Why do people dislike BobCad

[garyphansen]

Bob Cad fired their trainer, Soren and turned the job over to the owners son and it went down hill from there.

 

[Waakzaamheid]

I'll also add that they are not like they used to be, sales-wise. I used to talk shit about them along with everyone else, but I feel like they have come a long way. When I started at the shop I'm at now they already had BobCAD so I was forced to learn/use it, and honestly I'm pretty damn happy with it. We use it for Wire EDM and 3 axis milling, not sure how well it would perform for more complex stuff.

My last job, which was primarily Wire EDM, over the years we tried Esprit, MasterCAM, FeatureCAM. I like the BobCAD best out of all of them (for Wire EDM anyway). I agree the CAD side is a little clunky, but we do all our geometry in ACAD or Solidworks anyway.

 

[Bigdawg]

as SeymourDumore said if you use the pre graphic interface versions (I belive 22 and down) you could click on lines and the code to move there would get added tot he program, super fast and easy for 2D mill / lathe programs (Using a canned cycles). The newer versions with the new interface is not to baad for the price, I use Masterccam now and the concepts are the same, you just have to review your code becasue it would do some weird moves sometimes, especailly on lead ins/outs. It's not a bad entry level CAM package, but I never had to do complex things in it.

 

[SteveEx30]

You get bent out of shape getting a call every 3 months?? A call that can be concluded in 30-60 seconds. Bizarre

I guess you enjoy a phone calls more than I do.

 

[doug8cat]

I started out with V25, and am still using it. The powers that be at my shop went with cause of the low cost ~7 years ago). I use it for a VMC, simple things bolt circles, thread milling, etc.. When I first started it I took a basic seminar from them and it was great. Got me off and running right quick. Back then the problem I encountered with them was that if you a question that even remotely had to due with talking to or trying work out how to best program a feature on your particular machine, forget it. It seemed that every person on tech support was a software person. In my opinion they knew nothing of machining, which was a big problem. The SW was really easy to use, at least for me, mind you I was not doing aerospace or very complicated pieces. I am still using V25, and works fine for me. I am interested to hear other guys opinions cause we are going to be into a HAAS VMC at sometime in the next year depending on the budget troll. The Cincni Lancer2000 '98 is currently on borrowed borrowed time and I am running out of chewing gum and rubber bands.

 

[Turbowerks]

I hear you on the questions, ive been through different versions since 17, from the mid 20’s to the current version they have been keeping the same look but adding functionality in what see. I do subscribe to the support which gts you a call back quicker and they seem like they know whats going on. Although i added a 4th on my fadal and had a hard time getting a post to do what i thought it should , but they got it working. Made me wonder how many fadals with a 4th and they didn't have a post in their library?? But all in all been happy with it. Al has some excellent videos explaining functions

 

[chineshop_guy]

currently using bobcad 5 axis pro v35 for full 5axis and 3 axis surfacing on haas umc500 for automotive die work, working great
i know, bobcad and haas, i'm rebel i guess

 

[Mickey_D]

Tried it with one of their super secret 90% off blow-out sale and it was very unstable and would randomly rapid on leadins. Ended up doing a credit card charge back after they did not want to do a refund. Went to MecSoft Visualmill and have been very happy with it. A guy who worked for me wired me up to buy Mastercam - makes good code but the interface is painful the seat sits unused.

 

[yoke]

I used Bobcad for about 2 weeks before I was so frustrated I broke down and bought Solidworks and Solidcam. I don't remember what was so bad about it now but would never go back knowing how nice Solidworks is.

The sales guys were relentless until I told them point blank that any additional contact would 100% guarantee they never get another cent from me.

 

[Doug]

There was a time way back in the day when you bought a low end CNC it would come with a copy of BobCAD. Two customers gave me their free copies of early BobCAD to try out. It was so awful I can't even describe it. I never was able to make it do anything. My computer would crash with the blue screen. I don't recall if that was DOS. I'm pretty sure that's where the bad feelings and rumors about BobCAD originated.

My first CAM was with Vector CAD/CAM written by Bob's brother. Still use it for quick 2D drawing. It included CAM for both lathe and mill. Reasonable pricing too. Many feature and methods of Vector were merged into BobCAD. Unfortunately Vector was no longer distributed in the USA last time I looked.

 

[Mtndew]

Most of the people who have adverse comments about BobCad probably have never used it, either as a demo, or as a money making tool.

We bought it in the mid/late-90's for I think $500 at the time.
It was.... awful.
Purchased Mastercam V8 shortly after.

 

[Waakzaamheid]

We bought it in the mid/late-90's for I think $500 at the time.
It was.... awful.
Purchased Mastercam V8 shortly after.

It used to be awful. It's pretty decent nowadays, especially for the price.

 

[EmanuelGoldstein]

We bought it in the mid/late-90's for I think $500 at the time.
It was.... awful.
Purchased Mastercam V8 shortly after.

It's obviously no mastercam or smurfcam even, but if all you want out of it is quick sketches, to pull geometry, make a drawing of something, then it works good. The dos version, anyhow. I never liked the windows interface, much slower and clumsier.

 

[Dicks4fingers]

When I first started working where I am now, it was all they had. It's fine but very unstable when things get more complicated. And as far as using it for cad it's super buggy. Random stuff just stops working after awhile. I still use it for really simple stuff beacuse it is fairly quick for simple stuff. I'm almost only using Mastercam at this point and I have to fight with Mastercam so much less.

 

[EndlessWaltz]

Golf clap for BobCad. I complained about 4? years ago or more and on this board as well about how much more quickly I could draw simply 2d shapes in Fusion or Mastercam to then build off of for the 3d object( the starting shape) as well as "engineering" parts for myself or clients where I am deciding on the fly what I want the part to look like to not only look good but strong etc. Anyways I am looking at another software and waiting on a quote and I can't transfer my old V25...and never liked it. So I was bored and went on BobCad site so see what Version they are up to now(joke in there somewhere) and they finally added features like snap lines/points and going off of existing geometry. So at least some improvements for guys starting out or going off old napkin drawings. Stuff so simple in other CAD I was thinking...naw it could do that right..or was that the other software. I booted up V25 real quick and OMG the horror came rushing back. So yeah V35 may be worth pricing out now for some.

 

[Plane Parts]

I got the Solidworks version a few years ago. It is fine for me. It is a good option for lower costs. It has always been a capable program for my 4 axis work and never had problems. Their support is fine and Al is very active on the CNC forums and youtube.