I had the pleasure of meeting Janey last week at the tail end of a trip to Pontiac to participate in the WallDog event there. Janey is definitely a she and cute at that. I was in her shop Sunday afternoon until late and again Monday morning to help teach her the art of applying bitmap textures to routing files and also creating more complex 3D files. Janey is a quick learner to say the least!
First I need to explain about Janey as I understand her... spending time with her was like talking to a double of myself. It was a little scary!
She's one INTENSE person who desparately wants to jump to LIGHT SPEED as fast as possible with her MultiCam router and EnRoute software. Janey want to put complex files on the machine IMMEDIATELY! And the work they have done on the router so far (in only a couple of weeks) is amazing! She tells me by August 1 she'll be running full blast 3D textured jobs... and I BELIEVE her! Although MultiCam did offer her some training it didn't take her as far as she wanted to go... but I don't think there are many people who can teach her the things she wanted to learn. Hopefully, I helped her out some there.
I understand all that for I was in her shoes back 3 and a half years ago when I bought my MultiCam. Only I was prepared to spend months learning the software and the ins and outs of the router before I put a paying job on it. I had no one to teach me (although Enroute and MutliCam did their best!) for I was blazing brand new trails in this industry. I wanted to jump the basics and get right to the good stuff. Janey wants to get there a little faster than that... make it a LOT faster!
Janey tends to be like me when she runs into a problem... when the car gets stuck she probably puts the pedal to the metal and SPIN those tires! I suspect she knows more bad words than I do and isn't afraid to use them if she sees the need. Janey drives a cool hot rod convertable too! As I get older (and perhaps a little wiser) I have come to realise that its not always the best way. Slowing down just a little can sometimes get one there faster.
I happened to be on the phone today with someone from MultiCam's head office (on another matter) My contact there mentioned this thread to me. They are justifyably upset with the bad press . Just after I got off the phone with them Janey called me on another matter... (by coincidence) and I talked with her. Obviously she too is upset although I think what she types here sounds more upset than it really is. They just need to talk calmly and sort this out and I believe they will.
I gave Janey the contact information of my contact at MultiCam head office. He is eager to get these things solved in a hurry. There needs to be some dialogue between the two... but not here on a public forum where we hear only one side or the other. Both parties are great people with great integrity in my experience.
CNC routers are complex machines. They have a brutal learning curve the new user must suffer through. I think the problems Janey is having can be relatively easily solved and I believe the solution is the adjust the machine parameters to ease the rapid changes in direction the machine is currently making when routing her files. It's certainly beyond my non-existent computer skills but my tech guy from MultiCam tuned my machine in a hurry once I figured out the proper way to ask the pertinent questions. My problem was that I didn't know how to say what I wanted.
MultiCam in my experience has gone well above and beyond the call of duty in servicing my machine. Two issues I had early on were MY PROBLEM although I was reluctant to admit it wasn't the machine. (fluctuating local power and bad air pressure from my compressor) and yet MultiCam took care of both at their expense although they certainly didn't have to. It required patience on my part and understanding from my local MultiCam dealer. It seems each time there is an issue I am under (self-induced) pressure of a deadline. There shiould be a law against such a happening! I have to take a deep breath when I contact my MultiCam dealer and realise that MY PROBLEMS were not HIS problems. In doing so he remained my friend and was more than eager to help me out. But I know what it's like to spend a BIG wad of cash and not have an operating machine to work with... NOT a happy place!
Janey is a wonderful person who is easily excited. She has a passion within that will take her far in this industry. I have no doubt she will work out the relatively minor issues she has with MultiCam as she learns to use this exciting machine. I look forward to seeing some outstanding dimensional work off her first class CNC MultiCam router in the near future.
Go Janey GO! Once you get through the initial purchase/learning curve I have no doubt you have the right machine which will not limit your efforts!
If I can help in any way please give me a call.
-grampa dan