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Steve Clarkson
04-24-2012, 3:05 PM
In case any of you high volume guys/girls are looking for software........I got an e-mail from the Ponoko guy the other day asking me if I would be interested in their software. Apparently it allows customers to upload their designs, select their material and get a price quote and pay.....so no more manually quoting jobs.

It just SOUNDED expensive, so I didn't pursue it........but I thought that someone on here might have an interest in it. If so, I would suggest that you contact them directly.

Oh.......and I'm not affiliated with PONOKO in any way, shape or form. I just enjoy taking their customers away from them.

EDIT: I guess you can't edit a post's subject line.......oh well, atleast I know I can spell.......I just can't type very well.

greg lindsey
04-24-2012, 5:36 PM
I'm not sure what kind of companies they contract with, all I can say is they are very cheap priced. I just did a quote cutting some 1/4" acrylic which was about 8 hrs worth of cutting time alone and the customer came back asking me to price match Pokono which he had a written quote of 120.00, my reply, good luck with that.

Steve Clarkson
04-24-2012, 7:45 PM
They must have lowered their rates.....they were quite expensive before.

I am kind of curious how it works......I mean if someone wants a 9" circle cut out......they have standard sizes of material......so let's say you have to buy the smallest size which might be 12"x12" (so the material cost isn't hard to calculate assuming they don' do much when it comes to nesting)......but how does their software know how long it will take to cut out that circle (and charge accordingly) verses a more intricate shape like Texas or lets say a 9" wide mape of the US cutting all 48 states out.....

It sure would be nice if I could send a job to cut on my Epilog and get a time estimate for how long it would take.......but then again, there are some lasers out there that can do that......correct?

Rich Harman
04-24-2012, 10:42 PM
It sure would be nice if I could send a job to cut on my Epilog and get a time estimate for how long it would take.......but then again, there are some lasers out there that can do that......correct?

The Shenhui's will do this. They claim it is accurate to the millisecond.

Rodne Gold
04-24-2012, 10:46 PM
Yeh, the Chinese lasers software has a preview section where it estimates the Job time and you can actually SEE a simulation on the screen in 1/10th to 10x real time *user selectable* of the actual head movement and when it fires etc. It's time estimation is quite accurate.

Dan Hintz
04-25-2012, 6:27 AM
how does their software know how long it will take to cut out that circle (and charge accordingly) verses a more intricate shape

If you know the ramp rates and velocities of the head, calculation of total time is a matter of basic math. One can assume the manufacturer of a machine is well aware of such values.

Mike Null
04-25-2012, 7:08 AM
My Trotec has that built into Job Control software. It is indeed handy.

Daniel Wolanski
04-25-2012, 3:57 PM
Lasercut 5.3 will also give you time and simulation.

Martin Boekers
04-25-2012, 7:24 PM
A bit confused here, does Pokono have people or companies that they contract with or do the just run the simulation?

Mike Null
04-25-2012, 7:46 PM
I believe they are a middleman. Some time ago I got a request for a rather large acrylic job for Pokono. I quoted my regular price but never heard back. I was not inclined to give my work away at discount prices so I guess that's why I never heard back.

If they want my margin then I have some advice for them.

Michael Kowalczyk
04-26-2012, 12:48 PM
I use mine regularly and it saves time and gets job quotes out quicker.