The Line and Line Continuous functions now offer a check box to control whether the line snaps to the pointer location on the highlighted entity, or whether it snaps to the closest snap point on the entity. Originally these functions automatically snapped to the closest snap point but due to customer requests we updated them to snap to the pointer location instead. Once this was updated though, we had many customer requests to put it back just like it was. So, in this version we're making both sides happy with an easy way to switch between the two options directly in the dialog!

Join to closest snap point

Join to closest snap point

The Layer Manager now has a bunch of handy new options to make organization a breeze: 

• Groups
• Modify to Current Layer
• Show only this Layer
• Select Layer Geometry

When we added Group folders to our CAM Tree, customers were ecstatic! Finally, you could use folders, and subfolders to help organize your tree quickly and easily. Now, with our new BobCAD-CAM V34 release we offer those same Groups, and even more to the Layer manager! The Modify to current layer option has been added to the quick access menu of the Layer Manager to quickly move selected items to the active later. You can now right-click on a specific layer to automatically select all geometry at once. And a brand-new feature allows you to right-click a layer and select Show only this layer to automatically hide all other layers.

The new Silhouette feature allows you to get the overall outline of the part as if it were flattened onto a two-dimensional plane. Getting the outline of a part can be difficult to outright impossible, especially in the case of an STL file. In the past, getting an intersection of curves with an intersecting plane, can fail to provide enough to create a proper outline. With the new Silhouette function, just select the geometry, set the direction, adjust options as needed and click OK. All the work is done for you! It even works with STL models!

The new Selection Manager allows you select any number of entities and save them as a single selectable item so that you can select every one of them with a single click in the future. With each new version, BobCAD-CAM gets easier and easier to use, but no matter how easy, geometry selection can still take time. When many entities need to be selected, zooming, rotating, and panning the model to select the required geometry takes time. With the new Selection Manager though, there's no reason to spend a lot of time selecting the same geometry twice, ever! Simply pick your geometry and save your geometry as a Selection. Next time the same geometry needs to be selected, just give it a quick click in the Selection Manager and it’s all selected at once!

Select all desired entities

Save Selection

Single-click selection from now on!

This version of BobCAD-CAM gives you the option to save yourself a lot of right-clicking in the CAM Tree, while making it much easier to see the state of each item at a glance! By default, changing the status of CAM Tree items requires right-clicking the item to update the status through the context menu. Once you do, an icon is placed in front of the items name showing that state. This is all pretty standard, but with the new Look and Feel options for the CAM Tree in the Settings menu, you can switch to the new Extended style CAM Tree to save a ton of right-clicks and provide a little visual organization! Now use Blank/Unblank and Post Yes/No with a simple click. We went even further with the new Extended CAM Tree style by allowing you to control the look and feel of it! You decide which side of the CAM Tree the states appear, and whether the states are shown as icons or check boxes.

With the new Copy with Geometry option, you can copy all the settings of the feature along with all the geometry associated with the feature and paste it in the same document! Copying and pasting features can be a huge time saver when programming a part. Making sure all the settings that you’ve taken the time to dial in can help to ease your mind as well, but in the past geometry always had to be selected again. This could be a pain when you have several boundaries, various surfaces selected for gouge checking, other surfaces with advanced allowances applied, and on and on. Now with the new Copy with Geometry option, these troubles are a thing of the past. It’s never been easier!

Copying and pasting features can be a huge time saver when programming a part. Making sure all the settings that you’ve taken the time to dial in can help to ease your mind as well, but in the past geometry always had to be selected again. This could be a pain when you have several boundaries, various surfaces selected for gouge checking, other surfaces with advanced allowances applied, and on and on. Now with the new Copy with Geometry option, these troubles are a thing of the past. It’s never been easier!

In this latest version of BobCAD-CAM we're giving you the ability to post particular portions of the program easier than ever before. While you have always been able to control what is posted out by setting everything else to Post No, doing this every time may need to post a different portion of the program can get a little tiring. Now BobCAD-CAM allows you to simply right-click the item and choose Post or Post & Save as to output that portion only! This can be done to output single features or operations, single Machine Setups, a single group, a single Index System, or Wrapping Group. Isolating the portion of the program you want to post has never been easier!

The new Add Note option allows you to create your own custom tool tips for items in your CAM Tree! Tool tips can be found everywhere in software and are a great way to get a quick explanation of a functions purpose. Simply hover your mouse over the function and a note pops up. In the new BobCAD-CAM V34 we found a way to help you organize your job even more by giving you a way to create your very own tool tips. Simply right-click the item and choose Add Note. The Add Note dialog appears allowing you to type a message out. Click OK, and a Note icon is added to the item in your CAM Tree. The next time you, or another programmer hovers over that icon, the tool tip appears! Notes can be added to:

• Job
• Machine Setup
• Feature
• Operation
• Index System
• Groups

Keeping your work offsets straight has never been easier with the new pop-up dialogs! Whether you're updating the work offset of your machine setup, or pasting features between setups, you always want to make sure you'll be posting out the proper work offsets for all your features. When you’re updating the machine setup, this meant having to go through each feature to update it as needed. When pasting a feature into another setup, it meant being sure to remember to update that feature as needed. With the dialogs, this is done for you automatically! When updating the machine setup, the Update Work Offset Number dialog appears allowing you to clear any features you do not want to update. Simply click OK and you're done. When pasting a feature into a machine setup with a different work offset, a dialog appears offering to update the feature automatically!

Updating the Machine Setup Work Offset

Pasting a Feature

The new Deburring operation allows you to automatically create toolpath to trim complex edges or apply chamfers/fillets to the edges of your parts. For all machined parts, sharp edges must be dealt with. The burrs on sharp edges are a safety issue for the machinists working on them and can even affect the functionality of the part. While taking care of these edges on basic 2-3 axis parts is fairly simple, selecting each individual edge can be time consuming! The new Deburring operation makes this vital step of the machining process a breeze with automatic feature detection, automatic linking, automatic lead in and even automatic collision detection! Simply select your tool, select your geometry, and let us do the rest! The Deburring operation will even do undercuts automatically when a capable tool is selected for the operation! 

The new Turn Milling operation combines turning with milling tools to power through materials in record time! In many cases turning operations are applied to the stock to remove material as quickly as possible. The only issue with turning material down quickly is when the chips don't break properly and form large piles against the part called bird nests. These can be dangerous to the part finish, tool, and the machinist. The Turn Milling toolpath can be a super-efficient way to remove a lot of material on your 4 or 5 axis milling machines or your Mill Turn machines! By combining the efficiency of turning with the chip slinging power of an endmill, you can have the best of both worlds and power through material quicker than ever without having to worry.

BobCAD-CAM now allows you to convert your 3 axis toolpaths to 5 axis motion in order to use short, rigid tools in areas that could not be reached with a 3 axis move without gouging. In machining, tool deflection can spell disaster for part precision. One sure-fire way to avoid that is with tools that are as short as possible, but this can be impossible in some areas unless you can tilt into those hard-to-reach spots with multiaxis movements. With 3 to 5 Axis Conversion, you can quickly and easily turn your standard Mill 3 Axis Pro operations into robust 5 axis solutions to keep the precision you need while keeping programming at record low times!

In the image, you can see the arbor is colliding with the model and would not be able to cut that area if a 3 Axis gouge check were used.

The new multiaxis machining patterns bring the power and speed of the Multiaxis Roughing to finishing! The multiaxis roughing was a revolution in roughing multiaxis parts quickly and easily, but until now a similar solution for finishing did not exist. Generalized toolpath operations have all the settings you could possibly need so they can be utilized in a wide range of situations. These generalized toolpaths could be applied to the floors and walls of multiaxis parts, but with all those settings they were not designed for ease and simplicity. This meant it could take a bit of toying with all the various options to get the desired result. Now BobCAD-CAM makes it quick and easy to get your floors and walls done with minimal input with these specialized toolpaths: 

• Multiaxis floor finishing - This path was designed to finish the floors of multiaxis parts. Pick your geometry and let us do the heavy lifting.
• Multiaxis wall finishing - This path was designed to finish the w alls of multiaxis parts. Pick your geometry and let us do the heavy lifting. 

The new Port Machining operation from BobCAD-CAM allows you to machine complex interior geometries with ease and precision. This is a must have for those in the industry! Applying toolpath to curved interior surfaces has always been possible, but it's also been a sure-fire way to test your patience and lose a lose a lot of hair in the process. Spending hours jumping back and forth between tweaking parameters and double checking the simulation to find the necessary combination of settings and values is a thing of the past! This toolpath is specifically designed to handle these geometries with the bare minimum input from the user. Port machining allows you to select the tool, the machining surfaces, and a few check surfaces to get the results you had to struggle so hard for in the past.

The new Multiblade operation allows you to create toolpath on multibladed parts faster than ever before. There's a reason impellers and blisks are used to showcase the multiaxis ability of CAM systems: Multiblade parts can be found everywhere from vacuums to aircraft and have always been the most challenging 5 axis parts to cut. Having to control everything aspect of tool movement on such complex parts requires intimate knowledge of the possible settings and hours of programming. The Multiblade operation has four patterns which are specifically designed to handle a particular aspect of the part. Roughing, Blade finishing, Hub finishing, and Fillet finishing are each designed to create optimum toolpath with very little input from the user. Use the Multiblade operation to flatten the learning curve and turn your hours of programming into minutes!

BobCAD-CAM now gives the Advanced Rough operation the power to automatically create index systems to tackle your roughing from multiple planes in the same operation. This allows you to use short, rigid tools in areas that could not be reached with a 3 axis move without gouging. In machining, tool deflection can spell disaster for part precision. One sure-fire way to avoid that is with tools that are as short as possible, but this can be impossible in some areas unless you can tilt into those hard-to-reach spots with multiaxis movements. With Auto 3+2 Roughing, you can quickly and easily turn your standard Mill 3 Axis Advanced Rough operation into robust 5 axis solutions to keep the precision you need while keeping programming at record low times! Choose your level of control with: 

• Automatic - allows you to set a search angle increment, a maximum amount of stock to leave, and a maximum tilt range. We’ll do the rest.
• Semi-automatic - allows you to do the same thing, but also allows you to specify a preferred direction of approach.
• Manual - allows you to take complete control and specify each allowable direction of machining.

Whether you want to pick each of the axis manually as seen below, pick a preferred direction, or just let BobCAD do the work for you, 3+2 Roughing can revolutionize your part programming.