[henryblowery]

Which program would you pick for a person starting out in the CNC hobby with hopes of expanding his hobby to a business someday? BobCAD/CAM or Rhino with a separate CAM Program? If you choose "Other" please let me know which program you would go for, but keep in mind that I'm on a tight budget.

Gray.....who hopes this poll works.

[turmite]

henryblowery this is not an accurate poll due to the fact that Bobcad/cam is just that. It is cad and cam. Rhino is cad/modeling only unless you add cam to it. If you included one or more of the plugins for Rhino that gives you cam this would be a more accurate poll.

With that said, I'll go back and vote for Rhino but only with the caveat that a cam has to be added and my vote for that is Madcam.

Mike

[borrisl]

For the money I like BobCad. For a really nice CAM package I like SprutCAM.

[tobyaxis]

BobCad-Cam V21 on a tight budget. I've been using BCC since V17. Since then upgraded to V19, V20, V21, and next V22. BCC is a POWERFUL AFFORDABLE Software that keeps getting better and better.
Above all try as many demos for yourself!!!!!!!!! Only you will know what is best for your application. Your the only person that can make the decision of what is best for you.

[Guy Fuson]

I too have been using BobCad/Cam since V19 & 20.6, it has been a great program
for me and they keep getting better.

Guy

[lakeside]

Which program would you pick for a person starting out in the CNC hobby with hopes of expanding his hobby to a business someday? BobCAD/CAM or Rhino with a separate CAM Program? If you choose "Other" please let me know which program you would go for, but keep in mind that I'm on a tight budget.

Gray.....who hopes this poll works.

if you are just starting to learn cad/cam look at programs like sheetcam they are less than $200.You will learn the basis of wireframe and cam after you have learn this then move on to more advanced software.

[lakeside]

Also you can't compare Rhino to Bobcad other than the drawing package Rino is not a cam software it an add on package at many many dollars young man. But as far as drawing, Bobcad can draw just as good as Rhino I bet 95% of Rhino user would not notice any real deference unless you are doing advanced 3d..

[tobyaxis]

Also you can't compare Rhino to Bobcad other than the drawing package Rino is not a cam software it an add on package at many many dollars young man.But as far as drawing, Bobcad can draw just as good as Rhino for 95% of the user .

:wave: Don't Forget that BCC has Excellent Tech Support.

[cclark]

Which program would you pick for a person starting out in the CNC hobby with hopes of expanding his hobby to a business someday? BobCAD/CAM or Rhino with a separate CAM Program? If you choose "Other" please let me know which program you would go for, but keep in mind that I'm on a tight budget.

Gray.....who hopes this poll works.

I see that you are 14 years old. How tight is your budget? Are you looking at something just to do cool designs with, or looking for something to actually machine with also? What is your exact direction when you say a "hobby" that you might someday turn into a buisness?

[henryblowery]

Beep, beep, beep we have two "other"s without explanations.

For those of you who pointed out that Rhino doesn't have CAM,
I know that and I ment to ask everybody who voted for Rhino to let us know what CAM program you would use with it.

tobyaxis,
I tried to download the demo, but they wanted to much information. What's the name of your business...????????I don't have one yet. I can't remember, but I think they also wanted to know my phone # and home address. I'm sorry, but they can get that information when I buy the real thing and not before.

As ya'll can see from my profile I'm just a kid. I'm also homeschooled so I can get the student version of Rhino for $190. I haven't looked at many of the CAM programs, but I think they have discounted prices as well.

Getting Rhino and a separate CAM program might be a little more expensive, but BobCAD/CAM has a bad name over at PM so I'm kind of wavering......I feel like one of my sisters deciding which blouse to get.

Thanks for the help.

Gray

[tobyaxis]

tobyaxis,
I tried to download the demo, but they wanted to much information. What's the name of your business...????????I don't have one yet. I can't remember, but I think they also wanted to know my phone # and home address. I'm sorry, but they can get that information when I buy the real thing and not before.
Gray

If you don't try the software how will you know which one best fits your application? As far as giving a little information this is standard practice World Wide. It's not like handing out your SS#, it's a way for someone to see if the download went smoothly and if you have any questions on how to get started in using the Software. All Standard.

[henryblowery]

I see that you are 14 years old. How tight is your budget? Are you looking at something just to do cool designs with, or looking for something to actually machine with also? What is your exact direction when you say a "hobby" that you might someday turn into a buisness?

Yes, I'm 14 years old. I'm hoping to get every thing I need(software wise) for under $1000. Yes, I plan to do CNC machining.....I don't have enough money to blow several hundred dollers on a program just to make cool designs(wish I did though).

"What is your exact direction when you say a "hobby" that you might someday turn into a buisness?"

Well, I got into machining through guns.....I'm real into firearms and I decided to see how people made them. When I get skilled enough, I would like to make my own firearms from scratch(that's the hobby part).

When I get even better, I would like to make after market parts for firearms such as AR-15's and other things that are aimed for the home gunsmithing industry(is that the right word?).

I also have a friend who is into paint ball.....he might let me know what the paintball guys want and I can make it and he can market it .

We also have a place here(PM does as well) where people can request a quote...when I get better, I might be able to "bid" on some of those jobs(that's the business part).

Thanks again for the help.

Gray

[henryblowery]

If you don't try the software how will you know which one best fits your application? As far as giving a little information this is standard practice World Wide. It's not like handing out your SS#, it's a way for someone to see if the download went smoothly and if you have any questions on how to get started in using the Software. All Standard.

I don't want to sound rude or offensive but are you old enough to even be on this site? Sorry I had to ask.

"As far as giving a little information this is standard practice World Wide."

I didn't have to give out this information when I tried Rhino or any of the other programs. All I had to do was give them an email address and they've been checking up on me and answering all of my questions.....without needing to know my address and phone #

"I don't want to sound rude or offensive but are you old enough to even be on this site? Sorry I had to ask."

I'll ignore that. I belong on several forums, rarely do I try and conceal my age. There are always people who treat me like dirt because of my age, people that treat me like I'm 40, and people that help me out because of my age. I just tune out the first group and move on.

Gray

[tobyaxis]

"As far as giving a little information this is standard practice World Wide."

I didn't have to give out this information when I tried Rhino or any of the other programs. All I had to do was give them an email address and they've been checking up on me and answering all of my questions.....without needing to know my address and phone #

"I don't want to sound rude or offensive but are you old enough to even be on this site? Sorry I had to ask."

I'll ignore that. I belong on several forums, rarely do I try and conceal my age. There are always people who treat me like dirt because of my age, people that treat me like I'm 40, and people that help me out because of my age. I just tune out the first group and move on.

Gray

FYI I didn't treat you like dirt, and already gave you helpful information in a previous post.

[Death Adder]

Also you can't compare Rhino to Bobcad other than the drawing package Rino is not a cam software it an add on package at many many dollars young man. But as far as drawing, Bobcad can draw just as good as Rhino I bet 95% of Rhino user would not notice any real deference unless you are doing advanced 3d..

There isn't much of any comparison between the drawing in BCC and Rhino. The interface is totally different (in my opinion) and rhino is a much more open ended modeller. Not a whole lot compares to the ease of use of Rhino. Actual realtime shaded viewing is a real plus too. It's not a fun thing comparing virtually any CAD app to Rhino because it really is very good at what it does. It has a limited scope and they've done well making it do what it was meant to do (and that's draw 3D nurbs objects). Also, you must keep in mind that your 95% is very skewed because the majority of Rhino users are using it to do the advanced 3D stuff and so I'd say that MOST of the Rhino users will definately notice a big difference between the two. There's only one really good reason to use Rhino and thats doing advanced NURBS so you'll find most of the users using it for that purpose.

That having been said... It's a nurbs modeller. If you want it to do something else you might be out of luck. It does have some meshing support and supports line drawing and such but Autocad it is not. It's dimensioning leaves a lot to be desired and it's pretty much not associative at all. The associativity is starting to get there a bit in ver4 but it's nothing like SolidWorks and the like.

Like the original poster said, the educational version of rhino isn't really that terribly expensive. Rhino has the availability of cheap CAM add-ons. Does BobCAD also have an educational discount? If not then that's a major showstopper because it would make it MORE expensive than going the rhino route. If BobCAD does have educational pricing then it would be something to look into. That would give the poster some machining capabilities without added expense.

So the bottom line of this whole post is this: If 3D design is your goal then I would go with Rhino hands down. It's hard to beat it's features and the advanced visualization options. It's a very good learning tool to be able to see the surfaces as solids so that you can immediately see where any mistakes or weird areas are. But if machining is your goal then maybe BCC would be a better place to start. The better part for BCC is that it's very low level compared to other CAM products and so you will be forced to learn how to do things yourself rather than rely on software to do it. That's great for learning, not always so great when you already know what you are doing and what you want and you DO want the software to just spit out paths for you. Also, you will develop a more intimate relationship with GCODE by using BCC and it's never a bad idea to learn your G-Codes.

[Death Adder]

Keep in mind that if you plan to do work for people it would be naughty to use the educational version of software. Rhino is around 800 dollars to buy the commercial version. Adding CAM on top could get pricey. There are some free or cheap CAM apps for rhino but I haven't tried them. You could test them out and see how it goes.

BobCAD can be had for $500 if you are willing to talk to their sales people and haggle. Personally, BCC is not my favorite but plenty of people use it, you'll be able to get support from the company and on this forum, and it's cheap, cheap ,cheap.

Yes, I'm 14 years old. I'm hoping to get every thing I need(software wise) for under $1000. Yes, I plan to do CNC machining.....I don't have enough money to blow several hundred dollers on a program just to make cool designs(wish I did though).
Gray

[ger21]

FYI I didn't treat you like dirt, and already gave you helpful information in a previous post.

He didn't say you did.

[tobyaxis]

He didn't say you did.

I guess you think I work for BobCad? Actually I might just decide to do that or continue being a Programmer/Machinist. Just because someone knows just a tiny bit about something doesn't mean anything. You could say I work for Fanuc too. Death Adder Knows quite a bit about Rhino, that doesn't mean he works for them?

[henryblowery]

"FYI I didn't treat you like dirt, and already gave you helpful information in a previous post."

YOU haven't treated me like dirt but others have(on other boards). You have given me helpfull information on a couple previous posts....not just one and I am greatfull for that. I'll learn any thing from anyone that I can, but I'm not going to let "are you old enough for this site" bother me. I'll skip it and move on.

Death Adder,
Thanks for you very informative post. I'll take what you said into consideration.

I have asked them if it was ok to use the student version if I started a small business, and they said yes. All I have to do is buy the commercial upgrade when I'm not longer a student.

"
Quote:
Originally Posted by ger21
He didn't say you did.


I guess you think I work for BobCad? Actually I might just decide to do that or continue being a Programmer/Machinist. Just because someone knows just a tiny bit about something doesn't mean anything. You could say I work for Fanuc too. Death Adder Knows quite a bit about Rhino, that doesn't mean he works for them.

FYI: "Rules for MINORS on Public WebSites"
__________________"

What the heck?????? Where does he imply that you work for BobCAD/CAM?

Gray

[tobyaxis]

"FYI I didn't treat you like dirt, and already gave you helpful information in a previous post."

YOU haven't treated me like dirt but others have(on other boards). You have given me helpfull information on a couple previous posts....not just one and I am greatfull for that. I'll learn any thing from anyone that I can, but I'm not going to let "are you old enough for this site" bother me. I'll skip it and move on.

Death Adder,
Thanks for you very informative post. I'll take what you said into consideration.

I have asked them if it was ok to use the student version if I started a small business, and they said yes. All I have to do is buy the commercial upgrade when I'm not longer a student.

"
Quote:
Originally Posted by ger21
He didn't say you did.


I guess you think I work for BobCad? Actually I might just decide to do that or continue being a Programmer/Machinist. Just because someone knows just a tiny bit about something doesn't mean anything. You could say I work for Fanuc too. Death Adder Knows quite a bit about Rhino, that doesn't mean he works for them.

FYI: "Rules for MINORS on Public WebSites"
__________________"

What the heck?????? Where does he imply that you work for BobCAD/CAM?

Gray

By a joke I made in another post, which was actually quite funny. Enjoy yourself here and Learn as much as you can. If you have any questions about Tools or anything there are thousands of people in this Forum that are very smart and will be glad to help.