# CamBam surprisingly good.



## Ken226 (Nov 8, 2021)

I've been using Fusion and it's integrated CAM for years, but recently decided to try something else.   After a week of trial versions of Dolphin, Visual cam, EstlCAM, CamBam and about a half dozen others, I settled on CamBam.

The learning curve was fairly steep for me, as it's very different from what I'm accustomed to.  It seems to be surprisingly capable,  but not intuitive at all.

Once the light bulb finally came on after several days of frustration,   I was able to generate some good programs for engraving on 3d surfaces like cylinders and hemispheres, as well as about any 2d or 2.5d parts I could think up.

I even figured out how to generate programs to chamfer 3d geometry.

Anyone else using CamBam with any luck?

Here's a logo on a wave shaped surface:




And the program simulating in mach3:




Here is a 3d chamfer of the same part:


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## Reddinr (Nov 8, 2021)

No, but I'm looking around.  What made you move away from Fusion?

I'm now just playing around with Fusion more.  I have used Bobcad for years with success although I think its CAD interface is odd, but I got used to it.  Might look at CamBam too.


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## Ken226 (Nov 8, 2021)

I still use fusion,  but I wanted an alternative so I wouldn't be subject to the whims of Autodesk.   

And I hate the cloud thing.

Fusions CAD and CAM interfaces are so easy to use that I'll probably never stop using it, unless they price it out of range.  I just wanted a plan B,  just in case. 

I was just surprised at how capable CamBam is, given the low price,  clunky, 90s style interface and how un-intuitive it is.  CamBam is perfect for Mach3   clunky, but it sure does work!


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## JimDawson (Nov 8, 2021)

I used CamBam for several years, it worked well for me before I finally figured out how to use Fusion 360.  I still use CamBam for some quick jobs.


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## Ken226 (Nov 9, 2021)

JimDawson said:


> I used CamBam for several years, it worked well for me before I finally figured out how to use Fusion 360.  I still use CamBam for some quick jobs.



Yes, Fusion is hard to beat.  I trained on Inventor/HSM in school, and loved it, but not nearly enough to pay the asking subscription price.

I got Alibre Design Pro/CamBam as an alternative, and for things I'd rather not have uploaded to "the cloud".


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## kcoffield (Nov 9, 2021)

I have fusion and though it's a great value in an integrated CAD/CAM package, it's a fairly steep learning curve and if you're only an occasional user, I can't remember all the where's/hows for more complex modeling......but still working at it. If you're starting from scratch, couple that with gcode and machine interface and you've got a full plate.

I wanted to get up and cutting and several acquaintances recommended CamBam. I use it for 2/2.5D work on my CNC Router, primarily for cutting lost foam casting patterns. I'm yet to use 3D cutting but that is on the near horizon. It has limited but adequate CAD/drawing capability, but there are a lot of plugins available for free downloads. I'm very happy with it, and wow, I've never seen a more responsive user forum. There are a couple moderators there that answer all levels of questions, usually within an hour....incredibly helpful for me as a beginner. For the money and one time license fee, CamBam seems pretty hard to beat for the lower end CAM packages. 

I haven't used it myself, but I have heard many others make similar comments about MeshCam; very intuitive and within a few hours you'll be running simple programs.

The biggest problem I had with CamBam was with the default GRBL post processor, and that was probably more related to my version of machine hardware/firmware. My Router is GRBL, and there was a problem with how it interpreted arcs that through errors on about everything I wrote. I was pulling my limited supply of hair out one line of gcode at a time. One of the moderators on the CamBam forum went out and looked at the version of GRBL flashed to my machine, modified the GRBL post processor for me and just said here ya-go, and posted it for me to download. After I installed it as my default post, it spit gcode files that just ran and worked every time. I'm still using it. If I had not had that support I would have been dead in the water.

Best,
Kelly


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## Weldingrod1 (Nov 9, 2021)

I've done 3D stuff with CAMBAM. Worked the first time! White one is machined pvc foam. 

I absolutely hate how it handles moving the view... ugh. 1980s. Sometimes I get bit by a setting I don't understand, like the bonus lines tying my scale together. Cambam thought I was using a 1/8" end mill, not a V bit, and figured "those overlap anyway"

The price to performance ratio... spectacular!
	

	
	
		
		

		
			








Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


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## Boswell (Nov 9, 2021)

I used CamBam for a couple of years but found I was regularly hand coding changes to the output GCode in order to get what I wanted. I eventually moved to Bobcad.  BTW, I only use Bobcad for the CAM function. Can't stand their CAD.


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## Ken226 (Nov 9, 2021)

Weldingrod1 said:


> I've done 3D stuff with CAMBAM. Worked the first time! White one is machined pvc foam.
> 
> I absolutely hate how it handles moving the view... ugh. 1980s. Sometimes I get bit by a setting I don't understand, like the bonus lines tying my scale together. Cambam thought I was using a 1/8" end mill, not a V bit, and figured "those overlap anyway"
> 
> ...



Ha!  Yea, moving the view around sucks. 
 I'd happily pay  to have a view cube like the one in Inventor!


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