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Best CAD /CAM for solid stock woodwork mfg

10/25/17       
Scott

What are recommendations for integrated CAD/CAM for doing solid wood machining on a CNC for manufacture of furniture and general woodwork?

We had TopSolid'Wood before a fire destroyed our first CNC a couple yrs ago. But now we'd have to pay as much as some "lesser" software packages to get a new post processor made and update our version for the new CNC. Since the old CAD guy is gone we kind of have a fresh slate. We can either pony up $15k or more to get current, or try something new.

What are some good alternatives to consider?

What packages do most of the industry use?

10/26/17       #2: Best CAD /CAM for solid stock woodw ...
m c

alphacam is what i use . it is real simple .

but like most other programs they will eat u up on annual support programs.

if u don't do the support it will be really high to get back up to date when u decide too.

also don't expect to find much online help other than the basic functions.

10/28/17       #3: Best CAD /CAM for solid stock woodw ...
SG

We are a primarily solid-wood shop (albeit low-production, high-end) and have been happily using Rhino/RhinoCAM for 6 years for all drafting/programming. My impression is that it has a steeper learning curve than some programs, but it is a completely unlimited (CAD-wise) program which is very reasonable that can be paired with various echelons of CAM, some of which are pretty cheap, others less-so, but none of which require annual subscriptions (though of course they want you to upgrade annually, it's not required, and is totally unnecessary). It also has plug-ins from any number of other companies that do nesting, high-quality rendering, and so on ad infinitum. It would be worth looking into, at the least. Rhino itself has lifetime support for the one-time fee, RhinoCAM is the same, I think.

10/29/17       #4: Best CAD /CAM for solid stock woodw ...
Scott

Is Rhino parametric?

Topsolid is parametric and it made a world of difference. For example, we made a complex walnut bed - curves, turned posts, mortise and tenon, curved raised panels- and in a matter of minutes could create 4 new sized beds. I would never go back to non-parametric.

Hoping to find something that is cheaper to use than TS but is still parametric, and integrated CAD/CAM.

10/29/17       #5: Best CAD /CAM for solid stock woodw ...
SG

Previous to Rhino 6, which is supposedly coming out late this year or early next, parametric modeling was not part of the native program, but was available through the Grasshopper plug-in, as well as others. According to the attached Wikipedia entry, Grasshopper will be integrated with the new version (though I believe it is a free plug-in for previous versions).

I must admit I've never felt the lack of parametric capacity, given that is easy enough to create blocks, groups, and the like, then scale in either 1D, 2D, or 3D, though I see how this is even faster to do with a parametric program. I can see how this would be useful on occasion, but as I said, we are low-production shop, and taking a few more minutes at the front-end of a project isn't something I'm worried about.

If you spend some time looking at youtube, there appear to be a wealth of videos that deal with parametrics with Grasshopper, which might give you enough information to see if the parametric features are comparable to TopSolid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasshopper_3Dhttp://

10/30/17       #6: Best CAD /CAM for solid stock woodw ...
dedmin

Rhino is excellent! Working with WoodCAD/CAM for 3 years now I feel very different about parametric - it can be frustrating at times and much slower and time consuming! In Rhino You have 3D stretch which allows stretching the whole assembly in any way and get different sizes and proportions. And the cost - TopSolid Wood is 10X Rhino's prize here in Europe!

10/30/17       #7: Best CAD /CAM for solid stock woodw ...
Scott

Thanks to all replies!
Dedmin, why are you using WoodCAD/CAM if you like Rhino so much? just curious... Does Rhino do everything WC can do?

10/31/17       #8: Best CAD /CAM for solid stock woodw ...
dedmin

The company I work for bought 7 licences of WoodCAD/CAM. No, they are very different - WCC for me is to slow, over-complicated and with very messy interface. Buggy and crashes a lot. We are "big" company - more than 500 employees, 10GB base and hundreds of articles. Took us a year before starting using it in production - still only at 30%!

10/31/17       #9: Best CAD /CAM for solid stock woodw ...
Scott

@Dedmin
Does Rhino do everything that WC can do? Explain a little of the pluses and minuses of the differences.

you are a good reference point because you have deep experience in two programs.

11/1/17       #10: Best CAD /CAM for solid stock woodw ...
B Member

Hi dedmin
I would really love to hear what is the Pros and Cons for WCC as I also in the middle of making decision .

We plan to test it before buy it. If I could ask, have your engineer and design team test it before buy it or is it the owner order without testing?
Anyway there are some info that you may want to take a look in my previous threat
http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/cad.pl?read=812845

Cheers

11/1/17       #11: Best CAD /CAM for solid stock woodw ...
dedmin

I saw the treat. Yes, WCC can do all of this but HOW ? Is it well organized, easy and speedy? No - messy interface, slow to work. It uses a database to store data - MSSQL and Windows server. Do You have the network infrastructure to operate. Who will support this - back up, security, etc. We had several crashes and had to restore the database - slow, lost some work. You need powerful computers and very good LAN - every data is read and write to the database - slow! AutoCAD is very picky about 3D - You will see a lot of crashes - is not like working in 2D. You will need to start from scratch - their sample base will not fit You. You will pay for support constantly, You will need training and very good staff. You wont produce a good database at the beginning because You don't know - You will know later but will be to late - paragraph 22! You need at least 6 mounts for PRODUCTION testing before scratch the surface. This program is for MASS automated production in my opinion. Ask for Web based help manual - just read the help to have better idea.

11/2/17       #12: Best CAD /CAM for solid stock woodw ...
Scott

Dedmin,

Could you use Rhino to do everything you are doing with WC now?

Would you be faster on Rhino or WC?

You are experienced with both softwares so you input is particularly valuable.

1/26/18       #13: Best CAD /CAM for solid stock woodw ...
Earl Morgan Member

Website: teknicad.com

Try AutoDesk Fusion 360. 300/year. model parts and assemblies. outputs to G-code. I love it.

2/2/18       #14: Best CAD /CAM for solid stock woodw ...
Chevy

Website: http://keysoftwareservice.com

There are alot of really great software packages out there,,when selecting software,,,make sure the post if correct first,,,,,its cool to have a 50k software package that doesnt cut,,,,from experiece,,,make sure the post is 100% before even buying the machine..


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