Wire Coreless bug

BobCAD-CAM Software Discussions
#1

I have beta tested years ago and this bug has always been there. Bobcad’s coreless feature uses the same routine as 2D pocketing. The trouble is that it creates drops in almost all attempts. Any shape other than a round hole create drops that can and many cases will either scrap your part or damage the lower nozzle.

Bobcad support has blown it off and even suggested not to attempt using the feature for ‘irregular shapes’. Well an oblong hole (key slot) is not far off from a regular shape. Small drops can cause huge issues. I even suggested they use the 3D path to cut from center out as a means to create a true coreless cut.

For more than a decade I have reported this issue. Always the promise that it may be fixed in the next release. I am now at my wits end and it cost us thousands of dollars in the latest scrap and down time. I may even have to switch to a new software due to this issue. In other words the lack of caring about long term bugs is about to cost them a long term customer.

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#2

Hello Tim,

We are sorry that this issue has not been addressed so far in the product. I do wish to share that we do listen to our customers and implement new features and fixes based on customer feedback in every release. That being said, we must prioritize issues and features based on severity and the number of customers impacted. The support team reports found items into the Development department, but has no power as to what features and functions get worked on. I know the Development team strives to do a great job at evaluating the issues, and making sure time is properly allocated based on multiple criteria. If only a few customers report impact of an issue, it will be assigned a lower priority than other issues where more customers have reported impact. Unfortunately it is not possible to always complete every request that is submitted.

I will increment the request count on this issue for you, but I cannot and will not promise that we will see it fixed as I have no way of knowing what will/will not make it into a development cycle.

I have confirmed that your request is in the ticket system for Development, and they are aware of the issue.

Thank You

Alex

#3

I am not being argumentative but first this is not a feature request. This is and has always been a bug. And to put it bluntly a costly bug. The incorrect tool path calculations may not be a simple fix but it is definitely one that has cost Bobcad many times over. Why? Because at any upgrade we would have approved the purchase of 2 licenses with this one fix in wire. For many years where I once worked there could have been many upgrades approved and now at this company the same goes.

If I had to estimate I would give a price of around $6400 in purchase losses from my upgrades alone. Maybe not enough to make Bobcad rich but I would bet enough to have paid for the bug fix.

The other enhancements and fixes I have requested for wire all at least have some work around or advanced scripting fixes. But for coreless path generation there is little the customer can do. Sadly the next time I am asked about upgrades may be the last time I use Bobcad. It may not happen in the next year but if I must continue to make our own production fixtures then it most definitely will be Bobcad to get cut instead of my job.

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#4

Hello,
I would like to respond to the above post nad I would also rather join the opinion that this is a bug in this case and should be corrected as soon as possible. In the case that I have chosen a coreless operation, I assume that the path will be created in such a way that there is no waste material.
On the other hand, I understand the manufacturer that it is not possible to solve all the requirements at once and priorities need to be set. However, if something is at risk of damaging the machine, I would assume that it should be a high priority. Not every customer reports everything and in some cases it may even lead to changing the CAM system to different.
For this reason, it would be good if the Wire-EDM module also showed improvement between versions.

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#5

Even had drops in a round hole. Had to write my own coreless hole program for a fairly small hole with no way to pull slugs. Not sure who at Bobcad even decided to call this a feature (yes I am insulting their intelligence). So even though I like many of Bobcad’s software feature I give this one a total fail.

#6

I apologize for the question, however, it has been some time since this issue was discussed and for this reason I would be interested in the current status of the solution to this issue (unfortunately, another customer is not satisfied with the current output and would need correct toolpaths from this strategy)
Can we expect this problem to be solved soon?