[L.Kiefer]

I am typically very tolerant to software issues, knowing that it is inevitable that one of the computer savvy people writing the code for the software may and will overlook some minor details. I have been working with Cad-Cam software since my early days as an apprentice toolmaker some 20 years ago. I am not a practicing engineer, Toolmaker and business owner. With that said, I feel as if It is my duty to all my fellows out there to record some of the Issues I have had with BobCad-Cam in the past 3 weeks. I think that others should be aware of these issues as that have cost me a lot of money that I cannot get back. And I mean a LOT. Please feel free to add to this list if you have any issues with this software.

Issue 1 - # 3 axis Z Level rough. I Programmed this feature to mill .5 deep, taking .025 cuts with a 1/2" EM. Selecting all geometry. Looked good in the simulation. I looked it over like a hawk looking for field mice. Well, to my surprise, when I milled the actual part, BAM!!! BobCam sent my end mill right through a wall at the end pass. Yup, nowhere in the simulation did it show this.....Only when I had the tool paths highlighted and zoomed up extremely close and looked through the web of tool paths did I see one stray one going through my part. Remember, it did not show as a collision in the simulation. I sent the file to BobCad-Cam support, and guess what......My feedback was "Sorry Mr. Kiefer, It is a glitch in the software" Well, that glitch scrapped a part that I had about $2500 bucks into. This does not include the time to set this back up, the cost of the material, and the NEW material, the broken end mill and the overtime I had to pay in order to get the job out the door on time now......

To end this, I will say, I have a few more stories about BobCad-Cam and BobCad-Cam support just from the past three weeks alone that have cost me more money. I will share more in time. My intention is not to bash a company, but simply to warn other individuals like methat don't like to loose money. With the cash I have lost using this software, I could have purchased a seat of high end cam software. (translation.....reputable cam software.)

[L.Kiefer]

Issue 2

Today marks the second time in the past two weeks I have been advised by BobCam-Cad to Uninstall BobCad-Cam, then re install it due to a "Faulty install" Or "Glitch"

(Uninstall + Re install) x 2 = More $$$ spent

[The Engine Guy]

That`s rough, sorry to hear that.


Which simulation did you run ? ? The basic "Verify" often misses a few things, best to always if you have it run the Predator Editor Level2 backplotter, over the years of using numerous versions of BobCAD I have not come across anything the Level 2 backplotter failed to simulate correctly.
I have often run stuff on the Verify that looked OK but produced "crop circles" or worse in the backplotter.
It has always been one of the options that I for one have thought was great value for the money as it is running directly from the generated code, I have even used the Predator backplotter to check code from other sources by adding a Predator header with the correct tooling and stock info in it and found errors in the code.

Oh, BTW, I have used some other much "higher end" softwares and have had the odd "incident" with them as well, none of them are perfect I`m afraid and even with years of experience of using CadCAM softwares it`s still not a guarantee that the human part of the equation will pick up everything.

Even mold programs that run for many hours I always "dry run" in wood or foam if I can spare the machine time.

I know this doesn`t help you much now but might in the future

Regards
Rob
:rainfro::rainfro::rainfro:

.

[L.Kiefer]

Your input on the Preditor editor Level2 backplot seems like a good option. Does this actually show a toolpath similation?

Although this check is a good idea, it is still a bummer that the 3 axis z level rough has a glitch in it. It would be a very useful toolpath. Unfortunately, I will not be using that again as I got burned pretty bad with it.

I do agree with everything you stated, however in my experience with Mcam and Camworks, even though they have issues as well, I have never seen an issue where a tool rams right through a wall (unless of course it was my fault) (chair)

At this point if this software does not prove to be useful soon, I will be forced to move on to Cam works. The extra money that it costs is a wash since BobCad-Cam to date is costing me money every time I use it due to errors and glitches.

Thank you very much for your feedback. I appreciate it.

[CNCdude]

Dear L. Kiefer,
I see that you have been a customer since 2005. We appreciate that and we are looking into things as I write this. One fact that we have discovered through working with thousands of part files both native to SolidWorks and not is that imported part models can sometimes be quite nasty. In some cases even surface healing functionality misses bad surfaces. At this time our support department is reviewing your case records and will be in touch with you shortly.
Chris Corbell
CNCdude

[The Engine Guy]

Your input on the Preditor editor Level2 backplot seems like a good option. Does this actually show a toolpath similation?

Although this check is a good idea, it is still a bummer that the 3 axis z level rough has a glitch in it. It would be a very useful toolpath. Unfortunately, I will not be using that again as I got burned pretty bad with it.

I do agree with everything you stated, however in my experience with Mcam and Camworks, even though they have issues as well, I have never seen an issue where a tool rams right through a wall (unless of course it was my fault) (chair)

At this point if this software does not prove to be useful soon, I will be forced to move on to Cam works. The extra money that it costs is a wash since BobCad-Cam to date is costing me money every time I use it due to errors and glitches.

Thank you very much for your feedback. I appreciate it.

Yes, the Predator Level 2 will draw/show the tool path as lines as it runs, it will also run a full solid simulation that is much better than the basic Verify, also with a little extra work you can create in BobCAD your own vices, clamps and even machine bed etc using STL files that can be called up using the header in your G code so you can have all the benefits of being able to watch the toolpath being actually drawn and see the part cut accurately directly from the code.

For more info have a watch at this short video that really shows some of the benefits of the Level 2.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_CFg1qr6V8&feature=related]BobCAD-CAM CNC Predator Editor Software - YouTube[/ame]

Regards
Rob
:rainfro::rainfro::rainfro:

.

[Sowen]

Mr. Kiefer,

Yes, there does seem to be a problem with the model & part program submitted . . You do have our apologies.

The issue seems to be with imported geometry (not native solid-works data). Be it the geometry or the tool-path, The part gouges this would be a bug whatever the reason. Potentially the imported part seems to be the culprit. This could be a problem with the any of the following..

1. The imported files data
2. The solidworks import
3. The BobCAD toolpath.

The reasons are yet to be determined and will be handled by our dev team.

The problem seems to only be specific to this model and otherwise not reproducible (even with other imported data), that leads me to believe the issue was with the Imported file.

I do fully understand your frustration.. Problems like this cost time and money. No software is without flaw.. If the issue is with our software or another. The best you can hope for is a company that responds to your their issue(s) and works quickly to resolve them .

We are doing our best to get to the bottom of this issue. And will let you know when we have a resolve for you.

On this part as a work around so you can complete your program , there are two ways to handle this...

1. You can create solidworks features and eliminate the imported data.

OR
2. Convert the entities into 2d sketches and program off of them . (Pocket and profile would be the correct way to go with this part anyway.)

My apologies ,


Sean Owen
Support & Services Exec.
BobCAD-CAM Inc.
877-262-2231

[Machineit]

Yes, the Predator Level 2 will draw/show the tool path as lines as it runs, it will also run a full solid simulation that is much better than the basic Verify, also with a little extra work you can create in BobCAD your own vices, clamps and even machine bed etc using STL files that can be called up using the header in your G code so you can have all the benefits of being able to watch the toolpath being actually drawn and see the part cut accurately directly from the code.

For more info have a watch at this short video that really shows some of the benefits of the Level 2.


.

I got Predator for just the same reason, mistakes will be made(some by me and some by the program) and I can see the problems with the Predator software.

I would like to use the STL feature, but can't get it to work. Do I have to store the "part.STL" files in a certain place for the header to see/find them?

Mike

[Sowen]

Yes , Save the STL to ..

C:\Program Files (x86)\Predator Software\Common Files\Stock

Also if in Vitual the files still do not show , type the name of the file to the dialouge (sometimes the pathe needs forced.). If you should still have trouble call us in support. This should work.

[BurrMan]

The simulation/verify verify's the toolpath generated. If the "Verify" is good, then a good toolpath has been generated.. The predator editor backplot, verify's the "Code" generated by the post processor. A post processor can do harm to a properly generated toolpath. Sounds like BobCad is looking at the file. I'de like to see it. Attach your file and post processor here.

[EDIT] Ooop's. cant look at the file (BobCAD v2) but would still like to see the post processor.

[Machineit]

Yes , Save the STL to ..

C:\Program Files (x86)\Predator Software\Common Files\Stock

Also if in Vitual the files still do not show , type the name of the file to the dialouge (sometimes the pathe needs forced.). If you should still have trouble call us in support. This should work.

type the name of the file to the dialouge????????????????????????????????

Where???

[The Engine Guy]

type the name of the file to the dialouge????????????????????????????????

Where???

Mike

The name of the file should automatically appear in the save as box but you need to have already saved your BobCAD file out having named it.

See the attached images, might help a little.



Sorry, I forgot to say you need to make sure the file names don`t have any spaces, my mistake, meant I had to put an underscore between the SIMPLE_SOLID as here.

I have my Post processor setup to generate those three lines for every job and if I need any extra I can easily put them in when the code is in the Preditor environment. If the original "S BOX" line is left in the SSTL lines will be ignored so you don`t need to keep taking them out and putting them back in all the time.

Regards
Rob
:rainfro::rainfro::rainfro:

.

[Machineit]

Mike

Sorry, I forgot to say you need to make sure the file names don`t have any spaces, my mistake, meant I had to put an underscore between the SIMPLE_SOLID as here.

Regards
Rob

Thanks, that did it. I took out the space and put in a dash and it worked fine.

Thanks---Mike

P.S.: I do recommend getting Predator level 2 for verifying your parts.

[L.Kiefer]

Mr. Kiefer,

Yes, there does seem to be a problem with the model & part program submitted . . You do have our apologies.

The issue seems to be with imported geometry (not native solid-works data). Be it the geometry or the tool-path, The part gouges this would be a bug whatever the reason. Potentially the imported part seems to be the culprit. This could be a problem with the any of the following..

1. The imported files data
2. The solidworks import
3. The BobCAD toolpath.

The reasons are yet to be determined and will be handled by our dev team.

The problem seems to only be specific to this model and otherwise not reproducible (even with other imported data), that leads me to believe the issue was with the Imported file.

I do fully understand your frustration.. Problems like this cost time and money. No software is without flaw.. If the issue is with our software or another. The best you can hope for is a company that responds to your their issue(s) and works quickly to resolve them .

We are doing our best to get to the bottom of this issue. And will let you know when we have a resolve for you.

On this part as a work around so you can complete your program , there are two ways to handle this...

1. You can create solidworks features and eliminate the imported data.

OR
2. Convert the entities into 2d sketches and program off of them . (Pocket and profile would be the correct way to go with this part anyway.)

My apologies ,


Sean Owen
Support & Services Exec.
BobCAD-CAM Inc.
877-262-2231

Sean,
Thank you very much for your efforts and your reply. I have managed to work around this issue bu simply using the 2d pocketing routine and creating some Solidworks geometry. In the end I was very pleased with the way bobcam performed. You are correct in stating that all software has bugs. as long as BobCad-Cam and its team are willing to step forward, acknowledge this and fix the errors, I am willing to stick with them. With this issue, you guys have hit a home run. Thanks again. I just watched those particular parts go out the door to my customer. All is well.

[L.Kiefer]

Dear L. Kiefer,
I see that you have been a customer since 2005. We appreciate that and we are looking into things as I write this. One fact that we have discovered through working with thousands of part files both native to SolidWorks and not is that imported part models can sometimes be quite nasty. In some cases even surface healing functionality misses bad surfaces. At this time our support department is reviewing your case records and will be in touch with you shortly.
Chris Corbell
CNCdude

Chris,
I wanted to reach out to you simply to say thank you for stepping up to the plate and calling me personally yesterday to reassure me of the effort being put into this issue. This alone say's a LOT about your company and the team behind it all. I also want to than you for the predictor software. I am looking forward to test running this. I am sure this will help prevent further "crashes". Once again, thank you.

For those who are following this thread, Chris is an employee of BobCam-Cad who read my post, and immediately called me to offer assistance, and assure me that him and his team are working to fix these issues I have posted. A company is only as good as the team it employs, Keep up the good work guys