Spencer in NH
Stainless
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2007
- Location
- Southern New Hampshire
I have been a SolidWorks user for a long time. And because of the work I do, it's likely that that won't end anytime soon. My shop is a prototype shop. Low quantities, R&D, etc. When I needed CAM software, I chose CAMWorks, and was very happy with it for a number of years.
Recently, the planets aligned to cause me to question my dedication to CAMWorks. It started with a snarky response to a request of my local VAR (details not important), and a review of all my software maintenance costs. It turns out that CAMWorks is the largest annual maintenance cost of all my in-house software, except for a very expensive, specialized engineering package that is not CAD/CAM related.
I was thusly motivated to investigate Fusion 360. At $300 per year, it sounded too good to be true. Well, I have been playing with it for a day or two, and have pretty much convinced myself that it can completely replace CAMWorks as my CAM package. It *may* cause me to use SolidWorks less, also, but the important thing I proved to myself is that I can import any SW files and proceed to generate CAM output from Fusion 360.
So, am I missing something? It is really this good? Is there any reason not to ditch the $2000/year expense for a $300/year expense and pick up some more modern functionality?
Gotta admit, I am pretty excited about the prospect.
Thanks for your input.
Recently, the planets aligned to cause me to question my dedication to CAMWorks. It started with a snarky response to a request of my local VAR (details not important), and a review of all my software maintenance costs. It turns out that CAMWorks is the largest annual maintenance cost of all my in-house software, except for a very expensive, specialized engineering package that is not CAD/CAM related.
I was thusly motivated to investigate Fusion 360. At $300 per year, it sounded too good to be true. Well, I have been playing with it for a day or two, and have pretty much convinced myself that it can completely replace CAMWorks as my CAM package. It *may* cause me to use SolidWorks less, also, but the important thing I proved to myself is that I can import any SW files and proceed to generate CAM output from Fusion 360.
So, am I missing something? It is really this good? Is there any reason not to ditch the $2000/year expense for a $300/year expense and pick up some more modern functionality?
Gotta admit, I am pretty excited about the prospect.
Thanks for your input.