npolanosky
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2016
- Location
- USA, FL
I use Fusion for milling, but I'm doing a good bit of complex turning work lately and Fusion's not mature enough on the turning side of things to rely on yet.
I bought FeatureCAM last October and have been using it since- For a lot of stuff it is nice, but the interface is so clunky compared to fusion it is driving me nuts. And even for the relatively large outlay of cash for featurecam premium, a post, machine sim model, etc etc and a good few months using it...I am still finding things it can't do that I would expect it to, or things that should really be much easier.
What's everyone use? I am asking what is the best, not what is cheapest.
Here's my wishlist:
Integration with a CAD package OR solid user interface, easy to manipulate parts and positions
Machine Simulation
C-Axis milling/drilling support
Wide variety of toolpaths and strategies, including weird stuff like turnmilling, sandvik primeturning, trochoidal/adaptive/dynamic milling, offset drilling/boring.....basically, give me as many options as exist.
Some amount of automation- Robust templates, feature recognition, some kind of smarts. I want to be able to program a family of similar parts quickly.
Good workflow for multiple operations- Fixture/softjaw avoidance, ability to simulate multiple ops and carry stock from an op1 sim to subsequent operations
Support for subspindle and barfeeder programming
I am sure there is more I am missing, but in short I don't want to be limited by my CAM. Am I looking at Esprit, MasterCAM, or something I am not familiar with? Or should I just keep rocking featureCAM since it does most of what I need it to, if less elegantly than I want?
I bought FeatureCAM last October and have been using it since- For a lot of stuff it is nice, but the interface is so clunky compared to fusion it is driving me nuts. And even for the relatively large outlay of cash for featurecam premium, a post, machine sim model, etc etc and a good few months using it...I am still finding things it can't do that I would expect it to, or things that should really be much easier.
What's everyone use? I am asking what is the best, not what is cheapest.
Here's my wishlist:
Integration with a CAD package OR solid user interface, easy to manipulate parts and positions
Machine Simulation
C-Axis milling/drilling support
Wide variety of toolpaths and strategies, including weird stuff like turnmilling, sandvik primeturning, trochoidal/adaptive/dynamic milling, offset drilling/boring.....basically, give me as many options as exist.
Some amount of automation- Robust templates, feature recognition, some kind of smarts. I want to be able to program a family of similar parts quickly.
Good workflow for multiple operations- Fixture/softjaw avoidance, ability to simulate multiple ops and carry stock from an op1 sim to subsequent operations
Support for subspindle and barfeeder programming
I am sure there is more I am missing, but in short I don't want to be limited by my CAM. Am I looking at Esprit, MasterCAM, or something I am not familiar with? Or should I just keep rocking featureCAM since it does most of what I need it to, if less elegantly than I want?