To answer my own email, I just looked at Freemill and it's almost a total waste of time. You can't do more than a single pass, and now it keeps on crashing... Did'nt seem to allow me to use mm/min feed either, even though the part was selected as metric.
I used Sprutcam a few years ago too, and it was great as a trial, but the main problem with it was the intelligence it applied on successive passes. If you had a 2mm cavity somewhere on the part, and did a 3mm roughing pass, and then a 1mm finishing pass, it would simply dig into the 2mm cavity without appreciating all the uncut material there. One would have to use laborious work-arounds, usually after breaking the bit. Regards Roland On 22 March 2010 11:14, Roland Jollivet <roland.jolli...@gmail.com> wrote: > > And of course, Freemill at Mecsoft... (maybe already mentioned) > > http://www.mecsoft.com/freemill.shtml > > Unless you are doing work that has specific requirements, aim for CAD > products that generate, and CAM that import .stl files. They are simple > triangle files, versatile, and you can usually increase the resolution > during generation to well beyond the resolution of your milling machine. > > Apparently .stl is frowned on in the 'real world' as a machining source, > but I think it's great. Converting parasolids between packages often > requires a myriad of variables to be set up, and don't be surprised if you > find parts of your assembly 'off the page'. > > Roland > > > > > On 22 March 2010 10:46, <a...@conceptmachinery.com> wrote: > >> Hi >> I think Pro-E for $5K is only designer and will not generate any g-code. >> Pro-e Manufacturing is total different and only Pro-E manyfacturing >> generates g-code and it may cost around $15.K for Mill only. >> i may be wrong, need call to PTC directly >> >> There are Pro-E Mechanical for model stresses analysis and it is another >> package. >> I think good alternative for Pro-E is Rhino and Rhino is best for 3D >> surface design. http://www.rhino3d.com/4/newfeatures.htm >> Price for Rhino about $900.0 but if you instructor you can buy commercial >> Rhino for only $250.00. >> Rhino has nurbe designer that none of other packages (Pro-e, Mastercam, >> CATIA) have. >> this what i use for CAM http://www.mecsoft.com/ >> All together was $1600.00 >> thanks >> Aram >> >> >> >> > >> > On Mar 21, 2010, at 8:41 PM, Mike Payson wrote: >> > >> >> Ries, >> >> >> >> Thanks for the recommendation. At $5k, Pro-E is pretty spendy for my >> >> needs, but it looks like they do offer a non-commercial version for >> >> $250. Might be worth considering. >> >> >> >> >> http://store.ptc.com/DRHM/servlet/ControllerServlet?Action=DisplayProductDetailsPage&SiteID=ptc&Locale=en_US&Env=BASE&productID=107381300 >> >> >> >> Mike >> > >> > Mike, >> > >> > PRO is indeed a bit pricy, bit not more proxy then let's say SW. >> > If it's part of your daily job making parts that look the same. They >> > can be build using the same PRO model. >> > PRO will generate new g-code files without you as a user muddling with >> > creating the tool paths, >> > assigning the correct bits and what not, it's almost on the press of a >> > button... >> > >> > PRO-E can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but so far as a hobbiest I >> > have reasonable good experiences with it. >> > >> > Ries >> > >> > >> >> >> >> On Sun, Mar 21, 2010 at 5:32 PM, Ries van Twisk <e...@rvt.dds.nl> >> >> wrote: >> >>> >> >>> On Mar 21, 2010, at 7:17 PM, Mike Payson wrote: >> >>> >> >>>> None of these are Open Source, and non work natively with Linux, but >> >>>> since those requirements weren't mentioned in your question, only in >> >>>> the notes you linked to, I'll ignore them in my response. :-) >> >>>> >> >>>> Nobody seems to have mentioned CamBam. It has a bit of a learning >> >>>> curve, but it has a ton of power for it's price. >> >>>> http://www.cambam.info/ >> >>>> >> >>>> At work we use Visual Mill. It's very easy to use if you are coming >> >>>> from a solid model, so it works great with Alibre CAD (which is only >> >>>> $197) or another solid modeler (Rhino, Solidworks, Pro-E). You can >> >>>> also work from DXFs with it, but it loses many of it's benefits if >> >>>> you >> >>>> do. Visual Mill starts at $1k, but it does have a pretty good >> >>>> feature >> >>>> set for the price. http://www.mecsoft.com/ >> >>> >> >>> I tried cambam but found the free version very buggy, the non free >> >>> version seems to be >> >>> much more solid, I would properly buy it if it was not that there >> >>> sales website is down.. >> >>> >> >>> Pro/E has a build in g-code generator, compatible with EMS, or at >> >>> least for the 3 axis what I have been using so far. >> >>> It's extremely powerful and modifies the G-code even after the model >> >>> has been changed, parametric to the power!!! >> >>> It's does have some learning curve though, but you benefit from if if >> >>> you make the same part in different configurations (sizes or family >> >>> tables). >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> Ries >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> > Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval >> > Try the new software tools for yourself. Speed compiling, find bugs >> > proactively, and fine-tune applications for parallel performance. >> > See why Intel Parallel Studio got high marks during beta. >> > http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-sw-dev >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Emc-users mailing list >> > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net >> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users >> > >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval >> Try the new software tools for yourself. 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