Solid Cam

[Hunterbill]

Hello All,
Anyone use Solid Cam and what are you opinions?
-Bill

 

[nn21]

I don't currently use it (will probably be buying a seat before years end) but did use it for a number of years at a previous employer. I have very little bad to say about it for everything 3 and 4x and am a big fan of the software as a whole. I found it incredibly easy and fast to use, especially for 3D surfacing in HSS. I have somewhat mixed feelings on the whole imachining side of things. It worked great for 90% of the work we did (very useful for materials that we rarely cut/didn't have good data for). It failed me on a few occasions when trying to cut with small tools. So badly that I had to use a demo version of hsmworks to run a part that imachining was demolishing tools on. I've been playing with the demo version for the past few months and it looks like that should be a non issue by way of overriding the imachining "wizard" being much more capable and easy now. I wish they had a 2 and 3 axis adaptive toolpath that was fully manual like they do for 5 axis but it is what it is. Also not a huge fan of their automatic chamfer toolpath. I much prefer the fusion and NX equivalents.

Their customer service, at least when we were using them, was second to none. I could call them any time of the day and get an answer immediately. If it was more complicated than word of mouth, we would hop on go to meeting and walk through things instantly. Post changes were lightning quick.

 

[Hunterbill]

Thanks for your input. This is very helpful.
I'm not running anything too crazy, mostly 2 axis profiles however I plan to get into a little more 3 axis type of work.

I will be looking into this.

Thanks again,
Bill

 

[BOB-OO]

I've also had a good experience. +1 support has been better then any other CAM I've used.
Love imachining, use it on almost every part that has large quantities of metal to remove, has not let me down and super fast to program = under 2 minutes to remove bulk.
I've never used it with less then a 1/4" mill so can't comment on the previous post.

 

[cgmaster]

No complaints at all. So far is my favorite. I do everything from simple parts on router to 5 axis mill turn with multiple turrets.

 

[Cole2534]

What's a basic license w/SW cost these days?

 

[mmurray70]

What's a basic license w/SW cost these days?

we paid $5400 Canadian about a year ago

 

[Cole2534]

we paid $5400 Canadian about a year ago

2.5d Standard and SW parts and assemblies is $6495. 2.5d Pro os $9595.

I really want to make that jump, but that's more than a decade of Fusion renewals. :/

 

[mmurray70]

2.5d Standard and SW parts and assemblies is $6495. 2.5d Pro os $9595.

I really want to make that jump, but that's more than a decade of Fusion renewals. :/

Don't forget fusion can jack the price or change there terms whenever they want. There will be increases over that decade.

Seems like a lot to spend. I waited a long time trying to justify it. But once I got it I was glad to have it and realized i should have got it sooner. I ended up getting a second seat a year or so later.

Great time to buy software now IMO. Everything is going to subscriptions really fast. May not even have an option to get a perpetual license in the near future. I have 2 seats of mastercam now too. Im free of subscriptions/maintenance/limitations/fees now forever! Feels great. My 2 seats of solidworks/mastercam will take me to retirement.

 

[nn21]

I would take any numbers that weren't generated within the last couple months with a massive grain of salt. Dassault just changed the way they handle perpetual licenses (in either June or July) and are now requiring customer to buy something like 2 years worth of cloud crap when they buy a new seat of SW. Last number I saw basically pumped up the price of a seat of SW standard from 3995 to over 7 grand once you accounted for the 2 years of crap they force you to buy with a perpetual seat now.

 

[Cole2534]

Don't forget fusion can jack the price or change there terms whenever they want. There will be increases over that decade.

Seems like a lot to spend. I waited a long time trying to justify it. But once I got it I was glad to have it and realized i should have got it sooner. I ended up getting a second seat a year or so later.

Great time to buy software now IMO. Everything is going to subscriptions really fast. May not even have an option to get a perpetual license in the near future. I have 2 seats of mastercam now too. Im free of subscriptions/maintenance/limitations/fees now forever! Feels great. My 2 seats of solidworks/mastercam will take me to retirement.

That is the largest driving factor here.

 

[LOTT]

Don't forget fusion can jack the price or change there terms whenever they want. There will be increases over that decade. [Emphasis added]

How do you know that? My experience has been the exact opposite. To date they have grandfathered pricing, and with inflation the cost has been effectively getting cheaper. The $312 seat I paid for in 2015 should now be over $400, but it's still the same. That's a 20% discount on a better product than it was.

If SolidCAM is a better fit for you then by all means go for it, my brief experience with it wasn't enough to have an opinion one way or the other, but don't make a decision because PM as a community hates Autodesk.