Frustrated with eCabinet Systems??

[Jesse L Layman]

Does anyone else ever get the feeling that eCabinet Systems is a very under-developed program that is full of glitches and shortcomings? I hate to down a "free" program that I am not highly experienced in, but sometimes the simplest operations are incredibly aggravating. Maybe I just quickly ran here because it's a place that I can vent and let the whole world of eCabinet users see, and hopefully gain some support in my claims... Maybe I just need to quit for today, seeing it's almost time to clock out... Come on, somebody give me a boost!

[DanEpps]

Have you attended a training class? If not, I highly recommend it. You will come away with a much higher understanding of eCabinets. The class being offered during IWF has a $100 discount through August 1 I believe.

[Jesse L Layman]

Dan,

No, I haven't. My boss and I have talked about going sometime but at this point I thought I could try to learn it on my own, and at least learn enough basics to generate our cutsheets, which would be a huge time-saver over doing everything by hand as we have done up to this point. After that, we thought it would still be beneficial to attend training at a later date to learn more of its functions. Does this seem backward?

[DanEpps]

Many of us (me included) learned on our own and have never attended a class, so it is definitely doable. The question is: how much is your time worth while you learn the hard way as opposed to attending a class?

Having said that, you have access to a group of highly skilled users right here in the forum and they are more than willing to help when you have specific questions. Rarely will you see a question go unanswered for more than maybe an hour (except for those folks in Australia, New Zealand and South Aftica).

Search through the forum. Probably every question you can come up with has been answered several times already. Just use fairly broad search terms so you get more results. If you get too many non-pertinent results, narrow your search terms. Search terms like "cabinet" will yield thousands of results while corner cabinet will return far fewer results and base corner cabinet will yield even fewer.

I have an article in the latest eCabinet Systems Member Magazine that examines how to get the most out of the forum. Just look for eCabWorld in the table of contents.

[Damon Nabors]

Jesse,

I am going to chime in with you just for a brief second. I am by no means a Dan, Kerry or some of the other super users on this forum, but I can basically design anything I am going to build in my shop. I too had a lot of trouble when I first got started with e-cabinets. I would try it and then I would say to Hell with it. Dan and some of the others with extensive computer back grounds had the basic knowledge of what was going on. I in turn only knew how to get onto the Internet and play Solitaire with my computer when I started. I did not know that you had to have a fairly good understanding of computers and dealing with files and such. After basically giving up, I decided to bite the bullet and I purchased the recommended computer and I enrolled in the training class in Dale, In. The first day was a little confusing because we were asked to start new folders and copy and paste things into file folders, and I am sitting there pulling my hair out and saying hold on a minute, what did you just do there. By the end of the first day, I had learned a lot about basic computer skills that had nothing to do with ecabinets, and I think Dennis may have pulled some of his hair out also ( the instructor). By the end of the week, the big picture made since to me. I came home with confidence and a new appreciation for the software that I thought was terrible to use. It was only a terrible program because I was terrible at using a computer.

Take the course and then come back onto the forum with a new appreciation for the power of this software. Better yet, see if someone will be willing to work with you for an hour or so on the phone. I have tutored many people over the phone. I guess what I am trying to say is, Don't beat the software up too bad because you will end up eating your words. I did.

Damon

[DanEpps]

I do seem to remember you having to be pulled along a little Damon.

Jesse, you (or Damon) are not the first to struggle with eCabinets and you probably won't be the last. Take a cue from Damon though--he ended up liking eCabinets so much that he bought a Thermwood CNC router!

[Damon Nabors]

My wife says I make a great pull toy

[Grady Pinckard]

Jesse,
I have learned so much about the software just from reading the forum everyday. The resources for this software are quite extensive ie; forum, e-cabinets made easy and the training sessions. I am a figure it out for myself kind of guy but if i had to do it again I would take a training course.
hang in there,
Grady

[Neville Bastian]

Hi Jesse,
You are right Ecabinets is one of the hardest cad programs to learn.
I think you are after a quick way of learning it?
Tell your Boss to buy a Thermwood like I did and the 200K investment helps you learn real quick.
The other route is to buy a program that is easy to learn but when it sends info to a cnc you need to fork out $70k to upgrade plus still attend costly training sessions.

The more I know Ecabinets the more you see its strengths are its powerful backend. Learning that costs time and doing a training coarse then applying it is the sensible way to go.
If you are unable to purchase a Thermwood now you still have the power to custom design your cabinets then forward your ecabinet files to your nearest Thermwood owner. They don't care on how difficult your job is as its your input time.

Regards

Neville

[Rick Palechuk]

Jesse, can you explain the glitches and shortcomings that are plaguing you? There are thousands of members out there that have been there and done that, I'm sure there are solutions to your issues.

[Tim McLaughlin]

I can understand the frustrations if you have not had any training and are trying to learn on your own. The past two cabinet companies I worked for used Cabnetware. I used that software for 11 years. Both of those companies had a seperate person or persons that would take the drawings aftert the project manager was done and get them ready for the CNC (neither company has a Thermwood). I thought that software was the best until I went to the training class in Dale and now I will never go back to it. I have been using eCabinets for two months now and I love it. There so much you can but you really need to go to a training class. The instructor will even show you shortcuts that make it easier. ECabinets is a difficult program to learn and master but I am so much further along because of the training class and the help I have found on the forum.

[Justin Melhiser]

Jesse
When you are working with ecabients and run in to any problems feel free to call me. You can get on our website and look at the training dates. If you are interested in signing up for any of the training classes, call Dennis Englert 1-8-887-880-4638 ext. 234.
Here are our training courses for this year.
August 18th-20th Atlanta, GA
August 11th-15th Dale, IN
September 8th-12th Dale, IN
September 16th-18th Tucson, AZ
October 7th-9th Mission Viejo, CA
October 6th-10th Dale, IN
November 17th-21st Dale, IN
December 1st-5th Dale, IN

[Forrest Chapman]

Jesse,

Keep at it and ask often. This forum is a very valuable resource that is free and easy to use. You can learn on your own but it helps to not be under the pressure of producing jobs for at least a few weeks.

If you are thinking of outsourcing your parts to a shop for machining then now is the time to speak with one. They will not only give you valuable insight on the do's and don'ts of design but may even give you some seed cabinets to start with and 1 on 1 guidance along the way.

For all other questions just ask here.

Tim,

I'll be in Taccoa GA. today dropping some parts off. Maybe I can stop in and see you. Give me a call 864-844-1737

Forrest

[Dan Voges]

Jesse,

The biggest suggestion that I can say is to attend the training classes. Dennis Englert and I have seen countless times people coming in to the classes on the first day, really frustrated and thinking that the software is limited, simply because it was free. After the training course, they can't believe how much power and control the software has. It is s steep learning curve, but with the cost of the training course, you will easily start reaping in the benefits from it.

I might also suggest that since you are a new user, sign up for the training classes here at Thermwood. The classes are pretty much the same as the seminars, but you get a lot more "hands on" learning and instruction. Just ask Tim; I don't think I was too hard on him! (He might say different! ) The training seminars are limited to 25 people where the classes at Thermwood are only limited to 10. Plus we will feed you a good lunch!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact myself (ext 337) or Dennis Englert (ext 234) (1800-533-6901). We will be more than happy to address your concerns.

[Glenn Warner]

Does anyone else ever get the feeling that eCabinet Systems is a very under-developed program that is full of glitches and shortcomings? I hate to down a "free" program that I am not highly experienced in, but sometimes the simplest operations are incredibly aggravating. Maybe I just quickly ran here because it's a place that I can vent and let the whole world of eCabinet users see, and hopefully gain some support in my claims... Maybe I just need to quit for today, seeing it's almost time to clock out... Come on, somebody give me a boost!

Jesse,

With all due respect I think you are jumping the gun a little. I can see where being a member for just a little over a month, no training, and only six posts here, might result in some frustration, but i wouldn't be so quick to write off the software as under-developed, full of glitches and shortcomings. Also I assume that you really want to learn how to use the system and just not gain support for claims that its unuseable.

I've had my share of frustrations, but usually its my fault. For example, I was just working on a job with stretchers. I placed a two inch blind dado stretcher across a base cabinet. When I explode the cab -- no visible blind dados!! I'm just about ready to say "this darn thing don't work". Well to make a long story short, I had the insets for the tenons set to one inch, and on a two inch stretcher that doesn't leave much of a tenon.

Use the help files and especially go thru "ecabinets made easy". I've been thru "made easy" countless times and each time learn something I had missed before. Also post often here with specifics; even the most basic questions are treated promptly and respectfully. Bugs when they occur are acknowledged and workarounds often proposed. Cabinets and rooms can be posted to facilitate collaborative troubleshooting. Had I posted that stretcher problem I'm sure two or three of the "boys" would have set me on the right path.

Finally one thing I will grant is that eCabs is not always intuitive, meaning that it doesn't always work as "WE" think it should. Everyone will have pet ideas about how a specific feature could or should be different, but after some experience you come to appreciate the beauty of the overall design that Thermwood has come up with.

Regards,
Glenn