Volumill.. is anyone using it.

[gcode]

Volumill

I hadn't though about this software for years, but got an email this morning about their new licensing
methods so I checked it out.

All I remember about it is that way back in the day (2003/2005 ?) there were a few people using the
Mastercam Volumill chook and Mastercam shut them down.
I know hyperMill uses the Volumill add-in ( for an extra charge of course)
With Mastercam, you'd want to use the Nexion package.
I have no idea how that would work... not really interested, just curious..

[TSmcam]

Neurosis is the person who springs to mind when the Volumill mess loomed back in the early 2000's. I recall that. He was a big fan of it, and from what I gather, he had lot of success with it.

I got involved with Volumill a bit, when we switched to NX briefly, as I trialled the NX addon back then. Then, when I switched to TopSolid, Volumill was an integrated module option, which worked really well and which I had a lot of success with. TopSolid phased the Volumill module out in favour of its own product, Boostmill (and Boost Turn), so I haven't used Volumill in about four or five years now.

[gcode]

TopSolid phased the Volumill module out in favour of its own product, Boostmill (and Boost Turn), so I haven't used Volumill in about four or five years now.

I wonder if Boostmill is really Volumill renamed.
The website I linked to still lists TopSolid as a partner.

I've never used Volumill or even tried the free download.
My biggest memory of Volumill is how pissed the guys were who'd purchased Volumill for Mastercam.
only to see Mastercam lock the chook out.

[MIL-TFP-41]

I think that Volumill was trying to be the moduleworks of adaptive/dynamic/whatever you want to call it toolpaths. License their engine to various cam softwares. Seems like a good idea...but also looks like most CAM companies went on to develop their own.

I remember them being on shaky ground when they first started up, lawsuits with Surfcam come to mind. I remember trying it when they first came out, but 6 months or so after they came out Mastercam released their flavor of these toolpaths....and shortly after Mastercam wouldn't allow the Volumill plugin to work. Staying with Volumill was tough to justify after that.

[ghuns]

We have it as an add on in Cimatron. If you have a machine that can go fast, it's a hoot to watch run.

[YoDoug]

TopSolid phased the Volumill module out in favour of its own product, Boostmill (and Boost Turn), so I haven't used Volumill in about four or five years now.

Same here, when TopSolid came out with boost we switched and I have not used it since.

[TSmcam]

I wonder if Boostmill is really Volumill renamed.
The website I linked to still lists TopSolid as a partner.

I've never used Volumill or even tried the free download.
My biggest memory of Volumill is how pissed the guys were who'd purchased Volumill for Mastercam.
only to see Mastercam lock the chook out.

Boostmill is new chunk of software, it isn't Volumill with a TS sticker (although I first thought that when they announced Boostmill ). I noticed the same thing, that they still listed TopSolid as a partner. That isn't the case now, as Volumill isn't even listed as a product on the TS product list.

I tried the standalone Volumill about the time that wheels fell off with Mastercams module. It seemed pretty capable, and I had tinkered with it in NX. I see it is still a module available for NX.

Yes, I recall Neurosis was the most vocal about the parting of ways between Volumill and MC (and justifiably so). That was, and is, always the risk when relying on third party applications though.

[YoDoug]

I wonder if Boostmill is really Volumill renamed.
The website I linked to still lists TopSolid as a partner.

I was told TopSolid developed their own algorithms for boost. They have a big dev team and do most of their stuff in house. I do know they were working on adding in some third party 5x stuff but I don't know if it ever got released.

[YoDoug]

We have TMAC spindle load monitoring and adaptive feedrate control in all of our mills so we often just program traditional roughing passes and let the TMAC do it's thing to speed up the cut.

TMAC - https://www.caroneng.com/products/tmac/

[gcode]

lawsuits with Surfcam come to mind

I believe the founders of Volumill were ex Surfcam employees.
Does Surfcam even exist anymore?? I think is got gobbled up in a VC acquisition.
 

[neurosis]

Yes, I recall Neurosis was the most vocal about the parting of ways between Volumill and MC (and justifiably so). That was, and is, always the risk when relying on third party applications though.

Yes, it was BobW and I. We'd both just purchased it about a year to a year and a half prior. Our local mastercam rep talked us in to Volumill over the Cimco plugin. That's why I was so pissed. Not that it mattered in the end. It was also a bit of a slap in the face that they continued to allow Cimco's plugin to be sold while they axed volumill. I get that they have a bit of a relationship with Cimco but still. It was also a little chicken shit that they axed volumill before Dynamic was ironed out.  We went from something that worked great to something half assed. 

If I had to compare the two today, and I don't know how much progress volumill has made, but dynamic has come a long way and smokes anything volumill was doing back in the day.  There were a few things that volumill did better but overall, I'd take dynamic.

[gcode]

Does Surfcam even exist anymore?? I think is got gobbled up in a VC acquisition.
 

Yes.. it does still exist.

https://hexagon.com/products/product-groups/computer-aided-manufacturing-cad-cam-software/surfcam

[gcode]

the Cimco plugin.

I tested the Cimco plugin way back when.
It was lame but pretty cool for it's day.
They still offer it and I tested it again in 2022.
Don't waste your time.

[TSmcam]

Yes, it was BobW and I. We'd both just purchased it about a year to a year and a half prior. Our local mastercam rep talked us in to Volumill over the Cimco plugin. That's why I was so pissed. Not that it mattered in the end. It was also a bit of a slap in the face that they continued to allow Cimco's plugin to be sold while they axed volumill. I get that they have a bit of a relationship with Cimco but still. It was also a little chicken shit that they axed volumill before Dynamic was ironed out.  We went from something that worked great to something half assed. 

If I had to compare the two today, and I don't know how much progress volumill has made, but dynamic has come a long way and smokes anything volumill was doing back in the day.  There were a few things that volumill did better but overall, I'd take dynamic.

I remember that time. Heated, and understandably so.

Ah, the good 'ol days LOL

[Flycut]

All I heard was way back in the day... 2005
Felt the need to correct that then realized it wasn't wrong.