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Best CAM software

tspang

Plastic
Joined
Feb 25, 2017
What in your opinions would be the best CAM software to implement into our shop. Price isn't particularly an issue. We will be using it for our 3 axis robodrills, and our 4 axis lathe for the time being. We are looking to the future as far as getting into 4 and 5 axis vertical machining centers, so the software needs to be capable of that.

we currently have EZ CAM and have for a few years, but have just recently started getting serious about work with CAM packages. The robodrills and lathes are new new. We have not been happy with EZ CAM whatsoever though, and it appears they do not offer past 3 axis. Couple that with there absolute shit customer service and its easy to understand why we are looking to make a switch. So with all of that said what is the best software out there.
 
The best CAM program is the one you know - as long as it does what you want it to do. Sounds like EZ CAM isn't enough for you anymore.

I'm not a fan of MasterCAM, and it is very expensive. I do like HSMWorks, but that's because I'm a Solidworks power user.

If nothing else, try the free trial of Fusion 360 (which can be free forever if you qualify.) That will at least give you a baseline, and any program that wants to charge 5 figures more than that will have to have solid justification to do so.
 
there is really no BEST ,, there is best for you and what your asking of it ,,, I used ezcam and liked it for the most part ,, but then they wanted more $$$ for me to add HSM ,,, so I went to onecnc and I am more than happy with it ,, the drawing works good and the cam side seems to do everything I ask of it ...

I got gibbs cam years ago and there drawing side was junk and I used the drawing side of Bobcad 17 for YEARS ...
 
You say nothing in your post about CAD; is this an issue? This can to a certain extent influence the answer(s) you will receive.

If money is no object, then two names come to mind immediately - NX (Siemens) and TopSolid. In the next tier down, an answer about CAD will help.

For the types of machines you use now and for those you are planning on I would suggest doing some homework on the 4 and 5 axis verticals and seeing what you find that, potentially, fits the bill. Reason being you will want to find out what machines your software choices can post to. And the costs involved in customizing if this is necessary. You do not want to get involved with software based on promises of support for machines or implementations of features - what you need or think you will need should already be in place.

In the case of high end products like NX, make sure your reseller has a good reputation for support. A company like Siemens doesn't care about SMBs (small medium business) so all your support and teaching will be via the VAR/reseller and, in some cases, forums/websites.

Fred
 
If money is no object, then two names come to mind immediately - NX (Siemens) and TopSolid.
Hey ! Pro/E, too ! They have modules for everything and since Wildfire 3, it's been good for both cad and cam.

Support tho, those guys are kind of pricks. There is a reason for the existence of Solidworks, and it's ain't just the software. They do have capable support, it's just that PTC are assholes.

Come to think of it, so are Siemens. Look what they did to I-DEAS :(

p.s. Unless things have changed, the turning software from most everyone is kind of crap. When software guys figure out that a lathe isn't just a mill that's been tipped over, maybe that will get better.
 
We have AutoCAD LT and 95% of the jobs we get we get the AutoCAD drawings for. So the ability for the CAM software to import the AutoCAD files would be crucial so that we are able to greatly reduce time in not having to sit there and draw up the part every single time.
 
Take a look at Smartcam while you're researching. Send them a couple of complex parts you make along with a drscription of your machining process and have them recreate and post for you to compare.

Also be aware that Fusion360's lathe side is unusable.
 
We have AutoCAD LT and 95% of the jobs we get we get the AutoCAD drawings for. So the ability for the CAM software to import the AutoCAD files would be crucial so that we are able to greatly reduce time in not having to sit there and draw up the part every single time.

I think you will find most, if not all, of the CAD/CAM offerings will be able to import DXF/DWG format; certainly NX, Topsolid, and all the offerings from Autodesk are capable of doing so.

While I believe you should look at the offerings from Autodesk - HSMWorks (if you like Solidworks), Inventor HSM Ultimate, Fusion 360 Ultimate, Powermill, FeatureCAM - Autodesk have moved to a pure subscription model...you rent the software so it will stop working if you don't pay the monthly or yearly fee. That said, you do not have the upfront cost of traditional perpetual license (software continues to work if you don't pay maintenance).

BTW should have added the names Powermill and Hypermill to the original list of higher end solutions.

One of the big problems with CAD/CAM is the classic 'you don't know what you don't know' with respect to what features are available and what are important to you. That is one of the reasons for suggesting something like Inventor HSM Ultimate. You get a decent solid modeler and a reasonably good CAM package for $3,700.00 a year. Once you get your feet wet with it you'll be in a better position to make a choice to stick with it, move to something else at the same price level, or go to the top tier solutions like NX. That way you are not out an initial big investment and can make a more informed decision.

Fred
 
Also be aware that Fusion360's lathe side is unusable.

I haven't even looked at the turning side...is it really unusable, or just a "so bad it hurts to use it" situation? If it's unusable, what makes it that way? It just spits out junk that literally won't work, and would be faster to punch in on the controller?
 
I haven't even looked at the turning side...is it really unusable, or just a "so bad it hurts to use it" situation? If it's unusable, what makes it that way? It just spits out junk that literally won't work, and would be faster to punch in on the controller?

It is not unuseable, I have been around the product long before it was Fusion. I have probably had access to it since it was released in the HSMWorks flavor. In some aspects Fusion turning is better than the SW version.

The problem is it was basically abandoned IMO. I know "in the right hands" it is great I have been told Just no one will to show it off. Or the famous we are working on it and big things are coming.

Part off retract has been broken since it is was release and has not been fixed in years. There is no good way to select internal geometry since slice does not work in CAM mode. Back to front machining lead in and outs don't work correctly or reliably. There are no tangential extension for turning. I don't believe you can create custom tools or even all of the standards ones.


There are many more short comings. With that said the OP parts may be a good candidate for it. If the turning is not too involved and you have a live tooled or multiaxis lathe the short comings may be worth it for access to the milling. 4th axis is also weak at this point.

Everyone keeps throwing out free. I don't know too many small businesses that don't have 100K in sales. If you already have robodrills and a 4axis lathe you probably are over the $100K. Also the $300 version does not include 4 axis, indexed (3+2), probing and 5axis. So you would likely need the $1500/year version.

In response what is the best cam system, it only matters what is best for you and you are the only one that knows what that is. They them all out. Make sure they are giving you demos on your parts with your work flow.
 
Ok, maybe just so bad it's infuriating. I fought to make a simple OD groove for many hours once, couldn't get the software to let me make a custom width square groove tool either. Had to hand code it finally, which took 10 minutes.
 
Ok, maybe just so bad it's infuriating. I fought to make a simple OD groove for many hours once, couldn't get the software to let me make a custom width square groove tool either. Had to hand code it finally, which took 10 minutes.

I agree, I have had issues before and never know if it was my lack of understanding or a bug or a current limitation of the software. They provide such little support for turning it is not worth the frustration trying to figure out which one it is.
 
it was already said well, "the best cam is the one you know"-- if it does what you need. I've used Bobcad, Mastercam, Visualmill and Gibbscam. I didn't like the drawing in any of the first 3-- and I now like the drawing in Gibbscam-- but only after having warmed up to it and understanding its flow. Coming from a strong Autocad background, Gibbs was the easiest to get productive in from a drawing standpoint for me. I consider the drawing useful, but not a deal breaker as long as importing is handled well.

I would venture to say that a good CAM for you is one that is structured in a way that you can easily acclimate to and not fight. While Mastercam may be great for some-- by brain didn't take to its structure and nomenclature.... I was constantly fighting the program mentally.

I really like numerous features of Gibbscam and would say that it is my favorite CAM so far and the one that makes sense to me. I really like the way they show the cutter and allow the user to easily choose/control the toolpath visually. Later this year I will get some stick time on a Powermill seat and look forward to that comparative. There are literally tons of resources to read and watch online to get up and running in Gibbscam,--

Conversely, I was disappointed to only find a couple of books in Chinese on Amazon for the Powermill program. I did find some video on the tube, though not many. If anyone has some training manuals they have obsoleted-- I'd love to take a read. For me, the video demonstrations are the best way for me to learn and hope I will find a good series for Powermill training.

There must be at least 50 training videos and a nice 5 book set available to learn Gibbscam. Additionally, there are a few approx. 90 minute training sessions by topic available on usb for Gibbscam which are very good--hese were created by Arguo Concepts(may be associated with Mindspring).

I am looking to find these guys again as mine are a couple years old and I want to get some updated instruction--- if anyone knows where these guys are-- please advise-- they made great content.
 
For the types of machines you use now and for those you are planning on I would suggest doing some homework on the 4 and 5 axis verticals and seeing what you find that, potentially, fits the bill. Reason being you will want to find out what machines your software choices can post to. And the costs involved in customizing if this is necessary. You do not want to get involved with software based on promises of support for machines or implementations of features - what you need or think you will need should already be in place.

In the case of high end products like NX, make sure your reseller has a good reputation for support. A company like Siemens doesn't care about SMBs (small medium business) so all your support and teaching will be via the VAR/reseller and, in some cases, forums/websites.

Fred

X10! Your reseller will determine your happiness with your software, you'll be dependent on them for a lot of things including code generator modification until you become the expert.

I have Edgecam and think highly of it. It's a breeze for turning. We only do 4 axis milling but one of my guys moonlights at a shop with high volume horizontals where it it pushed to extremes, with complex geometry and Edgecam is better for them than other CAM systems they have tried. They never had NX but have had things like Esprit and other upper-mid range systems. Vero has made several upgrades to the software to address limitations that one customer ran into.
 
Part off retract has been broken since it is was release and has not been fixed in years. There is no good way to select internal geometry since slice does not work in CAM mode. Back to front machining lead in and outs don't work correctly or reliably. There are no tangential extension for turning. I don't believe you can create custom tools or even all of the standards ones.

I dunno - in my book, this makes it pretty much unusable. Or maybe usable, but useless.

Everyone keeps throwing out free. I don't know too many small businesses that don't have 100K in sales. If you already have robodrills and a 4axis lathe you probably are over the $100K. Also the $300 version does not include 4 axis, indexed (3+2), probing and 5axis. So you would likely need the $1500/year version.

I was just saying they might want to give the free Trial a shot - you can download the program and have it running on a desktop in about 10 minutes. I don't know of another CAM software with such a simple/quick way to get a free Trial. If it's not a good 4th axis solution (and I had a feeling it wasn't) than scrap it and move on. But it is still dirt freaking cheap for shops that can use it successfully.
 
NX Cam will scale to your requirements for sure. Very few limitations if none already (NX11 now). Toolpath-wise you have full access to your 3D space and can manipulate practically anything with drive curves/sketches, surfaces, vectors and/or points. In other words, you are in complete control as a programmer. That is what gives NX (cam) its reputation really.

NX CAM (+IS&V) will also be useful for verification and machine/control specifics. All the back-end is powered by TCL, C/C#, or VB. Meaning if you have basic (to intermediate) programing skills, you can make it drive anything you want. You can write your own "User Defined" operations, toolpaths, probing cycles, etc, etc. limitless really.

Cost: if you can't get a banker or a purchasing dept to upfront the investment, cost can become an issue e.g. plan a good $10k+ annually for the maintenance (plan 5 business years for your budgeting). Therefore NX Cam is a $100k min 'start-up' cost realistically.

About support, and contrarily to some belief, user/customer support is fantastic from all sides (gtac/siemens, community and var). Besides, I think their Documentation (dvd) is something like 6gig of text all together. So me think you'll be just fine on that part ;)

Side note - +1 on the support emphasis of 'any' cam package. That's really what defines their usefulness these days (I've heard!)
 
In this town (by town I mean this state) you will receive support that is kind of ok with either Mastercam or Gibscam as they dominate the market. Either of these will most likely do what you need as they are both pretty good packages.

I started with OneCNC professional version, but found it limited in many ways (milling). It is pretty good for really simple stuff and it is easy to train neophytes with so I keep a seat of it around. I also have OneCNC lathe which I really like and it is pretty cheap. Programming at the machine is for assholes.

I have Robodrills also and use Mastercam myself. I refuse to use standalone mastercam and have mastercam for solidworks. This way you don't have to deal with the retard interface of mastercam, but still use all the important stuff like the tool paths etc. The different levels you can buy will let you scale in depending on your work. If price is not an issue buy the full level. I always find some use for all the toolpaths.

You probably don't need maintenance. The last couple versions, the additions seem to be mostly cosmetic. The software is pretty good as is, and one version should carry you 5-6 years+. The courses by the reseller are pretty lame. There is enough on Youtube anymore that paying for classes or material is pretty pointless (If you like to self learn).

Although it is not the perfect software, at least you don't have to deal with subscriptions or any cloud bullshit.

If money is no object, NX is the way to go. But unless you are doing serious 3D work, it's a bit overkill. NX also integrates with all their other offerings which make sense for larger enterprises, but it doesn't sound like you are that...
 
I dunno - in my book, this makes it pretty much unusable. Or maybe usable, but useless.



I was just saying they might want to give the free Trial a shot - you can download the program and have it running on a desktop in about 10 minutes. I don't know of another CAM software with such a simple/quick way to get a free Trial. If it's not a good 4th axis solution (and I had a feeling it wasn't) than scrap it and move on. But it is still dirt freaking cheap for shops that can use it successfully.

I agree on all accounts that is why I use SmartCAM for lathe work. Yes is cheap and if someone can use it probably one of the best values out there. If someone can use go for it!! I have it as an early adopter so I keep it up to date so when and if they ever do fix it I will be getting the $1500/year for $300/ year for life.
 








 
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