Need help choosing next CAM software!

Ok, so I've been browsing the forum, company websites, and anywhere I can find info about all the different CAM systems available. Now I have an idea what I may get, but I'm open to hear some suggestions from programmers with experience working with the different software.

To give a little background, I've been designing products in Solidworks for about 7 years and programming in the standalone version of Mastercam for 4 years. I've come to know the good, bad, and ugly of my current workflow and am finally ready to give it a makeover.

The biggest hiccup in my workflow is the link between design/engineering changes and updating the cnc programs. I've learned to work around this to make it consume as little time as possible with my current setup, but to have the design models associated with the programs would make my life worlds easier.

I see there is a large debate over whether Mastercam is the best or the worst, and personally I don't really care. I know that I like the amount of control it gives me, but I know it's also lacking in areas I need to improve in.

Recently I began demoing SolidCAM. It looks very promising on their website and youtube videos, but after using it for a few hours I started having difficulty doing things that Mastercam has always allowed me to do. I really like the associative feature of SolidCAM and the geometry selection tools, but it doesn't seem to have the number of options or toolpaths I'm used to in Mastercam. I will try to play with it more but I'm still on the lookout for possibly better options.

As of right now I'm looking at either SolidCAM, Mastercam for Solidworks, HSMworks, or CAMworks. Those are the only Solidworks integrated CAM systems I know of and I'm hoping you guys can give me some feedback as to which one may be best for what I am looking for.

Feel free to ask me anything you think might help you point me in the right direction!

Thanks =)
-Eric

I didn't like Mastercam X6 when I used it, but I'd choose it over CAMWorks. I'd choose HSMWorks way over both any day of the week. Can't speak to Solidcam at all.

If you like using geometry for your programming, avoid CAMWorks like the plague. It blows.

I think that a lot depends on what are you used to and how familiar it feels. I was using both Mastercam for Solidworks and CAMworks. While I seem to get along better with CAMworks, it is probably because I know it better. In any case both allowed me to do what was needed.

I use and rather like HSMworks, but if you go that way be aware autodesk is actively trying to strangle it to push Inventor.

Eric,

One other option you may want to look at is Delcam for Solidworks (DFS). There are a number of videos on Youtube; however, I would suggest a live or web demo and then some hands on. One thing to make sure of with a demo is to emphasize the interactive aspects of programming a part. Some times folks doing these demos get carried away with the automated capabilities of the software and overlook how much control you actually have.

Good luck with your search.

Fred

emagray said:

Feel free to ask me anything you think might help you point me in the right direction!

Click to expand...

What type of work are you programming?
5 axis? mill/turn? 3 axis? Mastercam's lathe package is lacking quite a bit. I've been using Mastercam since the early 90's and have zero issues with it for a 3 or 4 axis program.
I can't speak for 5 axis work as I've never done it.
If you're mainly turning, have a look at Esprit, I hear good things about it.

Im using delcam powermill and featurecam and I havent had any hiccups with it.

I'm using Solidcam 2013 for 3 axis mill work and find it to be pretty good. I really like the fact that it runs inside solidworks, I don't think I could use any CAM that didn't. I tend to work at a pretty fast pace so its nice to be able to design a fixture and have a program in a matter pf minutes.

there are some things that I think are probably less than optimal, but I don't have much experience with other system to know. The surfacing feature seams a bit hard to customize. Most of what I use it for is hitting a flat angle or an odd large radius, so it works well enough for that, but large complex surfaces, I'm sort of at the mercy of the system. Like I said, it might be par for the course, I dont really do much with it but feel like I should be able to make it work a bit better.

I will say that their customer service has been helpful the few times I've needed it. They wrote me two post for free, even taking the time to walk through some sample code to tweek it for me.

At this point I'm looking to add some 4th and 5th options and I will probably be looking elsewhere to find a more established source.

Good luck in your search, I know it can be a dizzying experience.

Thanks for all the responses guys! I have definitely been getting a lot of recommendations for HSMworks and think that will be the next one I demo.

I'm not a fan of adding geometry for programming parts, I only do it if that's the only way or if it results in a cycle time much faster than what I could get otherwise.

Mtndew said:

What type of work are you programming?
5 axis? mill/turn? 3 axis? Mastercam's lathe package is lacking quite a bit. I've been using Mastercam since the early 90's and have zero issues with it for a 3 or 4 axis program.
I can't speak for 5 axis work as I've never done it.
If you're mainly turning, have a look at Esprit, I hear good things about it.

Click to expand...

I do no 5 axis or mill/turn programming, just a lot of 3 axis milling, mostly 2D stuff with some 3D surfacing. I also do simple 2 axis turning and have found Mastercam works sufficiently for me on the lathe.

Ideally, I guess I'm looking for a program which has the flexibility of Mastercam with good associative geometry features. Mastercam for Solidworks I just started testing and it is basically the same Mastercam just inside Solidworks. The associative features are ok and definitely better than programming standalone, but the levels for stock and retract are not associative, which is something specific I am looking for. Also, if there is a program which has entry and exit parameters which can be associated to model faces, that would reaaaally be a benefit by saving me time I would spend checking if a tool starts inside the stock or not.

emagray said:

Ideally, I guess I'm looking for a program which has the flexibility of Mastercam with good associative geometry features. Mastercam for Solidworks I just started testing and it is basically the same Mastercam just inside Solidworks. The associative features are ok and definitely better than programming standalone, but the levels for stock and retract are not associative, which is something specific I am looking for. Also, if there is a program which has entry and exit parameters which can be associated to model faces, that would reaaaally be a benefit by saving me time I would spend checking if a tool starts inside the stock or not.

Click to expand...

Then look at Edgecam and NX Express. Neither is "integrated", they are standalone, but they will embed your SW model in the program and update the toolpaths as you change the model. I believe Edgecam will do what you want, I'm not up to speed on NX Express.

Mud said:

Then look at Edgecam and NX Express. Neither is "integrated", they are standalone, but they will embed your SW model in the program and update the toolpaths as you change the model. I believe Edgecam will do what you want, I'm not up to speed on NX Express.

Click to expand...

So with Edgecam for example, if I have a Solidworks part with 600 configurations and I change a feedrate or lead-in angle on one operation, will it propagate the change throughout all of my configurations?

I'm not sure how to answer that, I don't understand what configurations are in this context. I believe you can globally change the speed and feed for given types of operations.

I work with a shop that runs horizontals, he can populate a tombstone with lots of parts then change an operation globally on all the parts, is that relevant to your question?

I've been using solidcam since 2012 and couldn't be much happier. For 3d work I usually use the HSS module. The HSM can be frustrating to get right. Their iMachining modules are the biggest reason to go with them. I doubt you'll ever use a faster easier and more powerful toolpath. For fixtures I'll give out a 3d iMachining path to rough. Finish with pocket recognition. Drill with hole recognition. And finish it all off with chamfer recognition.
It had a feature that I haven't tried yet that will generate all your drilling operations based on hole wizard info.
Jordy

Mud said:

I'm not sure how to answer that, I don't understand what configurations are in this context. I believe you can globally change the speed and feed for given types of operations.

I work with a shop that runs horizontals, he can populate a tombstone with lots of parts then change an operation globally on all the parts, is that relevant to your question?

Click to expand...

That sounds like a typical translation. I do the same thing regularly in Mastercam for the parts we produce. I'm looking for something that can propagate and link operations between different parts in a family. The parts are very similar, sometimes only a hole size different or a length slightly changed. We will only make a single part number at a time in the machine, but the next job will be a part so similar that having a single CAM program for the whole family makes sense. The CAM program should be able to adapt all the operations to slight geometry changes and post a new NC file.

Jorgo said:

I've been using solidcam since 2012 and couldn't be much happier. For 3d work I usually use the HSS module. The HSM can be frustrating to get right. Their iMachining modules are the biggest reason to go with them. I doubt you'll ever use a faster easier and more powerful toolpath. For fixtures I'll give out a 3d iMachining path to rough. Finish with pocket recognition. Drill with hole recognition. And finish it all off with chamfer recognition.
It had a feature that I haven't tried yet that will generate all your drilling operations based on hole wizard info.
Jordy

Click to expand...

Solidworks definitely looks promising, I think I just need to spend more time learning it. Compared to Mastercam, it seems so smart that it leaves very little adjustment options for the programmer. That could be a good or bad thing depending on what you are programming and who is programming it.

Freds said:

Eric,

One other option you may want to look at is Delcam for Solidworks (DFS). There are a number of videos on Youtube; however, I would suggest a live or web demo and then some hands on. One thing to make sure of with a demo is to emphasize the interactive aspects of programming a part. Some times folks doing these demos get carried away with the automated capabilities of the software and overlook how much control you actually have.

Good luck with your search.

Fred

Click to expand...

Fred, thank you. I will definitely look into it.

emagray said:

That sounds like a typical translation. I do the same thing regularly in Mastercam for the parts we produce. I'm looking for something that can propagate and link operations between different parts in a family. The parts are very similar, sometimes only a hole size different or a length slightly changed. We will only make a single part number at a time in the machine, but the next job will be a part so similar that having a single CAM program for the whole family makes sense. The CAM program should be able to adapt all the operations to slight geometry changes and post a new NC file.



Solidworks definitely looks promising, I think I just need to spend more time learning it. Compared to Mastercam, it seems so smart that it leaves very little adjustment options for the programmer. That could be a good or bad thing depending on what you are programming and who is programming it.

Click to expand...

iMachining has all of the standard options to control it available to use if you're inclined to mess with them. I've never had any reason to yet, I just adjust aggresivness with the slider. They also have a turbo mode that increases all your parameters to um... turbo The one thing that I do fiddle with is there's a box where you can tell it how many horsepower to use. That button works good. I nearly stalled the machine a couple times and had to dial it back to full Haaspower
Chamfer recognition is a cool tool. It'll chamfer edges and make sure the chamfer tool doesn't crash into walls automatically.
Like any software it's not perfect and I'm biased because I've got so much invested in it. But I do genuinely like it.

They have the best customer service and tech support I've ever experienced. I was having some issues with a lathe part that was making me angry, I sent them an email and within 1/2hour I had a call from my salesman and tech support setting up an appointment to go over the problem with me. They've never not been able to fix my problems, wish I could say the same for Solidworks tech support. They've never been able to solve any of my issues. Just tell me it can't be done. Always took hours but I figured out how to do what I wanted every time.
Jordy

emagray said:

Also, if there is a program which has entry and exit parameters which can be associated to model faces, that would reaaaally be a benefit by saving me time I would spend checking if a tool starts inside the stock or not.

Click to expand...

Pls try the imachining module of solidcam you would find it definitely helpful .

Personally I have used mastercam for 6 years then switched to solidcam. I found that I can still have that control mastercam offers as well as get the program's done much faster

Featurecam is fantastic. Fusion 360 is great and free.
I'd stay away from anything in any way related to solidworks /hsmworks. Lest you pay through your peehole for life.

Best advice I can give, is DEMO and install every single one you can get your hands on, and dedicate/try each one for 1 or 2 hours each day for a week. May take 6 weeks but its what I do. I have 3 models I use, arbitrarily, usually grab them from Grabcad to make sure the software is functional.

emagray said:

That sounds like a typical translation. I do the same thing regularly in Mastercam for the parts we produce. I'm looking for something that can propagate and link operations between different parts in a family. The parts are very similar, sometimes only a hole size different or a length slightly changed. We will only make a single part number at a time in the machine, but the next job will be a part so similar that having a single CAM program for the whole family makes sense. The CAM program should be able to adapt all the operations to slight geometry changes and post a new NC file.

Click to expand...

Ok, now I understand, you have 600 different but similar parts. In edge if you modify the geometry by editing pockets,moving walls, chamfers, heights, etc the toolpath will automatically change to suit. If you add a pocket, in the past you had to identify the new pocket, but I think workflow now handles that. And yes It knows where the stock is and starts outside the part.

emagray said:

The biggest hiccup in my workflow is the link between design/engineering changes and updating the cnc programs. I've learned to work around this to make it consume as little time as possible with my current setup, but to have the design models associated with the programs would make my life worlds easier.

I see there is a large debate over whether Mastercam is the best or the worst, and personally I don't really care. I know that I like the amount of control it gives me, but I know it's also lacking in areas I need to improve in.

Recently I began demoing SolidCAM. It looks very promising on their website and youtube videos, but after using it for a few hours I started having difficulty doing things that Mastercam has always allowed me to do. I really like the associative feature of SolidCAM and the geometry selection tools, but it doesn't seem to have the number of options or toolpaths I'm used to in Mastercam. I will try to play with it more but I'm still on the lookout for possibly better options.

As of right now I'm looking at either SolidCAM, Mastercam for Solidworks, HSMworks, or CAMworks. Those are the only Solidworks integrated CAM systems I know of and I'm hoping you guys can give me some feedback as to which one may be best for what I am looking for.

Feel free to ask me anything you think might help you point me in the right direction!

Thanks =)
-Eric

Click to expand...

Basically, unless you are adding or removing features, it sounds like you want to be able to hit the Regen button and have all your programs update automatically and quickly. As for adding/removing features there should be very little extra time to incorporate anything in the programs. Sounds right?

Depending on your design requirements I am not sure Mastercam can fit your needs because it has very limited design capabilities. Mastercam solids is so basic our MC programmers do not use it at all. Since there is not much in the way of comprehensive solid modeling you would not have a truly associative model/programming solution. It sounds like you need something which you can easily make part changes; change sizes, move walls, change radii/chamfers, move holes, threads...pretty much any and all features of your model without any manual patching of the model.

As for the other software I cannot comment other than recommend you evaluate each one according to you current and near future needs. Decide what level of modeling design you require and have an applications engineer from each vendor demonstrate what they can do for you.

I use NX so I am probably a bit biased towards it. I noticed NX wasn't on you list but I still encourage you put each one on your list through the paces so you don't hamstring your needs. Don't settle and don't let an AE or salesman talk you into "less" of a solution. If you use it it will make you money.