Another mastercam vs hypermill discussion... Emphasis on Volumill.

[BluishInventor]

We recently switched over to Hypermill from CamWorks. Both use volumill. And you'd be correct when mentioning how implementation matters. Volumill just works in hypermill. It's calc times are much faster for the same feature, plane detection is great. It's probably the best implementation of Volumill you will get.

I have also used Edgecam which uses the same roughing path as Mastercam's opti-rough(from module works). I personally prefer that roughing path over volumill. The main reason being that if you're roughing out a 3 walled pocket, the MW path goes side wall to side wall all the way to the back, then gets the corners. Where Volumill will rough out a channel into the pocket until it can take a cut that would travel in a U shape around the interior of the pocket. I think this is because Volumill is going for less time in rapid, more time in the cut. The down side for Volumill here is if the pocket wall is thin on all 3 sides, your final roughing pass on each wall will be whatever your stepover is. If it's 30%, then that's a lot of stress on a thin wall, especially if the 30% is greater than the wall thickness + leftover.

The huge advantage with Hypermill is the automatic collision detection that OP mentioned. You define your model and it's considered in most toolpaths. Hemstitching is a breeze cause you just click the surface and go. No avoid surfaces or boundaries to make as to avoid the waterfall or get path extensions right. It does it pretty much how you want it to do it by default.

I gave mastercam a shot when I was evaluating CAM systems and it wasn't impressing me at all. It eventually came down to Esprit and Hypermill (which both have similar collision detection mentioned above. Hypermill just had a few extra tools that worked with our needs a bit better, so that's what we went with. The only thing that it is lacking is a stronger lathe package. It works, but it's not anything to write home about. But it called HyperMILL and not HyperTURN...

From simple 2.5D to full simultaneous 5 axis, Hypermill couldn't be any easier and everyone here warmed up to it really quick. The depth of the software is also quite nice. You can keep things surface level for simplicity, or you can automate the hell out of everything(if you put the time in to build it of course).

One thing to note with Hypermill, your Tool Database is 100% empty. Your contact at OM can provide you with a really good example, but you will still need to build it up from scratch if you want 100% your tools. It's not hard, just time consuming.

Either way, send me a PM if you want some more input about our experience in HM. We are about 10 months into using it. I also have a contact that is using it to the absolute maximum that I have been talking to for a couple years now.

 

[Mike1974]

the same thing i dislike about mastercam. sketching is not dimension driven. having to translate and resize features instead of editing sketch dimensions is retarded IMO. as well as not having feature trees in sketching/modeling??
with 5 axis stuff especially, i personally create a LOT of geometry, fixtures, containment geo, 5 axis control curves etc. doing things like that in a TRUE cad environment is a million times better than the antiquated approach every other cad uses (except NX and fusion, to my knowledge)

 

[Matt_W]

the same thing i dislike about mastercam. sketching is not dimension driven. having to translate and resize features instead of editing sketch dimensions is retarded IMO. as well as not having feature trees in sketching/modeling.
with 5 axis stuff especially, i personally create a LOT of geometry, fixtures, containment geo, 5 axis control curves etc. doing things like that in a TRUE cad environment is a million times better than the antiquated approach every other cad uses (except NX and fusion, to my knowledge)

I haven't used but they now have v sketch which is dimension driven and can be constrained as well. I haven't had time to try learn it but from the looks of it, it does work like other CAD/CAM packages I've used.

I have been a HyperMill user for about 10 years now, and have no complaints what so ever. I can't say I have used Volumill (or HyperMaxx) much for a few years, but the new optimised roughing that replaced the arbitrary roughing strategy is very good. Great when using high feed tools.

I have ran it in both Solidworks and with HyperCAD S, At the time of using it in Solidworks, I was doing a lot of design and it worked seamless, but now I don't have the need for the solidworks licence, and HyperCAD does everything i need it to do.

 

[empower]

...



Can you share licenses for individual toolpaths like you do in hyperMILL?

My first seat of HM was about the same price as your NX quote, but the rest have been trimmed down quite a bit. We only have two seats for most of the 5X paths, even though we have 4 seats of HM. Sharing is relatively painless since any seat can pull the 5X license as needed.

On paper NX definitely checks a lot of boxes. I am absolutely dying to ditch SolidWorks as our CAD system. However, when you have half a dozen programmers, it's pretty nice to have them do CAD on a $3.5k seat of SW instead of a $40k seat of CAM. We have expensive tastes over here, and it's not easy to satisfy on a budget.

not sure what you mean by individual license path?
there are packages like port machining, blade machining etc if thats what you meant.

 

[empower]

I haven't used but they now have v sketch which is dimension driven and can be constrained as well. I haven't had time to try learn it but from the looks of it, it does work like other CAD/CAM packages I've used.

I have been a HyperMill user for about 10 years now, and have no complaints what so ever. I can't say I have used Volumill (or HyperMaxx) much for a few years, but the new optimised roughing that replaced the arbitrary roughing strategy is very good. Great when using high feed tools.

I have ran it in both Solidworks and with HyperCAD S, At the time of using it in Solidworks, I was doing a lot of design and it worked seamless, but now I don't have the need for the solidworks licence, and HyperCAD does everything i need it to do.

when did they implement the v sketch? first i hear of it - curious as to how it works.

edit: just watched this video

certainly an improvement no doubt, not quite the same as something like solidworks or fusion/nx sketching, but better than nothing!

 

[empower]

@Mike1974 not sure how to quote your reply directly, but what are you trying to say with that pic?

 

[boosted]

With hyperMILL different seats can share advanced licenses.

For instance, you could buy one loaded seat of hyperMILL, and one that is just 3 axis. Then with network licensing, both seats could share one set of 5 axis toolpath licenses.

Or for something really special like port machining, you can buy one license for that, and all of your hyperMILL seats can use it, as long as multiple programmers aren't calculating port machining at the same time.

It's a really nice way to reduce costs that I haven't seen utilized in other CAM platforms. You only pay for what you need, and don't have to buy every single option "just in case".

 

[empower]

oh yeah, floating licenses is deff there in NX. they also have whats called a token system, you check out whatever feature you need to use out of a pool of non expiring tokens. once you're done using an advanced feature, it goes back to the pool and can be used by anyone else.

 

[Mike1974]

@Mike1974 not sure how to quote your reply directly, but what are you trying to say with that pic?

There is a feature/model tree for solids in Mastrcam. You can double click and edit parameters

 

[empower]

There is a feature/model tree for solids in Mastrcam. You can double click and edit parameters

that doesnt mean its the same parametric modeling like SW/fusion/NX

 

[TK.421]

I'm curious why no one has brought up PowerMill?

 

[Mtndew]

I'm curious why no one has brought up PowerMill?

TK421, why aren't you at your post?

 

[TK.421]

TK421, why aren't you at your post?

I've got a bad transmitter...
Does Hypermill have a 5 axis roughing strategy?

 

[Mtndew]

I'd be surprised if they didn't.

 

[Mike1974]

that doesnt mean its the same parametric modeling like SW/fusion/NX

I didn't say it was, but to say it's not there is not true either.

 

[BluishInventor]

Does Hypermill have a 5 axis roughing strategy?

Sure does! It's called 5x Shape Offset Roughing. I believe there is also one for the Blade package specifically.

Here is a shot using it on a mill turn part(4x with C rotation) and another shot of Simultaneous 5x Rough Cycle on an aerospace panel.

The only thing you may need to do(especially for the multi pocket panel), is create a drive surface that is the size of the whole panel(Red Surface in photo). Selecting the floor of each pocket can give mixed results. But that's it, it figures out where it can reach and knows to stay normal to the drive surface.

 

[TK.421]

Sure does! It's called 5x Shape Offset Roughing. I believe there is also one for the Blade package specifically.

Here is a shot using it on a mill turn part(4x with C rotation) and another shot of Simultaneous 5x Rough Cycle on an aerospace panel.

The only thing you may need to do(especially for the multi pocket panel), is create a drive surface that is the size of the whole panel(Red Surface in photo). Selecting the floor of each pocket can give mixed results. But that's it, it figures out where it can reach and knows to stay normal to the drive surface.

That's the only thing I really dislike about powermill. There are some ways to cheat it, but you would never get a true 5ax roughing program out of it. Aside from that powermill is great. I'd be interested in hearing feedback from someone who has used both.

How is automation in hypermill? powermill has pretty extensive macro language and supports plugins. does hypermill do that as well?

 

[empower]

I didn't say it was, but to say it's not there is not true either.

might as well not be with how shitty it is.

 

[empower]

That's the only thing I really dislike about powermill. There are some ways to cheat it, but you would never get a true 5ax roughing program out of it. Aside from that powermill is great. I'd be interested in hearing feedback from someone who has used both.

How is automation in hypermill? powermill has pretty extensive macro language and supports plugins. does hypermill do that as well?

i havent played with it much, but hypermill does have a LOT of automation options

 

[Matt_W]

when did they implement the v sketch? first i hear of it - curious as to how it works.

edit: just watched this video

certainly an improvement no doubt, not quite the same as something like solidworks or fusion/nx sketching, but better than nothing!

Pretty sure they aren't trying to compete

might as well not be with how shitty it is.

If you are working with a dumb solid, I think it works very well. If I had to model something from the ground up then yes it wouldn't be my first choice. I have had no issues generating any geometry needed for drive curves, extending surfaces, healing models etc. Which is what I need it for, certainly wouldn't call it shitty for what I use it for, far from it.