endpoint snaps how do they work or do they?

HI I am fairly new to this cnc fourm. I am one of the guys that bought Bobcad. I have a question on just something simple. it is about snaps, are they in the progam I draw a line and when I try to snap to that line say to draw another line. I cannot get it to snap to that line. This software to me is so far behind times. Heck I think the old dos version auto cad I used 20 yrs ago could snap to an endpoint. I found the selection masks and lood at the snap settings and it says endpoint is selected or highlited but I can not get it to snap to an end point. Now I can snap to an end point if I use the join comand.

Thanks Joe

Are you using V22?

I ve found its easier than you think, sometime Ive over thought it so much I get pissed. Do you have all the lessons on cd? I do.

Adam

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Originally Posted by Bigguy63

I am one of the guys that bought Bobcad. I have a question on just something simple.

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Yeah, there's only 6 of us here in the world. Glad to have 1 more!

Snaps are on your entites Each entity has a start, end and middle snap. The "Sketch tool" doesnt use snaps. Use one of the other modes or a spline tool. Shift clcik....To "See the Snaps". You can create more snap points by breaking/dividing entities.

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This software to me is so far behind times.

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If you spend a bit of time bringing yourself up to speed, you'll find that it's there.

If you have a file to attach, I could do some demonstration pictures for you.

Thanks I will give it a try and KNow I used 22 maybe 3 times. and was just so frustrated i just quit. But they got me again for the last time on this 23 so I thought I would try to give it a chance. I program all day at work with an other software. so it is tough. But I just tried to draw a circle at the end of a line to make like a tube and it would not snap to the end of the line so I will try what burman said.

thanks Joe

Joe, when I first opened and tried to use BobCad, comming from different softwares, I was lost also. It "appears" to not be able to do anything your used to and very primitive. But really it's only convention! So there is a learning curve to find "How it's done with this package". But I found it to be a very thin barrier. Little effort opened the door to how to make it work, but I did have to put that research effort in. It wont be apparent from "Other Conventions" that you know from other packages.

I hope thats words of encouragment. If you are willing to put just a bit of homework in, you can do some nice work with it.

Ask for help. There are a few who can help direct. Look at a couple free videos from the youtube "BobCad Support Channel". Seeing it makes things stand out.

Good luck.

Thanks again BurrMan I realize this is not going to be easy the only reason I got this software was I wanted the bob art back in version 21. and I do a little silver smiting and lost wax casting. I have a taig mill with 4 axis it is just a hobby. Lets see I build Plastic injection molds and run cncs all day so why come home and do it? LOL I guess the thought of creating something. But my biggest complaint is the having to hit esc/rhtcligk/select/ then pick the entity then/del.

LIke I said this is the last one for me. I just hang up now when they say bobcad !!!!!!

I found the mouse activity really odd at first. What do you select, when do you select it? Older versions were a mix of object->action and action->object and now it's all action->object which seems clumsy and inefficient at times (but consistent at least).

I guess it depends on what you're used to. I've never seen another app that requires so many clicks to get anything done. Regardless, you do get used to it and eventually it doesn't seem so bad. Then you forget about it and just get good at using the software. There is a method to the madness. A few keyboard shortcuts have helped a lot.

Steve

LOL. The action object STILL gets me all the time. You can see it in video's I've done! Steve is right on with the shortcuts. The spacebar was added as an "OK" by default in V23 which really points that out. A couple of Shorts for some of the viewport actions and the speed goes 10 fold.

We have the taig with a 4th also. Quite a machine! BobCad runs the 4th really well. Great for ring work. The newer BobArt is very cool also.

The shortcuts have made a big difference for me. <ctrl-b> for select, <ctrl-m> for measure, etc, etc. I still do a lot of clicking, but not nearly as much as before.

Yes, action->object still gets me. I miss object->action, where the geometry stays selected and you can chain operations together for more complex transformations. Maybe someday we'll get that back.

Anyone considering BobCAD or feeling frustrated with it should check out BurrMan's videos. He makes it look so easy! I've duplicated some of his complex parts in minutes after watching the videos and I couldn't believe how easy it was. The master!

Steve

Where do you find burrmans videos

Stevespro is giving too much credit. He is top notch with heavy stuff like scripting! Anyway, enough smoke....:eek:

I make a few as I go, some can be found in the BobCad forum. I think I've made a couple over here too. If you are having an issue or need help with something that I can answer, and it's too complicated or longwinded to try and post, or if I think many others can benefit from some visuals, I'll record myself doing it and post it.

Sean Owen from BobCad does this on the BobCad Support Channel on youtube. Just go to youtube and search for BobCad Suppot Channel, and it should bring up the site.

I tried to compile a list of any video's I've done in one place, as a one stop shop for teething, but unfortunately posting a page full of links in a forum like this draw's a bunch of attention and I had some tampering with my webspace so I took it off. (I found a couple guy's but once the servers start crossing into russia and china, I have to stop.)

Anyway......Is there anything in particular that you would like to see done with BobCad? I could point you towards one that covers it if i have done one. Or make a new one for you if needed.

Here's one that I enjoyed a lot and learned quite a bit from. I hope Burrman doesn't mind me posting the link here:

http://www.i386group.com/bobhuh/surf_fin/surf_fin.htm

I don't have them bookmarked or anything, but I wish I did. I just follow the BobCAD support forum and check them out when I see them. The youTube channel is a good place for instruction and you should work through the training videos when you get a chance.

Steve

Thanks Steve that was a good video and as far as what I want to see it only comes up when I am drawing and canot find it. I guess the big thing is getting used to the interface and how you do certain things. At work I use Solidworks and FeatureCam so I need to remember which program I am using. that is another question they said I can load solid works drawing into feature cam I brought a part file home and tried to load it and it always crashes the program any thoughts.
Thanks for all your help Joe

There is an update you need to get and do to your solidworks importer for BobCad. I dont remember it though, but if you go to the BobCad forum you can find it quick or ask. i think a search on user "allen123" will bring up the thread pretty quick as he just fixed that for another guy.

I looked I could not find a file that Allen123 did to fix the other persons instalation I can load a simple file but if I get into some of the complex parts we do I can not load it. and yes it is a part file not an assembly file.
So Allen123 if you are see this reply to me and let me know how to find your post on fixing my problem loading solidworks files.
Joe

Here's the edited version from 2 of Allen's posts on the BC Support site:

There is a fix to this.

You need to install the swdocumentmgr.dll from BobCAD's tech page

www.bobcad.com/tech

Bobcad support software correction files> swdocumentmgr.dll

Once you download this file it will fix the problem. The only think I can't remember is where to save it...

.....C:\Program Files\Common Files\Solidworks Shared

This is where the swdocumentmgr.dll file need to be saved at.