Re: BobCad Vs. Visual Mill. Which one to Buy.
Sorry to drag this up again! I am putting together a CNC 10x22 lathe (Grizzly G0602) and looking for a lathe CAM solution. While I'm at it, I thought I might take a look at various vendor's 3D milling CAM solutions too - I currently use VCarvePro for my 2-1/2D work but starting to do more 3D work that it can't support. So, it makes sense to look at 3D CAM solutions at the same time.
I am confused by DareBee's comment on pricing. Looking at BobCAD and VisualCAM pricing today (it is great that they both put their pricing on-line), BobCAD is much more expensive than VisualMill:
BC lathe: $1995
VM lathe: $1250
BC 3 axis mill: $2495
VM Standard $1250 (this seems to be the best apples-to-apples comparison to BC 3 axis)
I am a RhinoCAD user so the VM integration with Rhino is compelling. I've contacted VM for a demo of their products.
I've also looked at/demo'd SprutCAM and was very impressed with it's interface and feature set. It is in the same pricing ball park as VM - at least list prices. I gather that BC will reduce the price to make a sale. Not sure about VM. SprutCAMAmerica claims "no hassle pricing" (like the old Saturn cars) so I assume there is no wiggle room on pricing with them.
regards,
Michael
Reelsmith, Angling Historian, and Author of "The Reelsmith's Primer"
www.EclecticAngler.com | www.ReelLinesPress.com