I just finished uploading a new version of the MeshCAM, Build 34, at http://www.grzsoftware.com/dl . This build adds one of the most requested features ever- depth-first waterline.

The existing waterline code would cut each slice of the part at a time before descending into the deeper parts of the model. This is safer than following a surface all the way down before cutting the current level but it led to much more rapid and retract time.

This new build adds a setting in waterline to control this behavior- Depth First or Level First toolpath linking. I think this is a huge improvement and it comes directly from the end-of-trial surveys that I have received.

This is a major internal change so I had to mark this as an expiring beta so it’s only good for 60 days. I need feedback on this feature so all time-limited betas will now enable the Customer Experience Program so that I know if this feature is being exercised by users. Once the expiration is removed, the CEP option will go back under your control.

To make room for the new setting in the toolpath panel, I hid the adaptive stepdown setting for waterline machining. Adaptive stepdown is likely to be removed from future versions.

Please let me know how the new waterline features work for you. Once I have this one “done” I have another really good upgrade waiting for you.

If you’ve been run the “Check for Updates” command lately then you’ve seen a few new releases come out that I have not announced here. They included the new Drill and Cap Holes commands. These commands are somewhat complecated and untested so I wanted to get gradual feedback as new people found them rather than the kind of inbox-crushing feedback that can happen when I announce them here.

Feedback on Drilling has been pretty good. I still consider it to be a work in progress but it turned out better than I hoped even in it’s current state.

I also added a Cap Holes command that may require explanation. Once you drill your holes, you do not want a parallel or waterline finish operation to recut that hole it a way that may damage the finish or waste machine time. The Cap Holes command will add surfaces to your model to protect the holes from further machining. For some reason, this is one of my favorite new MeshCAM features in a while.

Both of these features are available in the latest Beta release under the CAM menu.

I will likely promote this out of “beta” status int he near future. It will be a part of Version 5 so it will be free for any V5 user.

I have also been adding more code to make inch/MM conversion more intuitive. This remains one of the largest stumbling block for new MeshCAM users so I am slowly going through the program to do whatever I can to make subtle options very obvious.

The latest release also added support for 2D DXF splines and ellipses. The code works with every DXF I have in my test directory but many of them are generated by Rhino which only uses a few of the possible spline and ellipse types. If you have a failing DXF please send it to me.

The biggest thing to be aware of is that all of these changes were the direct result of customer feedback- either the surveys that trial users get or the Customer Experience Program where command usage in the app is uploaded to my server (with your permission). I get lots of feedback in lots of ways and I try very hard to use it to make MeshCAM into the program that people want.

I’ve promised a drilling mode for a long time and I’m happy to say that it’s almost ready. Drilling is a feature that should be very easy compared to all of the other toolpath options in MeshCAM. From a technical point of view, it is- from a user interfaces point of view, it’s very difficult. Here are some of the problems that have held me up:

• Holes should be found automatically if possible
• STL files cannot define hole locations or diameters
• STL files do not contain true circles that can be detected- they only contain triangles
• If users have to enter hole locations manually, will they know the exact coordinates?
• There are many projects that have a lot of holes in them. How should hole data be represented in a way that users can deal with it.

These problems have had me hung up for a long time now. In the past few weeks I’ve made enough progress that I am sure that I can deliver a good drilling command in MeshCAM. Hopefully it will be better than good- my goal is to make it the easiest drilling command in any CAM software available. (And I’ve spent a lot of time on Youtube to make sure I know where the competition stands)

It’s tempting to work in a vacuum until I have it ready for release but that has led to surprises on my part in the past. It turns out that users view things very differently than I do. Things that I expect to be self-evident turn out to be anything but.

I’m going to do things a little differently this time; I’m going to get the automatic hole detection working well and then release it as a beta. Know that when you look at it for the first time, it will be incomplete and that I have lots more to enable if the feedback shows that I’m going in the right direction.

If no big problems appear then I expect to have a beta in a week or so.

I just saw that Cubify, a division/product line from 3D Systems has released Cubify Invent to support their Cubify 3D printer. For those who haven’t followed them, 3D Systems has bought a number of small compaines making software or low-end 3D printers in the past few years. One of the companies they bought was Alibre, makers of a very affordable parametric CAD program.

I’ve recommended the hobby version of Alibre for a long time because it gives you massive functionality for $199- from a value point-of-view, nothing can touch it. I think that changed with the announcement of Cubify Invent.

From what I can tell in the videos, Cubify Invent appears to be a reskinned version of Alibre, possibly with some features removed. What is amazing is that Cubify Invent is only $49. A commercial parametric CAD program for that cost is totally unbelieveable.

Invent can export STL files so it should work very well with MeshCAM. If you’re looking for a good CAD program then you should try the 14 day demo and see what you think.

I got an email today from Manfred P. about a great project he completed with MeshCAM. You can take a look at the thread at http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/f23/dynamo-build-castings-17756/ or check out the images below.

Great work Manfred, thanks for sending these in!

If you have any photos you can share of the work you’ve done with MeshCAM, please send them in.

The following is not MeshCAM related, I’m posting it here with the hopes that it will save some other Solidworks user the hour it took me to figure this out. Just a warning though- do this at your own risk since it involves registry editing.

One of the other CAD/CAM vendors posted a part in the CNCZone and challenged other companies to show how easy (or difficult) it would be to machine the part with their system. I didn’t want to leave the challenge unanswered so here’s “The MeshCAM Way”.

I just got this video sent to me by Junior at Midwest Wood Works. In it, he shows how he inlets the stock using MeshCAM and his CNC router.

You can also video the video directly here: http://youtu.be/jSkfxJLAAwA. Thanks Junior!

I’ve threatened to do it for years and I’ve finally done it- I raised the price of MeshCAM. I won’t say that the feedback has been “enthusiastic” but it has been positive. I figured that I should explain some of the reasons why I did it.

The first is the cost of support. About a year ago I added a phone number where users can get a hold of me directly- not a low level guy reading from a prepared troubleshooting guide. This has been well-received but it does have a cost. To be honest, if I could find a way to offload this function to a third-party and maintain the quality of support then I would. Unfortunately I haven’t figured out how yet so I have to factor this support cost into the product.

The second reason is that the features have expanded greatly since the last time I raised the price. I think the last time the price was increased was in the late version 2 or early version 3 era. MeshCAM has gone thru a huge evolution since then and I think it’s fair to say that only thing that MeshCAM 2 and MeshCAM 5 share is the name.

From a competitive view, there’s nothing that offers the features that MeshCAM does for anything near the price. The range of toolpaths, toolpath options, and toolpath accuracy is well beyond all competitors below $500 to $1000.

Finally, price tells a customer what a product is worth. I can go on and on about what MeshCAM has and compare it to competitors but many people will assume that there’s something wrong with MeshCAM, or that it’s not suitable for their application, because it’s “too cheap”. A corollary to this is that I’ve found myself cringing lately when I speak to other software developers and I explain my pricing compared to market norms. I cringe because the next questions is almost always, “Are you selling a substandard product or you just ignoring the market?”

In the end the price is now $250. For corporate customers this is almost nothing; for individuals the cost might be much more siginificant. I’ve always tried to sell software that provides value well beyond it’s cost. I still belive this to be the case and I’ll continue to work to add additional value/features even after you buy.

Version 5 is no longer a beta! I just posted a new release that eliminates all timeouts and enforces the license codes. If you bought MeshCAM or a V4 upgrade in the last year then you get Version 5 for free. If you have a code for MeshCAM Art then you’ll also get Version 5 for free. If you don’t qualify for a free upgrade then you can go to the upgrade page to get a discount on a V5 license.

This release also has new a new change to reduce memory use in the “Offsetting” stage of the toolpath calculation by up to 75%. This is obviously a huge improvement and it should go a long way to reduce out-of-memory errors that can occur when using MeshCAM in larger applications.

If you need a code to try the new release for 30 days then you can go to the download page to get one.

Let me know what you think.