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HSMWorks vs CamWorks

Ejb410

Plastic
Joined
Jun 19, 2017
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Michigan
I'm looking for a comparison between HSM and CamWorks and of course the first link I find is perfect, but the Screencast is missing....

Page Not Found | Autodesk Knowledge Network...

Does anyone have any information, preferably based on personal experience, about the key differences between these two softwares? I'm running HSM right now so I'm really more interested in hearing the +/- of CamWorks.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
I have been using CAMworks (really Solidworks CAM) now for about 2 months. I used fusion 360 for 3-4 months prior to that. Some of the CAMworks VAR's have created lots of great videos that really give a good feel for CAMworks. I used these to decide on my path forward and if you know HSM it will give you your best information. I am happy with it so far but still have a lot of tweaking and learning to do. I am working on some parts that I really need to optimize so I started with single parts and now decided to cut them out of a strip so I am still working on learning the CAMworks assemblies mode. Based on what I have seen both of these will get you where you want to go just a different route.
 
Thanks for the input Pete. I guess I don't see the difference between the integration of CAMWorks to that of HSM. They both have tabs right in Solidworks, I'm able to start programming directly from a SLDPRT file or assembly. The only true difference I've noticed between them are the pricing tiers. CAMWorks had something like 7 options on their website, whereas HSM has 2 (not including 360). What I'm getting at is, the benefits that CAMWorks advertises seem to be equal to those of HSM.
 
Thanks for the input Pete. I guess I don't see the difference between the integration of CAMWorks to that of HSM. They both have tabs right in Solidworks, I'm able to start programming directly from a SLDPRT file or assembly. The only true difference I've noticed between them are the pricing tiers. CAMWorks had something like 7 options on their website, whereas HSM has 2 (not including 360). What I'm getting at is, the benefits that CAMWorks advertises seem to be equal to those of HSM.

the free version of SW CAM you cannot program in an assembly, full blown CAMWorks can and HSMWorks also

The big difference is that CAMWorks has a technology data base that give you speeds and feeds to the materials and cutters, learns how you program and uses feature recognition to help asses you part and put the most appropriate toolpath to it.
It also has a much better lathe than HSMWorks

HSMWorks well LOVE IT, but it is more of an experienced machinist CAM as there is no speed and feed, no feature recognition so you are more the driver than the software, but it is just a dream to program in.
 
Ejb410- not to start the whole autodesk hate thing here, it has been beaten a lot, but I wanted to go with Solidworks for various reasons. I am not comfortable investing in HSMworks considering it is owned by autodesk. Not because I don't like Autodesk but because I don't figure Autodesk is going to do much to support HSM for SW. I know that HSM basic whatever they call it is free but it is still an investment of time.

len_1962: I bought the SW CAM professional to get assembly, volumil, and some 3d tool paths.
 
the free version of SW CAM you cannot program in an assembly, full blown CAMWorks can and HSMWorks also

The big difference is that CAMWorks has a technology data base that give you speeds and feeds to the materials and cutters, learns how you program and uses feature recognition to help asses you part and put the most appropriate toolpath to it.
It also has a much better lathe than HSMWorks

HSMWorks well LOVE IT, but it is more of an experienced machinist CAM as there is no speed and feed, no feature recognition so you are more the driver than the software, but it is just a dream to program in.

Seriously? Do you know Camworks? It doesn't "learn" anything. Everything is based off of the tech database and the guidelines you give it. The feature recognition will populate the toolpath as you have defined in your database so you don't have to manually create a bunch of toolpaths.

I've never used HSMworks. I gave fusion about 30 min of my time and it just felt clunky.

I personally enjoy camworks but it takes a fair amount of time and effort in the beginning to get your tech database where you want it.
 
It doesn't "learn" anything.
I personally enjoy camworks but it takes a fair amount of time and effort in the beginning to get your tech database where you want it.

Both statements true. However, it "kinda" learns in the sense that instead of sitting in front of the Tech Database and spending tons of time creating strategies, you can edit your tool path parameters the way you like within Camworks, then save back to the database. Some may rather do that than spend time in the database itself. You are correct though... it's less fun at first, but if you get your database the way you like to work, it makes things easy. Been using it for 11 years, and although spent a lot of time early on getting the database right, haven't created a new strategy (nor had to) for quite some time. Don't know it compares to HSMWorks. Never used it.
 
Been using Camworks for 11 years and I really have no problems with it. It has it ups and downs but most software packages have those issues. Depending on what you are looking for in a cam package Camworks can do pretty much anything I need it to do. There is a lot to learn especially in the Technology database but if you get it set up the way you like it will make your life easier. One thing I like about Camworks is the ability to create you own userdefine strategies. Some of the ones I have created for a family of parts has helped me out a lot with time. There are some jobs I can program in about 10 minutes and the feeds and speeds, depth of cuts, tool numbers are always the same. It takes time building these strategies but well worth it. The support is pretty good when I run into problems also.
 
I have been using CAMworks (really Solidworks CAM) now for about 2 months. I used fusion 360 for 3-4 months prior to that. Some of the CAMworks VAR's have created lots of great videos that really give a good feel for CAMworks. I used these to decide on my path forward and if you know HSM it will give you your best information. I am happy with it so far but still have a lot of tweaking and learning to do. I am working on some parts that I really need to optimize so I started with single parts and now decided to cut them out of a strip so I am still working on learning the CAMworks assemblies mode. Based on what I have seen both of these will get you where you want to go just a different route.

I only program in assembly mode even if it is a single part. Assembly mode give me more freedom and control on how I want to program. I have assemblies of all my machines with vises and fixtures, templates of travel limits and tooling databases.
 
Both statements true. However, it "kinda" learns in the sense that instead of sitting in front of the Tech Database and spending tons of time creating strategies, you can edit your tool path parameters the way you like within Camworks, then save back to the database. Some may rather do that than spend time in the database itself. You are correct though... it's less fun at first, but if you get your database the way you like to work, it makes things easy. Been using it for 11 years, and although spent a lot of time early on getting the database right, haven't created a new strategy (nor had to) for quite some time. Don't know it compares to HSMWorks. Never used it.

Isn't that basically the same as a template, that most every CAM system has in some form or another?
 
Isn't that basically the same as a template, that most every CAM system has in some form or another?


You can accomplish similar things with templates. But templates in the ADSK products can only really insert operations with parameters already set. There is not a template editor to adjust the templates or any logic that can be applied for feeds and speeds, machine rigidity etc.... Been a long time since I used camworks so I am likely not up on its most current features. The adsk templates work great but really just a copy/paste of operations. There is no logical way to sort/store large numbers of ADSK templates since they are really just XML files of parameters.

Here is an old video from Lars on the tech database and some of it abilities. Since CAMWorks is feature based and has AFR if can also automatically apply machining strategies to automatically detected features and adjust for cutting conditions/material. IIRC

Using CAMWorks Material Library will make your life easier - YouTube
 
Isn't that basically the same as a template, that most every CAM system has in some form or another?

I suppose you could to some extent, but if you're not familiar with how Camworks does things, the Tech Database considers feature type (pocket, open profile, slot, etc.), tool size, material type and returns whatever cutting parameters you put into it. That way, you can have it select different tools for different materials, different step-overs, different depths of cut, etc. based on the conditions. That's the simple explanation, but it's even way more customizable than that.
 








 
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