Dave K
Diamond
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2004
- Location
- Waukesha, WI
Hi gang,
I'm completely green with cad/cam. Talk to me like I'm stupid. I've been using conversational forever, and now bought a machine that has no conversational control. I think it's time for me to enter the cad/cam world, but find it to be foolish for me to spend tens of thousands of dollars to do so.
All work I do is 2D. There is no 3D work or molds here. A lot of what I do might be drill and tap holes in flat stock, and mill the end of the part. Some of the more complicated stuff might be plate work, where I mill the profile of a plate, and drill and tap or counterbore holes in it, or possibly mill a tight tolerance bore in the plate. Maybe mill an outside hub, that gets an O.D. groove milled into it for an "O" ring.
You get the picture, I don't need to be too fancy here. What's out there, that wont break the bank? Maintenance fees, classes, support. They want to charge extra for all those things, are they all necessary? What's the maintenance fee for? If I buy a software, and it works awesome, why do I need to pay a yearly maintenance fee?
I simply don't understand why these are so costly. I know a lot of engineering and thought goes into the designing of these softwares, but why isn't my up front cost the end of it? Can someone help steer me in the right direction?
I'm completely green with cad/cam. Talk to me like I'm stupid. I've been using conversational forever, and now bought a machine that has no conversational control. I think it's time for me to enter the cad/cam world, but find it to be foolish for me to spend tens of thousands of dollars to do so.
All work I do is 2D. There is no 3D work or molds here. A lot of what I do might be drill and tap holes in flat stock, and mill the end of the part. Some of the more complicated stuff might be plate work, where I mill the profile of a plate, and drill and tap or counterbore holes in it, or possibly mill a tight tolerance bore in the plate. Maybe mill an outside hub, that gets an O.D. groove milled into it for an "O" ring.
You get the picture, I don't need to be too fancy here. What's out there, that wont break the bank? Maintenance fees, classes, support. They want to charge extra for all those things, are they all necessary? What's the maintenance fee for? If I buy a software, and it works awesome, why do I need to pay a yearly maintenance fee?
I simply don't understand why these are so costly. I know a lot of engineering and thought goes into the designing of these softwares, but why isn't my up front cost the end of it? Can someone help steer me in the right direction?