Yet another CAM software question..

Hi.
I'm sorry to ask what seems to be one of the most common questions around here. But every need is special, so I'm hoping for some answers on this for my setup/use.


My use.
Woodworking: nesting plywood/mdf, sign making, shaping wood in 3D, double sided routing.
Metalworking: Milling aluminium/acrylic/etc, small parts/gadgets/inventions/prototypes
Probably a 4th axis later (my controller already handles 4 axis)


My setup:
CNC-Step High Z T-1000
Prototools Prototype in House - Heiz T-1000 CNC Machine (with 5-Channel Controller)
High-Z Turbo — CNC STEP USA


I'm all new to the exciting world of CNC. I've always modeled my woodworking projects in Inventor and/or AutoCad, so I think I'll handle the CAD part. The CAM part is all new to me though.


Going the Inventor/HSM Works path is way out of my budget. 2.5D is free, but 3D costs a leg and an arm, and I don't even think I'll have access to Inventor in the future.


I bought Vectric vCarve Pro to get me going. It's really easy to use for sign making and nested 2D/2.5D cuts. But I know I will need 3D routing, so I tought I'd upgrade to Vectric Asipre. Coming from the AutoCad/Inventor corner I feel that Aspire is a little bit too "artsy" for my taste. Of course I don't master Aspire after using the trial version for a couple of weeks, but I do find it hard to make "real" dimensioned drawings. And the 3D part of Aspire is kind of a bitmap concept, which I'm not very comfortable with precision vise.


So, I downloaded Rhino a couple of days ago, and I already like it. Nurbs is new to me, but they seem to enter my head quite easily.


Now for the software part:
I'll go the Rhino path. I think it will serve me well.


As for CAM I'm thinking of either MadCAM or RhinoCAM. Or maybe even Visual Mill (i.e. RhinoCAM but separate from Rhino).


MadCAM is interesting because of the price (compared to HSM Works) and I also like that MadCAM is Swedish, like me.
I read a lot about Aspire being awesome and easy to use. Should I give it another try?
Visual Mill is on the list because I might be able to use my Inventor models easier that way. Or would it be easy enough to import the Inventor models into Rhino and use CAM from within Rhino?


I would also like to know what features I would need from MadCAM och RhinoCAM. Booth of them puts "remachining" in non-entry level version. Do I need remachining? (probably not since I don't even know what it is)


Either way I would probably start with an entry level 3 axis version since I don't even know if I'll buy a 4th axis.


Nothing is decided yet. Feel free to turn every thought upside down if you think I'm on the wrong path.


I'd like to squeeze booth CAD and CAM into a budget of approx 2,000 - 2,500 USD. I haven't found any prices for RhinoCAM. It might be out of my budget..


Enough with stupid newbie questions for now.
Hoping for some enlightening answers.


//Michael

It sounds like RhinoCAM would be a good choice for what you have in mind, since you seem to get along with Rhino. This would give you full 3D capabilities that you could use with your 3-axis machine as well as strong 2.5D functionality. If you have a lot of legacy Inventor files, getting the 7-day license for Inventor Import would probably make sense, so you could store them all as Rhino native 3DM files: Download Inventor Import for Rhino - Buy Inventor file import plug-in for Rhinoceros Once you had them open in Rhino, the RhinoCAM plugin would do all the CAM work from there, within the same workspace.

Rhino plusRhinoCAM Standard would be at the top end of your stated budget at list price, and at the low end if you got it from us. If you decided you needed re-machining or 4th axis capabilities, you can always upgrade to a higher version.

Hi Michael

I'm a current Vectric Aspire user. It sounds like we have similar business interests, most of our work is on our 3-axis 1500mm x 4000mm flatbed router and consists of a lot of sign work.

However we are also 3D focused and have been producing a lot of low profile moulds for local fiberglassers with very good results, until very recently.

Most of the parts we have cut in the past have either been low profile or had a "draft angle" placed on them by us from within Aspire and have turned out just fine. However we recently ran a mould for a jetski and very quickly ran into problems with all the near vertical faces. being a bitmap or pixel based software it very quickly loses accuracy in those areas and the larger the part/model the worse it gets as the amount of pixels available are finite and we begin seeing artifacts all over these edges. it wasn't a total disaster, but it was far from the desired result. And although the overall result was indeed a jetski, there is a lot of sanding and "making fair" to be done that should have been avoided.

Being very new to all of this myself I was perhaps a little over eager and most definitely should have done more homework before purchasing Aspire. That said, I am extremely happy with Aspire in every other area of use. it's a wonderfully simple but powerful piece of software. It's just not up to the task for true 3d machining. I also have Cut 3D which is their stand alone 3D software, but it suffers from the same basic flaw, bitmap/pixel based rather than solids based.

I am now myself on a quest for affordable solids based 3d CAM software. I don't have a CAD background and certainly don't have the budget for delcam or solidworks products so I would love to hear what you come up with.

kind regards,

Rick