jon_banquer fired this volley in news:ec47b233-
:

So, I should assume when I see a FeatureCAM package offered for hundreds
of dollars, and touted to be the 'current version', that it's a pirate
copy; yes?

I think I remember Andy Payne (CB author) expressing a desire to write a
future 'professional' version of CamBam. I know he's in the midst of
trying to get back to his beloved Australia from the UK before he
launches on a big efforts like that.

Specifics -- well the thing most CamBam users enjoy the most is its
built-in 2D CAD facilities, with som limited (but still available) 3D
functionality. Drawing 3D within CamBam is mostly a 'trick', but it can
be done by creating 2D shapes and translating them about the axes.

I find that I can design more than 90% of my parts (strictly 'prismatic')
within CamBam as multiple orthogonal views, avoiding all the
importation/interpretation issues that accompany doing the CAD externally
with software that isn't specifically CAM-oriented.

It also has a wealth of integrity checks for shapes and milling paths,
although those are in the form of text messages from a debugging handler,
and not highlighted on the drawing.

It's also relatively bug-free. There are a few known bugs, and Andy
faithfully addresses them in each subsequent update, but there are still
a number of them outstanding, and updates have become less frequent
recently. Generally, though, the bugs are well-known.

CamBam presently has some limited lathe capabilities, with promises of
more complete support in the future... maybe even a lathe-only version.

The user forum is about the most helpful place you could imagine for
sorting out issues outside your normal experience with the package. I
don't know of anyone who's ever been shooed out by 'experts' for not
being of their level. That's unlike a lot of other sites occupied by
self-proclaimed gods who don't seem to be able to come down from Olympus
to help neophytes, except with cryptic references to things beginners
wouldn't know, anyway.

I'd say for most users, CamBam is not only their first CAM, it's probably
their first foray into CNC machining, so there are lots of beginners
there. It's targeted at the small hobby shop. It has utility that
extends past that market, and a price that makes it fun to experiment
with, even if it doesn't suit your needs.

Lloyd