Super Draft CAD/CAM (UK based) anyone familiar with ?

Milacron · Feb 25, 2010

Alpha Link version came with 1999 Harrison CNC lathe (with Fanuc 21iT control) Simple CAM software for desktop programming. Ex owners found dongle but lost floppy disk and trying to decide if upgrade (about $250) to latest version might be worth the cost.

www.superdraft.co.uk

gregormarwick · Feb 25, 2010

If they were stuck with an older harrison alpha that was g-code crippled like my dad's '97 model then it's the only option. However I'm thinking that the 1999 alphas could be operated like any other fanuc 21iT if so desired, in which case I'd say don't waste the money. Unless it's a massive departure from the alpha link version 3 that my dad has then it's a horrendous piece of software. Version 3 uses ridiculously archaic mouse control (hold middle button to move the cursor :confused:

) and can't even do threading. Have to switch out of cam mode and do that manually at the control. I'm sure the current windows version uses normal mouse control, but still. Crap.

Milacron · Feb 25, 2010

gregormarwick said:
However I'm thinking that the 1999 alphas could be operated like any other fanuc 21iT if so desired, in which case I'd say don't waste the money.

Correct, this one has the standard Fanuc 21iT keyboard as well as the Harrison keypad and can be used either way. (I wouldn't have bought the lathe otherwise) 1999 was apparently the introduction of that feature as I notice other 330S machines for sale on the net that are 1998 vintage and do not have the Fanuc keypad.

On that consideration, what would anyone here recommend as an alternative inexpensive CAM package for a simple (no turret..just one tool post) CNC lathe such as this ?

TonyOW31 · Feb 26, 2010

Milacron said:
Correct, this one has the standard Fanuc 21iT keyboard as well as the Harrison keypad and can be used either way. (I wouldn't have bought the lathe otherwise) 1999 was apparently the introduction of that feature as I notice other 330S machines for sale on the net that are 1998 vintage and do not have the Fanuc keypad.

On that consideration, what would anyone here recommend as an alternative inexpensive CAM package for a simple (no turret..just one tool post) CNC lathe such as this ?

The upgrade is a waste of money, the standard cam package is as good as you will get for not a lot of money, if you want better, it will cost more than $250.
I can send you a copy of the original floppy if you are desperate.

Milacron · Feb 26, 2010

TonyOW31 said:
The upgrade is a waste of money, the standard cam package is as good as you will get for not a lot of money, if you want better, it will cost more than $250.
I can send you a copy of the original floppy if you are desperate.

Thanks. Late yesterday the Super Draft fellow took pity and emailed me the original DOS program for free....but I can't quite figure out how to get it to actually display on my computer. I suspect it simply won't display on a newer computer with Vista. If that is the case, how far back do I have to go...Windows 95 ?

What year was your SDraft floppy made ?

gregormarwick · Feb 26, 2010

I've run it on XP, should run on vista too. You need to run it from the command prompt. The only thing that won't work is serial comms as windows will block it.

Admin5 · Feb 26, 2010

gregormarwick said:
The only thing that won't work is serial comms as windows will block it.

serial comms = ?

TonyOW31 · Feb 26, 2010

Milacron said:
Thanks. Late yesterday the Super Draft fellow took pity and emailed me the original DOS program for free....but I can't quite figure out how to get it to actually display on my computer. I suspect it simply won't display on a newer computer with Vista. If that is the case, how far back do I have to go...Windows 95 ?

What year was your SDraft floppy made ?

I run it on xp, I don't have to run from command prompt, I just double click the icon and it opens in a dos window. I don't know if it will run under vista though. Under xp the serial coms work fine.
My copy is the 1998 version, I bought the upgrade in 2006, but still use the original version.

TonyOW31 · Feb 26, 2010

Admin5 said:
serial comms = ?

I don't know about your particular machine, but the only way of getting any program in to mine is through rs323 serial, your later version may have a floppy drive?

len_1962 · Feb 26, 2010

TonyOW31 said:
I run it on xp, I don't have to run from command prompt, I just double click the icon and it opens in a dos window. I don't know if it will run under vista though. Under xp the serial coms work fine.
My copy is the 1998 version, I bought the upgrade in 2006, but still use the original version.

Win 95, yes, Win 98 may or may not, you might have to run it in safe mode to get the program to run. we have to do that with the old servo retro on our bridgeport mill.

TonyOW31 · Feb 26, 2010

len_1962 said:
Win 95, yes, Win 98 may or may not, you might have to run it in safe mode to get the program to run. we have to do that with the old servo retro on our bridgeport mill.

Sorry Len, I don't quite get what you are saying?

Admin5 · Feb 26, 2010

TonyOW31 said:
I don't know about your particular machine, but the only way of getting any program in to mine is through rs323 serial, your later version may have a floppy drive?

Yes, that confused me as well, since if serial comm=serial communication, then that would be a deal breaker if that didn't "work", as how would you get your completed CAM into the machine otherwise ? :confused:

(no floppy on this Harrison either)

Milacron

gregormarwick · Feb 26, 2010

TonyOW31 said:
I run it on xp, I don't have to run from command prompt, I just double click the icon and it opens in a dos window. I don't know if it will run under vista though. Under xp the serial coms work fine.
My copy is the 1998 version, I bought the upgrade in 2006, but still use the original version.

The version I tried was from 1996 and had to be run from the command prompt because it was a launched from a poorly written batch file that made a lot of assumptions about the directory heirarchy and such like. Don't know if the later versions are similar or not.

Also my memory may be sketchy since it was a couple of years ago now, but one version of windows I tried it on certainly blocked access to the serial ports from legacy programs running inside the command prompt. In retrospect that may have been vista and not xp.

Is your 2006 version the windows version? My dad has been considering the upgrade since the original version is genuinely quite useless. Can the new version do screwcutting?

TonyOW31 · Feb 27, 2010

Admin5 said:
Yes, that confused me as well, since if serial comm=serial communication, then that would be a deal breaker if that didn't "work", as how would you get your completed CAM into the machine otherwise ?

(no floppy on this Harrison either)

Milacron

To use the serial comms for anything later than win98 you need another proprietary harrison program called alpha link, when installed it becomes serioalpha, and handles the program transfer from the pc end.

TonyOW31 · Feb 27, 2010

gregormarwick said:
The version I tried was from 1996 and had to be run from the command prompt because it was a launched from a poorly written batch file that made a lot of assumptions about the directory heirarchy and such like. Don't know if the later versions are similar or not.

Also my memory may be sketchy since it was a couple of years ago now, but one version of windows I tried it on certainly blocked access to the serial ports from legacy programs running inside the command prompt. In retrospect that may have been vista and not xp.

Is your 2006 version the windows version? My dad has been considering the upgrade since the original version is genuinely quite useless. Can the new version do screwcutting?

Thinking back, I had the same problems with the command prompt, I hacked the batch file and made it recognise my directory structure.
Regarding the serial port access harrison released a new alpha link program to address the problem.
The version I bought in 2006 was the windows version, it is not really an upgrade, it only offers the same functionality as the original dos program, but it does give a few icon based functions instead if the previous menus, but the end result is exactly the same. There is no screwcutting function. I reverted back to the dos program because the windows version was not very consistent in its code output.

Milacron · Feb 27, 2010

TonyOW31 said:
The version I bought in 2006 was the windows version, it is not really an upgrade, it only offers the same functionality as the original dos program, but it does give a few icon based functions instead if the previous menus, but the end result is exactly the same. There is no screwcutting function. I reverted back to the dos program because the windows version was not very consistent in its code output.

Does the Windows version at least "look" nicer ? I've never seen either in real life but the photo of it in the 1999 Harrison brochure it looks pretty crude appearance wise... letters and drawings heavily pixelated like a video game from 1985.

TonyOW31 · Mar 1, 2010

Milacron said:
Does the Windows version at least "look" nicer ? I've never seen either in real life but the photo of it in the 1999 Harrison brochure it looks pretty crude appearance wise... letters and drawings heavily pixelated like a video game from 1985.

Yeah, it looks a bit nicer than the dos version, but it's still rubbish.

Milacron · Mar 2, 2010

gregormarwick said:
Can the new version do screwcutting?

You can (free) download the 25 page Windows Alpha Link training manual here www.superdraft.co.uk/alphalink/alpha.htm

I don't see any mention of threading in there. Sooo, considering I have the Fanuc 21i at my disposal, what would be better than Superdraft Alpha Link but still as low price as possible ? Dare I think (shudder)...Bobcad ?

inti1er · Jul 10, 2017

TonyOW31 said:
The upgrade is a waste of money, the standard cam package is as good as you will get for not a lot of money, if you want better, it will cost more than $250.
I can send you a copy of the original floppy if you are desperate.

this is a long shot on an old post...
but, might you still be willing to part with a copy of that alphalink software.
i'm in the process of getting an old alpha 330+ lathe up and cutting. sadly the cam software disc didn't come with the machine, and my boss is not wanting to fork out the 250 pounds to get the new version..

thanks far any help.

Super Draft CAD/CAM (UK based) anyone familiar with ?

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