Can't talk about BobCad?

[Guerra Cues]

Hello,

So one of the admins closed my thread about the BobCad post processor. So, I spend almost 7k on a new shopbot desktop and already have bobcad and now I can't talk about another cad software?
If it is a public forum for shopbot owners why are they trying to shutdown the conversation?

Partworks is full of bugs, I can't even get get a full 3d view of the part after being designed like Aspire 3.5.

Is BobCad a forbidden subject?
I don't get it...

[myxpykalix]

I don't think it is a offlimits topic, i'm not aware of the thread you mention. I don't think many if any shopbotters use bobcad and don't have a good opinion of it.
The admins here don't shut down threads unless people want to flame others. Possibly it was the way you asked or responded to your post?
In any event i think if you ask a specific question i think someone will offer you an opinion or give you an answer if they have it.:D

[adrianm]

Partworks is full of bugs, I can't even get get a full 3d view of the part after being designed like Aspire 3.5.

Give examples and ask the question and you will get plenty of support.

Describing Partworks as full of bugs (which is patently not true) is not going to endear you to people though.

Your original request was answered though and, as this is a forum run by a business, it's not surprising that they didn't want another company using it.

[khaos]

I wrote an online converter for a bobcad user quite a while back. www.joesboats.com (http://www.joesboats.com) but nobody gave any feedback so I thought it was dead ... :eek:

[dana_swift]

Partworks has bugs? That is unheard of. People new to the program may not understand how it works, but the learning curve is very short compared to other programs.

Vectric appears to test their products extremely well before releasing them. The software is so good, that very few people are interested in looking at anything else.


I can't even get get a full 3d view of the part after being designed? And you know Aspire? It works identically. If not, the problem is not Partworks.

[ken_rychlik]

I tried to use bobcad and they could not supply me with a working post processor. Bobcad has a very bad reputation here of hard sales and poor support. That is why they closed the thread. They didn't want to see a bunch of that bad talk going on.

Partworks, and all vectric products for that matter, have worked very well for me.

If you have a partworks question, I'm sure you can get any help you need here on that. Most issues are operater error from not knowing how to use it.

I hope you find the help you are looking for.

One option you have is to design your parts in bobcad and save them as dxf files if that is possible. Then open the dxf in partworks and make your toolpaths in it.

If you are wanting 3d out of partworks, then that is the problem. Partworks is a 2d program. If that is the case look into trying Cut 3d from vectric. It's not very expensive and will take 3d files and make toolpaths for the shopbot.

[ssflyer]

If you just bought a new Shopbot, it comes with PartWorks and PartWorks3D - Exactly the same software as VCarve Pro, and Cut3D fron Vectric. I'd advise learning them. What "bugs" are you referring to? PartWorks (VCarve Pro) does give a 3D view, after you calculate a toolpath - but, as mentioned, it does not design in 3D...
PartWorks3D, while it also won't design in 3d, let's you generate toolpaths for full 3D...

[curtiss]

As a 10 year AutoCad user, at first, I found a few things in Partworks a little clunky, and drew up a few things in AutoCAD and then saved it to a dxf for Partworks to open.

Over time, I figured out a few more things in Partworks / Vectric which makes it not clunky at all.

The best thing to do, is to watch the tutorials, beg or borrow a few Partworks files so you can see how they are put together and tool-pathed. Two laptops and a lunch with someone nearby will solve most of any Partworks problems.

It is much easier to start with an existing PW file and tweek it a bit to make a new project, rather than starting from scratch each time.

[Guerra Cues]

Might have been too tough...

After spending 90 minutes with a friend of mine that knows partworks/vcarve very well, I am puzzled on how easy it is to work with.

[myxpykalix]

I might suggest that since probably not many here use Bobcad you go to:
http://www.bobcad.com/groups/support/bobcad-cam-8149/forum/

since that seems to be the most logical place to go for help. I had a high pressure demo of bobcad before i bought my shopbot and if not much has changed, i understand why you are searching for help.

If you have a specific question that you need help with in trying to design something either using bobcad or to be able to do the same thing in partworks I am sure someone here can help you or point to a link that will give you the help you need. I suggest you ask a specific question to get specific help.
You're not making any friends with this tact...:eek::rolleyes:

[Rob Gunn]

I used BobCad MANY years ago at work to run a CNC Bridgeport mill. It worked OK for toolpath generation but I never liked the CAD drawing within BobCad. I always found myself doing the drawing in AutoCad and then importing the dxf into BobCad to make the toolpaths. Now that I have partworks/vcarve for my ShopBot I can say it works a LOT better and I would never go back to BobCad (thats just my opinion).

[aldepoalo]

The main issue why BobCAD is a bad topic on this forum has to do with the issues shopsbot clients had with our sales team, and trying to get our software to post the conversational format for shopbot.

Things have changed at BobCAD as far as how our sales team works. If you are going to use BobCAD for a shopbot you would need to run in G-code not conversational. Not to say that a conversational post couldn't be created by BobCAD just as far as I know we don't have a working conversational post.

If you are going to run g code you'll have no problems getting BobCAD posting good code.

I am here to help and if you have BobCAD CAM question you can always contact me directly. Customer service is very important to me and I am doing my best to make amends for issues Shopbot clients have had with BobCAD in the past.