Software question

[siwoodworks]

I have been reading and trying to learn all that I can, but one thing has me concerned. I see a lot of people using a bot for cabinet work but very dissatisfied with the software options. I'm sure the shopbot is fine but if there are serious drawbacks to Cabinetpartspro I'd like to know. I design in E-cabs and thought Cpp would be fine , now I'm not so sure.
I just don't want to buy a great machine and have my hands tied by a lack of usable software for nesting. I'd be better off with a slider and line borer. Is there anybody out there satisified with the software they are using and what is it? I'm like a lot of others, not willing to pay outrageous fees for some of the options out there.

[pfulghum]

As author of the free "BoxCutter" program let me chime in....

I think the functionality of CabinetPartPro is more than adequate, I think it is great. Ryan Patterson is the author and has continues to support and enhance it capabilities. Trust me when I say it takes a long time to get this stuff right. Download it and give it a test drive. If have trouble drop Ryan an email, I'm sure he would be more than willing to help.

The cost of the program is $175... That is maybe 4-5 hours worth of YOUR time.

It sounds like you are worried about its nesting capabilities. Lets say the nesting wastes 5% more than another program which costs $10K.
At $40 sheet, wasting an extra $2 per sheet you would have to mill 5,000 sheets to make of the difference. That might take a few years.


For me, 'botting is a way to blend my computer background with my passion for wood. As for BoxCutter, I use it on every cabinet job I do. It is fine for me and several other out there.

-- pat

[siwoodworks]

Thanks Pat, I had heard a lot of good things about CabinetPartsPro and have even been to the site. I just saw a lot of negative stuff while looking in the archives.
Anyone else with software experience please share.

[mgcain]

Hi Chris,
The thing about software is that as the author of a package, you will probably NEVER make everybody happy. Some folks just do things differently than others and in some cases you simply won't please everybody. I was an ecabinets user back in the very early days and I was more patient with the program because I knew that they were doing a great job supporting it, and I knew where they were heading with it.

I am in the process of creating a package called iCabinetShop, which will allow you to define a library of cabinets, constructed how you define it, and then add these cabinets to projects. when you adjust the size of the cabinet, the parts and CNC operations all adjust accordingly. It supports dadoes, pocket holes, blind dadoes, flip operations, and allows you to define parts very much like eCabinets did - sans the 3D modeling. You can check out the forum here:
http://www.icabinetshop.com/phpbb2/index.php

Shameless marketing aside, this is going to be another option for Botters. Will it be the best option? For some, probably, for others, Ryan's program, or Pat's program will work just fine. We all have different needs and wants, and there will be a package out there to support them. You also have this forum which is invaluable, and unique among CNC manufacturers.

You can't go wrong with the Shopbot....

[Ryan Patterson]

CabinetPartsPro is capable of producing most of the features everyone has requested and I am working on getting all of them. Being the one who wrote it I think it is very easy to use, but I can see how the first time user can have difficulties. The more options and features a program has the steeper the learning curve will be. If you have any questions on what it can do for you send me an email at info@cabinetpartspro.com (mailto:info@cabinetpartspro.com). I will be in Ohio for John Forneys Camp ShopBot this weekend, if you are attending you can see how it all works. I uploaded a video demo of CabinetPartsPro importing an Excel file a user sent me. http://www.cabinetpartspro.com/Import.zip

[thewoodcrafter]

It's pretty funny that the only respondents to this thread are software developers. All three of them.

[harryball]

I've been using CabPartsPro around the house and have done a few small jobs (cabinets are not my business nor my desired business) and I would say it is adequate and when you factor in the price it is great. It will do basic cabinets and gives you a fair amount of control over your design.

That said, as a non-cabinet guy using the program did get confusing. While the videos clear up some of the confusion there are other aspects I don't have a clue about (doors, drilling hinge holes etc...) The first time I tried drilling hinges holes I just got a bunch of holes in my parts that didn't line up with anything. I do not believe that is the fault of the program but of the operator. I simply don't use the program but once in a blue moon when I want a cabinet base or bookshelf.

If cabinets were your business and you took the time to involve yourself fully with the program and cut some "practice" cabinets I think it would be entirely possible to run a small cabinet shop and cut all your basic cabinets with the software.

There are some features the software does not have, like corner cabinets. Ryan is working on many features to be included in future releases.

So far as the stability of the program itself, it does get quirky sometimes if you do things in the wrong order. Anything I've found Ryan has been quick to fix and I've not found anything yet that stopped me from working.

Robert

[Gary Campbell]

Chris..
For the price of CPPro I dont think you can do wrong. I purchased it when my Bot was on order to get a jump on the learing curve. I saw Ryan at John Forney's "mini camp" in May and put 5 items on my wishlist for the next version. All 5 were included with the last update. I am guessing that I was not the only one that may have requested those same features, but for the minimal investment of the software, the cross tie in with ShopBot, quick turn around on feature additions, and some of the quickest tech support response time I have seen, I cant see how you could go wrong with CPPro. I am also looking to try out both Pat's and Mitch's software in the very near future. I think that the advantages in using software written by a fellow Botter are numerous, to say the least. I am sure that none of them are exactly perfect for all of us case cutters, but I am sure that we will all get a very good return on our dollar per usable feature.
Gary

[wooddr]

I'll chime in here and say that I use Pat's Boxcutter program. I don't build a lot of kitchen cabinets, maybe two to four sets a year and I am no programmer either. I have to say I am very pleased with Boxcutter. It did a great job of nesting the parts and labeling them as well.

I also have one of Ryan's earlier versions of Cabinet Parts Pro and had trouble with the program running on my computer, but I am sure those issues were probably on my end. It looks like another fine program as well.

I think you would be very pleased with either program and save yourself the thousands of dollars as well.

Dirk

[siwoodworks]

Thanks for the information everyone. I didn't mean to sound like I was picking on or disliked any of the particular software packages. I had just seen a lot of unhappy posts and wanted a little clarification.
CabinetPartsPro doesn't look very complicated to me, but I am used to using E-cabinets. Everyone has their favorites.

[gene]

Hi Chris,
There is another program that the name is very close to cabinetpartspro and i for one spent many times more on the ''other'' program and finally threw it away . it was more confusing than chineese math to a red neck, i do use Ryan's program and would definately buy it again. for the money you wont go wrong, I would like to look at the boxcutter program mentioned above , does anyone have a address where i could find it ? Thanks to all who participate on this great forum , no one is as smart as all of us !
Gene Rhodes

[richards]

Gene,
Send Pat Fulghum an email about the boxcutter program. (Click on his name in his post further up on this thread to get to his profile and his email address.)

[bill.young]

There's some basic information about Boxcutter with a link to it's web page in the wiki. It's in the "Design Software" section under "Specialty Software". FYI, there's also information in that section on CabinetPartsPro.

The direct link to the Boxcutter page in the wiki is http://shopbotwiki.com/index.php?title=BoxCutterMain


Bill

[woodgod]

I was worried at first that I was buying a $15,000 table saw without a blade because of the software issue. I have used Cabinet Vision for many years but do not have the money to buy their nesting upgrade but I cut all my parts using the millwizard for any part that needs machining beyond just cutting and CPP for all my shelves and decks. By now I have accumulated a library of bulkheads and other parts that need machining and just copy and paste them to a full sheet. my average cabinet job will have about 40 boxes and it is taking me a couple of hours to design and nest all the parts to cut on the bot. I'm sure there are those who could do it faster but for now I am pleased with the way it is working. Bottom line is dont worry about not having the right software. If I can figure it out anyone can!

[terry]

Chris,
I bought a ShopBot and ran into a brick wall when it came to cutting cabinet parts, which is why I bought it in the first place. I build custom kitchen cabinets full time but I find it difficult to spend more money on the software than the machine. PartWizard will do it all but is way to slow. In my research I found that all the programs, including Cabinet Vision and Kcdw all have limitations, and, the more complex the harder it is to use. (I build the cabinets myself so I'm don't sit at the computer all day forming a deep relationship with my precious program.) And getting the CNC upgrade is not just the upfront cost, but the continual substantial cost every year. I have been very frustrated by this process.

Now that that's off my chest, this is what I am currently doing. I RENT Cabinet Solutions for 100.00 per month. I don't care if I own the program, and if your building cabinets it's a small price for a program. It has it's limitations, but for 95% of cabinets it is great, and once you set it up its fast to draw a set of cabinets. Does a decent job of rendering a 3-D picture of the kitchen, and sells the job, which is key to me. Then, it's cut lists for drawers, face frames, and doors are great. Does a nice shop drawing to build off of too. But, it will also output a list of all the parts of a cabinet that you can import into excel. In excel I have multiple tabs and cut and paste the finish plywood to one page, backs to another, box parts to another, etc.

Then I use CabinetPartsPro. It easily imports all the parts in seconds. Then hit the Nest button and it's all nested in seconds. Cut and paste the parts from one sheet to another if you want, adjust them, change what you want to do to them, adjust cutting order if you want, etc. Make the cut-file. Print labels and cut drawings. Then go cut the pieces. Very accurate. Simple to learn. And plenty fast process for me. And as mentioned above Ryan is very helpful with his CabinetPartsPro.

Everyone is different. But this is a process that works for me. It only involves two programs, each are easy to learn and set up and to use day to day. It's a practical solution for me. Maybe this will be of some help to you and others.

Terry

[terry]

By the way, has anyone heard anything from Mitch Cain about whats going on with his iCabinetShop?

[mgcain]

Hi Terry - I'm still here - still working on it - I got slowed down by the end of year death march at the Day Job and a cabinet job that came in as a "Fast Track" - Still getting some issues worked out and testing...