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Swiss turn CAM

rainman

Cast Iron
Joined
Sep 10, 2008
Location
Orlando, FL
Hello,
I was wondering if anyone can recommend a CAM package that works well programming Swiss turn machines (in this case, Citizen). I imagine a lot of folks program manually, but I'd like to think there's something out there that's optimized for Swiss turn, if not designed specifically for it. Help?
 
Hello,
I was wondering if anyone can recommend a CAM package that works well programming Swiss turn machines (in this case, Citizen). I imagine a lot of folks program manually, but I'd like to think there's something out there that's optimized for Swiss turn, if not designed specifically for it. Help?

Esprit used to be top dog, but have not used it in a very long time.
 
Partmaker 2020 was just released with Featurecam 2020. For Swiss, Partmaker is hands down the best on the market.....Providing Autodesk don't FK it up
 
For Swiss Specific, Partmaker and Esprit are about the only two even worth looking at.

Which is better is entirely down to personal preference, and how you use your CAM.

I have/use both, depending on what I'm trying to accomplish. Sometimes I'll program the same part or feature in both, just to see how they compare.
 
We looked at Partmaker/FeatureCAM and Esprit and settled on Esprit because we had a new programmer coming on that had used it for a while. The interface is for shit (the UI looks like it is 20 years old) but the capability and support are very good. The posts are pretty dialed in from the factory and the post manuals are also very good.
 
Thanks for your prompt responses. Looks like Partmaker and Esprit are worth looking at. Perhaps even Gibbs. Funny how there are several CAM packages that do an adequate job at mill/turn, but seems like few specialize in Swiss.
 
Wondering the same thing, also looking for which is the cheapest to try out for a small business/hobby swiss owner that can't really afford the big $ outlay at the moment.
 
Yeah, probably wrong terminology, small business start up would better suit.

I already have a small business going, it's not making me a living at all, it's a part time thing. I want to do everything in house and after finding a Star SR20-R for a pretty good price, it would get me doing it all in house and possibly doing other work and growing.

The thousands required for a CAM software package here in Aust, where we tend to pay through the nose for most things is a sticking point at the moment.
 
Yeah, probably wrong terminology, small business start up would better suit.

I already have a small business going, it's not making me a living at all, it's a part time thing. I want to do everything in house and after finding a Star SR20-R for a pretty good price, it would get me doing it all in house and possibly doing other work and growing.

The thousands required for a CAM software package here in Aust, where we tend to pay through the nose for most things is a sticking point at the moment.


So, aside from Syncing/Wait codes, most of the code for a Swiss is no different from any other turning/milling center.

My advice is get Fusion or some other cheap software (I am not one of the fusion fanbois, but I know it's free and easy to use) and use it to program each feature you need individually, and plug that code into a pre-made template for your SR20 (nice machine btw). You don't NEED the CAM to spit out a program that's ready to run, you can simply have it spit out the code for surfacing a slot/break edge with a .030" endmill, and plug that code into your template after your M80S3=5000 T1300 tool call...
 
That is one nice thing about Tsugamis - they come with free CAM software. It is very limited but if nothing else it gets you 80% there with all the wait codes and safety lines and such, and even does simulation. It was really nice to get up to speed understanding how the code works before going to something that cost a lot so we could be more discerning about our posts and other software features.
 
Need post processor

I like Esprit, use it every day with a Citizen Swiss mill/turn.

Hi.,

Can you pls share the post-processor to this mail ([email protected]) for Citizen swiss mine is L20., that will be very useful for me; since I'm just switching over from Mastercam to Esprit. I can share any Mastercam posts for you that I have...
 








 
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