Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello  I am looking for anyones opinion for cam software for instrument building.  I 90 percent sure that I am going to use alibre for the cad side.  I have taken classes in solidworks ( a great program, but out of my price range.  the student software is available, but will only export a solid works part, thereby limiting the cam software that can use it) and alibre seems to have alot of the features at a price I can afford.  Right now I am trying to choose between mecsofts visualmill basic (about 875) or onecnc's mill express (about 1500) so anyones opinions on those programs or others in the 2000 and under range would be appreciated.  We have bobcad version 21 at work,  and both ends of the software don't work well for me.  If anyone has used the cam side of version 22, I would be curious how it works for you.

thanks

evan

I wasn't very fond of Alibre, but for CAD it's all about the person using it. All the guitar guys I know of use Rhino for CAD, but if you can do the work you want to do in the software you've chosen then each is as good as the next.

On the CAM side, I've used both Visual Mill and OneCNC. I thought Visual Mill was a pretty solid product, I'd call it MasterCAM Lite. OneCNC didn't have a downloadable demo until rather recently, only a 'video over web' demonstration. Their marketing is super slick, but once I got a demo version I was not really with the product.

Last I checked, there were demos available for both of them.

If you were using Rhino for CAD, I'd recommend looking into MADCAM as well. It's at the $2000 range for commercial, but the student versions of MadCAM and Rhino 4.0 combined are $400 and I'd consider that package superior to either of the other options.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

I use Rhino and RhinoCAM (RhinoCAM is the same thing as visual mill). RhinoCAM works well...especially considering the price. As Bob said, it is basically mastercam lite (at a lite cost).

Alibre seemed to be the cheapest parametric 3d modeler...but I wasn't impressed with the flow of the software. I use solidworks all day at work so I'm pretty used to parametric stuff. Rhino seemed more solid..and it is really geared well for surfacing necks, electric tops, etc...and is also really good for all of the artsy stuff.

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

It seems like everyone likes rhino.  If anyone knows where I could find some guitar orientated tutorials, please let me know.  I think I may purchase both the rhino and alibre student versions while I am still a student and evaluate that way. thanks and any other opinions on either of those cad programs will be appreciated

I'm pretty sure you can get downloadable demos of both of them, which is a lot cheaper than buying them both. The Rhino demo has everything functional, there's just a limit on saving files. I thought Alibre had a free version?

Also, the Rhino license is such that you can keep using it commercially after you are no longer a student and your license/support stays good. You'd have to pay commercial prices if/when you upgrade if you're no longer a student, but major upgrades are pretty rare (they're only on version 4 after many years in business)

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

FreeMill
Can't beat the price on this one. It's the free version of VisualMill. Not sure about it's limitations.
Nelson

FreeMill is pretty limited...I've also checked that out..

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

FreeMill is essentially just planar finishing which is sort of limiting. If one were really cash strapped, though, they could program the contour of the part manually and use FreeMill to generate the parallel finish path.

I could definitely see the utility for someone with enough time to learn some basic geometry (so they can program contours with arcs manually) and a cash limit.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Hello All,

I am new here, but not a stranger to CNC. For CAM software, I use MasterCam, but it is not the cheapest program in the world. if you understand the concepts of machining, a program like Visual Mill 6, is a great package! It will not break the bank, and for guitar machining it is all you need! (http://www.mecsoft.com/Mec/)

Alibre is a great software package, and I was very surprised how similar it is to solidworks (I use Solidworks 2008). Since you mentioned it, have a looksy here:

http://www.cncguitar.org:7171

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-CyborgCNC
http://www.cncguitar.com
https://www.facebook.com/CncGuitar

I had been playing with the demo versions of several programs. The two CAM programs that keep coming up as good ones over int he CNC forum is RhinoCAM and BobCAM. I downloaded a demo of BobCAM and before I could even get it installed, one of their sales people called me. We had a lengthy discussion of the features and my needs, and I was able to get it at a price I couldnt refuse. In with the deal was the ArtCAM and all of the training DVDs too. Pricing was about 10 cents on the dollar for their advertised retail prices.

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Reguards,

Ken H