Where's the tool list?

Discussions around the CAM Add-On of QCAD.

Moderator: andrew

Forum rules

Always indicate your operating system and QCAD version.

Indicate the post processor used.

Attach drawing files and screenshots.

Post one question per topic.

Post Reply
rfresh737
Newbie Member
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2016 7:28 am

Where's the tool list?

Post by rfresh737 » Thu Feb 11, 2016 10:17 pm

I purchased the QCAD Pro version today because I really like the CAD features and ease of use to create drawings.

I'm still using the demo to explore the CAM features.

I have some CAM questions:

I do a CAM Export and see the dialog window and then click OK. I then see the toolpath and I can run the simulator. BUT where are my tool selections? In my case, I am using a laser machine and I want to create some laser tools with specific power settings and feed rates...where do I do that?

I don't see much control over how the cutting is done. In some other CAM apps, my drawing layers are brought over into the toolpath area and I can sequence (sort) which layers I want to cut first, etc. and also assign which tools to use for each layer. I don't see any of that capability in your CAM app? How much manual control/editing do I have with the toolpath? For example, with my laser machine, I need to slow down the feed rate when making burns going against the wood grain vs going with the grain. I don't have that ability with your CAM design as far as I can see.

Am I missing something? Your CAM design seems to be almost fully automatic without much manual input/editing capability?

User avatar
andrew
Site Admin
Posts: 9036
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:07 am

Re: Where's the tool list?

Post by andrew » Fri Feb 12, 2016 9:00 am

rfresh737 wrote:Am I missing something? Your CAM design seems to be almost fully automatic without much manual input/editing capability?
This is correct. At this point, all the power lies in the configuration file which can create pretty much any output based on the data available in your drawing (geometry, layer information, custom properties, blocks, etc.). Implementing such features as tool settings by layers, tool radius compensation, etc would require some programming in JavaScript. In future versions, we might provide some more advanced configurations which implement some commonly used features.

rfresh737
Newbie Member
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2016 7:28 am

Re: Where's the tool list?

Post by rfresh737 » Fri Feb 12, 2016 6:12 pm

I'm sorry to hear that Andrew. I like your CAD capabilities and I will continue to use that part...however, your CAM design is far from being a finished product in my opinion. When I saw QCAD had a CAM feature, I thought it had a GUI design, similar to the CAD portion and similar to other CAM applications. However, I see that it has a minimal GUI interface. I was wondering where the rest of it was.

Your CAM product is really only at a 0.50 version level from a GUI perspective. You should not be charging that much money for it. I mean really. I'm glad I had the opportunity to try it out before paying for it.

So obviously you need a lot more time to develop the CAM part. Or do you? Perhaps my understanding of your CAM design is completely wrong. Perhaps you intended it to be a manual file configuration design with minimal GUI interaction? If so then that's definitely not for me.

On the other hand, if you intend to add more GUI interaction and slowly pull away from having to do so much manual file configuration, then perhaps this will give users an opportunity to work with you as you develop it into a quality CAM product on par with the CAD part. That will take a long time to develop and as for me, I can't wait that long and need a CAM solution in the near future so I must now look elsewhere.

User avatar
andrew
Site Admin
Posts: 9036
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:07 am

Re: Where's the tool list?

Post by andrew » Fri Feb 12, 2016 6:19 pm

Thanks for your feedback. Please remember that different users have different requirements and what is not suitable for you is a great solution to someone else. Good luck on your search for a solution.

Post Reply

Return to “QCAD/CAM”