BobCad Art - any comments on it?

[pony]

I had a call from a BobCad sales rep trying to sell me the 'Art' add-on to BobCad V23 Mill. He went on about all the 'cool' features it had, but being new to this I really didn't know what he was on about
I asked if they had a video on the web site, they do, but it just reiterated everything he told me without actually showing it in use. Retails at a $1k, but said I could pay around $495.
I've read mixed reviews about BobCad, so I'm wary about plumping down more money.
Anybody used it?
Of course I can try the demo when my table arrives, but I'm still awaiting it to ship

[jeeplogic83]

It is no better that inkscape for plasma the only reason to get it is if you do a lot of router work. With router work it is really nice because you can Emobss a 2 d image and make it 3D. if he want to sell you it at that price do a little more haggling with him and you can probably get it for around 250.00

[jeremyetc]

I am new to this site and it has been very helpful. We use bobcad V23 for our mill and lathe and it has been good. I have a cnc plasma table that I built at my house and bought a extra liscense for that but haven't used the post processor for it yet. I have been using sheetcam and it works great so far. I do have the bobcad art collection and it is very nice and worth the money. I paid $100 for it when i purchased another liscense. Many of the images are too complicated for plasma but are great for engraving. All in all I am very pleased with it.

[steelfx]

pony,

just to clarify...are you referring to the Bobcad Art Collection, or the "BobArt" Pro-X program.??
I don't have the art collection but use BobArt Pro-X every day!

btw, v23 is more for solids. I have it but it sucks for plasma (2d), so i still use v21 which is ideal for me.

Bill, Steel FX

[pony]

pony,

just to clarify...are you referring to the Bobcad Art Collection, or the "BobArt" Pro-X program.??
I don't have the art collection but use BobArt Pro-X every day!

btw, v23 is more for solids. I have it but it sucks for plasma (2d), so i still use v21 which is ideal for me.

Bill, Steel FX

I'm was talking of "BobArt" the software module, not the collection of Clipart.
My BobCad v23 software was bundled with my table. My table has Plasma (Thermal Dynamics A60) and a Wood Router attachment. I'm mainly planning to us the plasma, but I had to orde the router bundle at build time if I wanted to use it at a later date.
I'm confused, first my V23 software is nowhere to be found on the BobCad website, secondly it appears the V does not stand for version, I mean V24 is not the newer version of V23 etc.

I'm 7 weeks in to waiting for delivery of my table. hopefully it will be here soon and I can try this stuff out.

[redneckgateart]

V24 is Bobcad's newest version....and yes, it did come after V23. When they rolled out V22, they drastically changed the user interface with the introduction of their CAM tree. They also started to split the software into different modules...lathe, mill etc. After looking at their website, it seems that they are only wanting to push V24 and V21....V24 represents their "latest and greatest" and, to a lot of people, V21 represents the latest version that "worked". Don't get me wrong... the newer versions "work" but let's just say that there are a lot of "undocumented features"!

[pony]

Thanks for the explanation. That explains why they have v24 and v21 for sale on the website.
I guess I got v23 and not the latest version with my table as Torchmate get it discounted.

My table delivery has been delayed twice by Torchmate, I'm told it should ship this week. I had read good things about Torchmate, but I'm not having much luck to date. Both times I had to chase them to find out where my table was after it missed its two previously stated ship dates. They seem approachable when you do get hold of them, but I'd have liked to see someone contact me before it repeatedly missed shipping to offer a reason and perhaps even an apology. I've waited so long for this that I even mislaid the software dongle they sent me 7 weeks ago and I had to spend $200 to get a replacement. My fault I lost the dongle, an expensive mistake.I was told lead time was 4 weeks, but we are now close to 8 weeks. Fingers crossed I'll see it on its way this week

[torchmatebill]

Thanks for the explanation. That explains why they have v24 and v21 for sale on the website.
I guess I got v23 and not the latest version with my table as Torchmate get it discounted.

My table delivery has been delayed twice by Torchmate, I'm told it should ship this week. I had read good things about Torchmate, but I'm not having much luck to date. Both times I had to chase them to find out where my table was after it missed its two previously stated ship dates. They seem approachable when you do get hold of them, but I'd have liked to see someone contact me before it repeatedly missed shipping to offer a reason and perhaps even an apology. I've waited so long for this that I even mislaid the software dongle they sent me 7 weeks ago and I had to spend $200 to get a replacement. My fault I lost the dongle, an expensive mistake.I was told lead time was 4 weeks, but we are now close to 8 weeks. Fingers crossed I'll see it on its way this week

Pony,

I just saw this post and wanted to touch base. Let me be the first to apologize for your machine taking so long to ship. I can honestly say that we were not prepared for the number of orders we received going into the end of the year. We have been completely overwhelmed. This is not meant to be an excuse. Just an explanation. The shipping folks are so caught up in trying to get the orders out that they have let some of the follow up go in order to spend the time actually shipping rather than calling folks. We have hired three more people in the last month and are working on eight more. It is tough these days to commit to that kind of personnel expansion as I am sure you can understand after the last two years of recession that we have all been through. No one here is more at fault for holding off on hiring than I am. Please email me directly at bill@torchmate.com with your name and address so that I can find you in our system. I will be happy to either give you a $200 credit or refund that dongle replacement. It is the least I can do. Thanks so much for your patience! We will do our best to make sure you are happy with your purchase. If at any time that is not the case, email me. I will fix it!

Bill Kunz

[Feckless]

Can't say fairer than that,

[pony]

I just emailed Bill.
I'm not sure if this is Bill Jr. or Sr. , but regardless, its great to see a company standing by their product and going above and beyond to make it right.

[Metal Lee]

I have always said, it is not always what has happened but how it's handled that makes a good company. Tracker has always been good/fair to me to return my phone calls etc. I called one time on a weekend thinking that I would leave a message and get a call back on Monday, nope Ken called me back a short time later to bail me out, now that's support!

You get good support, than support them!

[Scratch]

I don't own a Torchmate table, but have heard good things about them secondhand. Now I've heard another good thing firsthand. It's nice to hear something like this. Good job Torchmate.

[pony]

I just received an email from Brook in Torchmate sales. Bill was good to his word and has placed a $200 credit on my account, I'll use it for consumables.

A nice result. Thanks Bill, and thanks Torchmate!