Johnny SolidWorks
Hot Rolled
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2013
- Location
- Rochester
Hey guys - I'm currently looking at SW2018 CAM, and trying to figure out if I want to make the move to that from my current software. A couple of things concern me, and I'd like to verify them here with someone who's actually using it, because the sales guys I've been talking to seem very earnest, but not super up to speed.
One big concern is having to purchase the Pro version just to get access to 'assembly machining' - i.e. programming a part in a fixture. Another is (I think) having to purchase the Pro version to get Dynamic/Trochoidal/Adaptive toolpaths. Is this correct? That's fairly obnoxious if that's the case.
On a slightly different note: is anyone using the knowledge based machining features heavily? Opinions? The demos I've seen look pretty decent, but not as good as quite what I had hoped for the price. (Keep in mind, even the basic version of SW CAM requires you to pay the subscription fee (~$1400/year) to have access to it, unlike the SW license itself which you can drop the subscription of after the first year. Is SolidWorks KBM any better than HSM templates, or whatever MasterCAM or the other CAMs call their versions of the same functionality? How difficult is the customization of rules to actually make it useful?
Thanks all!
One big concern is having to purchase the Pro version just to get access to 'assembly machining' - i.e. programming a part in a fixture. Another is (I think) having to purchase the Pro version to get Dynamic/Trochoidal/Adaptive toolpaths. Is this correct? That's fairly obnoxious if that's the case.
On a slightly different note: is anyone using the knowledge based machining features heavily? Opinions? The demos I've seen look pretty decent, but not as good as quite what I had hoped for the price. (Keep in mind, even the basic version of SW CAM requires you to pay the subscription fee (~$1400/year) to have access to it, unlike the SW license itself which you can drop the subscription of after the first year. Is SolidWorks KBM any better than HSM templates, or whatever MasterCAM or the other CAMs call their versions of the same functionality? How difficult is the customization of rules to actually make it useful?
Thanks all!