Rhino and RAMs?

[erik_f]

I've been heavily considering buying Rhino and the RAMs package...I'm looking to do more 3D, but also V-carve and normal cabinet work...it seems like RAMs offers alot...tabbing, secondary machining, v carving...it just seems like a good cross between doing 3D cam and being able to do regular everyday 2 and 2.5D work...I'm pretty sold on Rhino already...what do you guys think about the RAMS...tabbing feature if important to me...I know it seems silly, but I would like to have more control than I have now with the SB software. It seems like a great package...why isn't it talked about more on the forum?

[joe]

Erik,

I have both Rams and Artcam. We started with Rams when it was owned and operated by Ford. Our main goal was to do V carving and it does as good a job at this as ArtCam.

I have updated to the latest version of Rams and it is much cleaner but, it still is a clunky program when you are doing several passes, with different bits, different plunge depths.

If you are interested, I will gladly sell my copy to you for 50%. We would need to be sure they will still give you support.

You can see some of my V carve work on the SB "signs" area or www.markfair.com/norman (http://www.markfair.com/norman)

Good luck

J

[srwtlc]

Erik,

I've used the demo of various versions of Rams and I agree with Joe that it does v-carving well, but as far as the rest of it goes, it never impressed me. I don't think that you would feel like you have more control over your toolpaths. Being an ole Vector diehard, I have full control of what I want to do, but there is no v-carving option.

[artisan]

I've also used Rams, back when David Ford was pouring all his time into it.....a nice program that I too now find a bit clunky and have moved on. A better choice for the same money would be "Visualmill Basic"....available for around 800.00, expandable, very capable and user friendly.....although Joe's offer would be tempting....D

[erik_f]

Joe, what version is it? Alot of my work requires multi depths...

[erik_f]

Will visual mill do everything that Rams will do?

[erik_f]

I ended up with the Visual Mill...thanks Darrell...its pretty slick once you get into it...and has alot more features than Rams...well at least on first impressions...and very flexable...at least compared to what I'm used to...now lets see if I can pull of these samples I told people I was going to have ready by monday!!!

Erik

[normand]

http://www.rhinocam.com/ new plugin for rhino

[jemelby]

So you have rhinoCAM over here, MadCAD over there, and a couple dozen others that I have not yet heard about. Do these pretty much replace parts wizard in function or purpose? I understand that various programs do some things better... that's a whole seperate post.

I'm going to have to try and dig up that list of CAD/CAM programs and try and seperate it by indended function.

I was looking at the price of rhinoCAM. Seems that a G gets you a pretty sweet package deal. Does the software deliver? I await the verdict.

[jthelen]

I have been using Rams since just before David sold the company. The transition was a little rocky for me but the latest version (2.6) of the product is stable. If you are buying it new get the "Gold" edition. It has all the features and it's not much more money.
Plus it will do a 4th axis too. I upgraded to the Rams Gold and it is just as easy As VM to use for 3d now. Rams is much easier and faster to use for 2 D work. The code is more compact and seams to run better too. www.rams3d.com (http://www.rams3d.com)

I bought Visual Mill 4 during the Rams ownership change over. I used it for 3D work, it was a pain for 2D even against the early versions of Rams.(V1.xxx) The simulation in VM is much better but it was a more expensive program (about 4 time more) at the time. I have not upgraded VM and do not tend to use it much. I do think it is a good program, most of what I have been doing is 2D and Rams is just easier now that it is stable. http://www.mecsoft.com (Visual mill)

I have Solidworks for 3d design. A company I worked for had just purchased it for my CAD department. I had convinced them that solid models were the way to go for product design. I was caught in "the wrong budget" 6 months later and laid off. I was the only one who know how to run it so they sold it to me dirt cheap. www.solidworks.com (http://www.solidworks.com)

If there are some Rams users out there please send me an E-mail jim.thelen@comcast.net (mailto:jim.thelen@comcast.net) It would be nice to bounce tips, tricks, and techniques off each other.

Jim

[joe]

Jim,

I really enjoyed and appreciate your post about Rams.

We bought Rams back when David was owner and it was very unstable. Couldn't tell if that was a function of Windows 98 or Rams but, as I got further into more complex designs, there were just too many lock-ups.

I have upgraded it to the latest version, don't know why, as we have ArtCam Insignia.

Do you think there is anything Rams will do better than Insignia?

J
www.normansignco.com (http://www.normansignco.com)

[jthelen]

Joe,
I have a lot of programs but ArtCam Insignia is not one of them so I can't comment on the differences in the programs.

I still have very occasional lock ups. One annoying thing for me is editing the posts within Rams. If I do a big V groove file and want to scroll to the bottom in Rams edit window it takes several minutes or just locks up. I just don't use Rams for this. Note Pad works great, if the file is too big I use word pad and fight it about wanting to save as a .txt.

The other drawback for me is the simulation. It is slow and not much control. Visual mill on the other hand has an excellent simulation. Rams tells me VM uses an expensive 3rd party simulation engine, and they choose not to in an effort to keep the cost of Rams down. I guess they will be offering an add on simulator sometime in the future for people who need it.

There are some improvement I would like to see. Once you have laid the tool paths you can go back in and look at the perimeters for any given path. (in Gold at least) I think you should be able to change these perimeters and re-calculate the path. It would be useful if you made a part and decided a smaller bit would have been better, if you could open the file, go to perimeters, and just change the bit size and re-calculate. Now I have to look up the perimeters, delete the path, and start over.

All in all I like Rams. It is a snap for 2D work and very fast. I am learning to see the finished part by looking at the tool paths and not simulation as much. The gold version is good for working with 3D models too. The manual could be better. The Email help response time is good, even night and weekends. (they have an emergency E-mail help for Rams owner too) I think the responses could be a little more in-depth. It seams they don't give out much in the way of tips and trick even when you ask. Maybe that is because they sell training CD's.

I bought their trace program. It works well. I can trace and clean up a file 10 times faster then with CAD and there are no open contour problems. If I get a DXF out of Solidworks sometimes it has stacked line from the bottom of the model. You can't see these in the front or side views of CAD. With trace you click on the corner and just pull it to the side. If the lines are stacked you will see the other lines underneath. Pull the top layer away and delete it. Stacked line sometime mess up tool paths.
I know there are programs with trace built in and some free ones. I needed something right now when I bought it, no time for research. But it seams like a good program.

Jim

[andyBorowski@att.net]

What happened to ArtCAM Forum at Delcam? Seems to be locked...Do they charge subscription fee or something ? It used to be free.

[paco]

I guess it will be fixed soon... I'm pretty sure it will still be free access to all.