[SteveS]

I really don't think the controller is the problem. It's a limitation of the CAM programs. In Fusion for instance, many times I am asking myself why it just made a particular move, I'm sure other CAM programs are similar.

Jim,
I am amazed with Fusion CAM sometimes, I was milling a series of exactly the same circle pockets in a piece and it jumped around rather than going to the one just next to it.

Back in my work life I would go to shops that machined the dies for larger injection mold parts. The machines were larger than my backyard shed. I remember them having a "specialist" come to them from the machine OEM when all the design was complete to optimize everything. Cutting time was a week or more per half, cost me $300k or more. They were more concerned with time than me it seemed since they had a backlog for the CNC stations.

One big difference I believe is that most companies that make CNC machines for under $250,000 do not employ dedicated system engineers and only focus on generic CNC machines. They have engineers, but the synergy of the different functions from gcode to cutting is done from catalogs and not actual design specifications for end customer satisfaction. Engineering of the structure and mechanical movement being different. In my case and several others I know of, the machine OEM pushes complaints of performance (other than actual failures) at software, material or unrealistic customer expectation (even if they show pictures of such expectations on their PR gallery pages). In my case the tech support has no background in Fusion or any Autodesk product, so always "must be them".

Steve.