluttered, and, to me, the new layout is more intuitive than the old. The program also works better with my graphics hardware (the moving cutter now leaves no extraneous lines on the simulation screen).

Mike, it doesn't mean they aren't in there somewhere, but I don't see any new tools in the upgrade version. So far, I haven't been limited by the existing selection. I am looking forward to trying the continuous 4th axis machining in this new version.

Gary, it also struck me as unusual that Tormach asks you to request a quote for the upgrade. It may have something to do with how long you've owned the previous version. There was an oblique reference in Tormach's blog to them working out the licensing details with Sprut, so maybe that's it. Without revealing the price I paid, I think it was quite reasonable and shouldn't be too painful to most users.

More to follow as I spend more time with the program.

[RTP_Burnsville]

Just Gary, Check your email....I don't feel comfortable posting pricing on an open forum. I am upgrading from the all post version of 2007, not sure what you currently have.

DKaustin, Thanks for the comments, I look forward to seeing what's in-store for us. Yes, I also had to read the security key dongle and send the file to Tormach. I wonder if this new upgrade format also allows future bug fixes as in past versions.


Robert

[MichaelHenry]

Thanks DK - I'm about to order myself so I'll find out then. The tutorials make the new version look worth getting, but I too hope that they didn't break working features. At least they seem to have a steady stream of minor updates.

JustGary - I received a quote from Tormach for the dongle, all posts version. Like DK, I'd rather not share the price publically but also feel it was reasonable, especially considering that it is the Master version with turning and EDM ops in addition to mill.

Mike

[Tormachmaster]

Here is a question for any of you that have been using this software. I use bobcad v23 pro and am tired of the simple problems so I am looking in to switching to something else give me the truth on any problems or? I use solidworks to make all of my models so will it use these models without any problems?

[MarkWink]

Tormachmaster,

Have you tried the demo of SprutCAM? SprutCAM will import Solidworks files.

The demo will run for 30 days and let you see if it works for your application.


Mark

[Tormachmaster]

Originally Posted by MarkWink Tormachmaster, Have you tried the demo of SprutCAM? SprutCAM will import Solidworks files. The demo will run for 30 days and let you see if it works for your application. Mark

I will try this weekend thanks.

[MichaelHenry]

Tormachmaster,

I'm a new CAM user so my experience may be atypical, but I found SprutCAM extremely hard to learn, due in no small part to the SprutCAM manual, which was apparently translated from Russian and suffers from some odd (to me) grammar and word usage. The Tormach tutorials are a big help there, but the ones from the SptrutCAM UK web site really improved my productivity. They were available before Tormach's but I think they go into a little more depth. If you are an experienced CAM programmer you may find SprutCAM far more usable than I did at first.

Mike

[Cairns]

Does anyone know if it's possible to run both versions of SC on the same computer? I'd like to upgrade but can't afford to risk the additional time required to re-install the older version if the new version isn't working correctly.

Along those lines...how well do old SC files work in the new version, do they open seamlessly?