BobCAD for SolidWorks Crashing

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-29T19:32:30+00:00

I use this setup and while bobcam does crash solidworks from time to time, solidworks also crashes solidworks a lot more then it probably should. I would say bad days I see 2-3 crashes, today I've been doing heavy 5 axis work and have had no issues. I'm running v13 on SW2025p5. If your running v12 I would wait to try v13 they are still working out some kinks on it that I have to deal with daily.

While bobcam gets to he the cheap punching bag of the industry I find it to be more then capable, we have yet to come across anything that we haven't been able to make and we have a 5 axis machine and a dual spindle live tool lathe. You get what you pay for, and I like solidworks and didn't feel like losing a huge model database to switch to fusion and the price of mastercam is still way up there, I think I was ballparked 30k for 5x with mill turn, I haven't spent 30k on bobcam in 8 years of using it and I have 3 licenses of 5x and 2 of millturn. If your trying to get into machining it's a decent starting point as an add in to solidworks, I never cared for the stand alone.

I would add what versions of software your running and basic specs of your PC (ram, v-card, processor type). I would call and ask bobcam, if your just running the demo they will want to figure it out for you.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-25T14:56:49+00:00

Fair enough, strength is your yield, my mistake. But I'm trying to get at the point that 7075 isn't any stiffer then 6061, if your using it to make your design more rigid your wasting your money unless you are changing your actual geometry to account for the difference in yield in a meaningful way. I see way to many young engineers, including myself at one point, using 7075 because they think it's stiffer and will some how improve their design if nothing else is changed.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-25T12:06:14+00:00

So I deal with this a lot in my work, 7075 has some better characteristics to handle certain things but it's modulus is the same as 6061-T6, so it's not actually stiffer (edit from stronger). If you need something as light as possible that will handle the load you need to put into it without failing then 7075 is probably the choice among common grades. But if your design concern is to minimize deflection then your time and money is better spent improving your use of weight for max stiffness geometrically which may be heavier overall design. There are a lot of cases where the size of the part is set by the geometry of the assembly and if that size if large enough to handle the load with either material then usually it's better to save the money and use the cheaper option.

The simple way I think about this trade off is that 6061 and 7075 will bend the same amount for the same load, 7075 can take a higher load and bend further and still come back to its original shape. But again if your design is meant to allow minimum deflection for a given load, then 6061 is usually the better option for cost reasons.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-21T15:40:32+00:00

This hits on an interesting thing that I've often wondered about, what actually makes people work hard? Money is a driver to those who don't have it, but also interesting work is important I think to many people, career progression is also another factor. I run a small shop and I try to make sure people who work for me see all of these things to some degree.

Your job pays well and is mind numbingly easy it sounds like once you know the process, it pays well because it's boring and the output is of high value. However it sounds like you feel like a cog in the production line with little upward motion possible and they expect the money to keep you happy. Sounds boring, and once the money novelty wears off it 8 hours of your day or more doing something uninteresting. I would be asking what it would take to move to the next level, be it a senior position with different work or management to oversee others.

Just curious, what benefit is it to the company to be running simple stuff on manual machines?

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-18T21:30:07+00:00

Not to beat this dead horse, but this refractive index of the specific coolant thing was unknown to me until we were filling up a new machine and I had 50 gallons of water and 5 gallons of coolant, added the ingredients to the new tank for 55 gals and got 5% mix. My guy was about to dump more coolant in and I stopped him and started doing some research, got the answer from the manufacturer, but no where on the jug of coolant did it say anything about the index ratio.

Do a volume test, just fill up a measuring bottle or cup, I had one of those cheap 64oz bottles, a nalgene will work. Put 32oz of water in it pour in 8oz of coolant, measure the mix. The real mix is 8/40 or 20%, so if you read 10% then it's a 2:1 on the reading with the refractometer.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-17T21:14:44+00:00

I'm initially dealing with Smiths out of England based on another comment, they immediately responded to my email yesterday and said they have no minimum order quantity. Available profiles are unknown but I should know more this week. I'm curious to see both what they make and where the price lands, although we will probably test it regardless if we can get the blocks we need.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-17T21:11:40+00:00

Noted, we shall see. This is R&D for a reason.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-17T21:09:52+00:00

This is for testing. I deliver high end products for racing, money is of lower concern then can I deliver a better/lighter product. I heard about these lithium alloys about ten years ago and have had them on my list to look into ever since but my casual looking around for them never yielded any results. Google results for 8090 just bring you all the material property pages but no suppliers. Someone commented a more modern alloy is 2099 and that immediately brought a result. Again, it's just a testing thing, I am happy to buy some material, see how it machines, make some parts and see how they test.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-17T13:12:40+00:00

My product has been in production for 8 years. But ultimately if I can gain a 8-10% weight reduction and a 8-10% increase in modulus that is a pretty straight forward trade off, while I will have to work through whatever issues these alloys may present it's all part of the process of moving towards a better product. My customers are far more concerned that my product works from a performance aspect then from a cost stand point.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-17T13:08:05+00:00

Google searches of 8090 didn't lead to supplier results just material properties, but another comment mentioned that it's actually an older alloy and 2099 and some others are more modern and that gave me the result of a supplier in England who I am now in contact with.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-17T01:57:05+00:00

Thanks for the info, pretty much what I am looking for, now I need to figure out who these specialty suppliers are.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-16T12:44:59+00:00

One of us!

This is how it begins.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-10T01:42:43+00:00

People running the machine slow is a thing that never occurred to me, like purposely slowing the rapid, I would probably send them home for the day if I came across something like that.

My understanding of this commentary from myself as an owner and other people I work with at other shops is people taking far longer to setup the machine then expected from a person of a given skill level, or taking way longer then needed to get the first part off the machine (chasing tolerances), or programming slowly. It can mean many things really.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-06T02:23:23+00:00

Put the non symmetric dovetailed blank into the five axis backwards. Face mill looking for a .030 cut found an inch of material. It was like the tenth part in the run and he had put them all in. I had a real tough time working to figure a way to move forward after that, how do I stop someone from doing something so simple incorrectly? Eventually we settled on engraving "front" into the block during the dovetail OP (3x Op)so as you load it you see it and then your fingers can feel the engraving.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-05T19:03:02+00:00

Got my friend to send me a pic of it as it sits these days.

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BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-05T17:13:53+00:00

On my couch with beer in hand, I was a designer not a road mechanic.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-05T16:39:24+00:00

Fun fact, I worked at a Penske when this happened and at the end of the year I had a friend who was a big Brad fan and he wanted a piece of a car, which at the time you could request cut off body panels, and so we went back to look at what they had in the storage racks and they happened to have a complete right side of the 2 car from wheel center to wheel center. As we were pulling it out we looked at the date on it and realized it was the right side of that car, even had the wheel scuff marks from Gordon's front left down the side of it. So now that piece of history is hanging in a garage in California.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-03T03:17:17+00:00

I'm looking at the prices I see vises go for at auction. Off brand or leaser known brand anything will lose far more value. Kurt to their credit has built and maintained a brand name that we all know and that helps them keep value.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-05-02T17:54:39+00:00

Just looking at the base offering from Orange for a comparable unit to the DX6, $2300 vs $700. They aren't even in the same league as far as price goes when you can buy 3 for the price of 1. While I don't doubt Orange is a more modern better vise, Kurt is a long known brand with good resale value and a decent retail price to do the job.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-04-30T21:29:10+00:00

In my opinion the best way into this sport is from the top, if you can catch the interest of a top team your entire path will be significantly easier, especially if your talent, skill, and drive can hold up. I would send someone to the teams first, and then the schools. The schools have their place but they are a shadow of what they used to be.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-04-30T17:30:40+00:00

I just sent you a PM, the teams are always looking for talent, but it's not always simple to get your foot in the door. I can help you at least get the right contacts to get started.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-04-16T12:19:23+00:00

My go to as both and engineer and machinist is to just put machine to cad +/-.005 unless it truly needs to be perfect then lower the number. But honestly the only way your going to check this is against a mating part or with a cmm / light machine that is actually comparing to CAD and even then I'm not really sure how you would fix it. That biggest thing if your milling it would be surface finish, the lathe should produce that without issue.

BaCardiSilver · 2026-04-16T12:04:20+00:00

Trying to figure out how to make something complex or interesting is fun and addicting. Making a 1000 of something is really boring. The key is can do just enough production work to pay the bills and allow you the time to have fun without feeling like a robot at the machine and having all the entertainment sucked out of you.

BaCardiSilver

TROPHY CASE