Ultimate CAD/CAM CNC Solution

Hi, I am looking for an ultimate general purpose cad/cam CNC solution using for mold and machine design I am thinking of Mastercam X but is there anyone who might know any other possible alternative as a single package or a combination with equal or more capabilities and features for Windows XP. I also want to look at SW and its CAM add-ons.
And is there much difference between high-end products such as Catia, UG, and ProEngineer and others in the range of Mastercam to justify any investment on those more expensive solutions?

Thanks in advance for any comments.

I use Mastercam 9.1 and solidworks 2005. I am going to be upgrading to MC X and SW 2006 shortly. There is nothing that I can not make in my shop, short of full on five axis parts. I use MC to program 5 axis on a contract basis as well. Granted, I have been using this combination for a long time and am used to it( have done the learning curve) I think it'll do the vast majority of what UG or ProE will do, just at a lot less money and headache.
Just my .02
Jim

For a single package, look at Unigraphics NX. For a CAM to work with SW, look at Edgecam.

I agree SW and MC are easy to work with and very straight forward I know well NX3 and Catia v5 too but for my own business they are a bit too much to begin.
I don't know much about Edgecam I will try to find out more about it. Are Solidcam, CAMWORKS and HyperCam in the same range?
I am going to consult two friends who are using Delcam and Visi products anyone with any experiences on those products? And What is the best CAM add-on for Solid Edge?
Again thanks in advance for your opinions.

I'm using Edgecam with Solid Edge - Edgecam loads native Solid Edge solid models associatively. IIRC Edgecam is about $7K.

yes, edgecam or ug

mastercam x is gonna bite ya in the a'ss

And is there much difference between high-end products such as Catia, UG, and ProEngineer and others in the range of Mastercam to justify any investment on those more expensive solutions?

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Technically, Pro/E is not a "high-end" product. It is not marketed in a high end price range, and doesn't really compete on par with high end products. Catia and UG, on the other hand, are both high end.

There is a lot of difference in the two products, and yet not much. In and of themselves, they are both "flavored" packages. Look at the available fuctionality, especially the add-ons, and you will see what I mean. (Catia = aerospace, UG = automotive, for the most part) However, both very capable, and I wouldn't shake my head at either.

Now for the important part. They are BOTH a terrible choice for a small shop, just opening the doors. Basic packages for both are too basic to do any real work with, and are more expensive than the full versions of say, SolidWorks. Add-ons are EXTREMELY expensive, and maintenance will run about 12-15% over list price, per year, for as long as you maintain it. As of recent, both companies are now issuing periodic licenses. Not sure about UG, but Catia licenses expire every 2 years. (renew, or no use...)

For single package, with all the functionality, You can do SolidWorks or KeyCreator. Both have excellent design + manufacturing packages for $10K or less.

My experience with ProEng mainly came from a design project which we did most surfacing part with ISDX which is a far superior product to all but high-end surface modelers like the ICEM Surf. But that is out of the subject of this topic. It seems that Edgecam receives more favorable opinions here than MC, so I will try to learn about it to see why, since I may get a bargain for Solid Edge 16 too. I like SEs, any concerns on its stability for heavy tasks? Now I think 9th update is there for it.

SolidEdge is an absolutely awesome CAD package in its price range. Pretty easy to learn, great functionality. I'm really not sure about CAM, though, as I've not had any experience with it from that perspective. Do they have CAM packages, or are they tied in 3rd party?

SolidEdge may be one of those products that you hardly hear about, but has great potential. It's certainly in the right family. (SolidEdge is a UGS product, and is to Unigraphics what SolidWorks is to Catia - as they are both from Dassault)

I like most of the things Solid Edge can do, it has a long history. Much more suited to designers' workflow who deal with other UGS products than others in its range. My experience with it came from developing manufacture-ready surfaces from other surface modelers, primarily Imageware. The V18 should be much more advanced and it is very easy to update it too. But no experience with its mold design features yet.

We have 1 seat of Mastercam X level 3 with solids and 2 level 1 seats. We just bought TopSolid with the Topmold and Topcam modules. If you are designing and making molds look into it. It is incredible software. If you are looking for a reasonably priced CAM software only, I would recommend Onecnc. Very easy to use. For mold work Topsolid with topmold and topcam is extremely powerful.

Since you didn't list OneCnc as a software you own on what basis can you recommend it?

Dan

Dan,

My recommendation is based on a 30 day evaluation which took place this past Fall. We gave it a thorough workout. We were very impressed with the ease of use. We had 2 of our guys trying it out and both felt it was way easier to create toolpaths in than Mcam. The interface is very intuative. We could not justify converting over however, as we were already heavily invested in Mcam which we felt had advantages over Onecnc in some areas. The Onecnc tech support was fantastic. Their forum is an extremely friendly place. We were in contact with several long time users and all were very helpful and happy with the product. The pricing is reasonable, especially if you go with the network liscense which covers up to 10 seats. They are also very receptive to user feedback and I was told last week that they are actually incorporating some of our suggestions into the new updates even though we were only trial users. As moldbuilders, the TopSolid family of products brought incredible power and automation into our processes. After a six hour demo I could not ignore what it could do for us. I bought a liscense the next day and have not regretted it a bit. It is great software. If you build molds especially, I would not buy anything else without getting a thorough demo of this product first.

My recommendation is based on a 30 day evaluation which took place this past Fall.

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Ah, so it is possible to get a 30 day demo then! Was it fully functional? Were you able to cut test pieces on your machine?

we were already heavily invested in Mcam which we felt had advantages over Onecnc in some areas.

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Can you elaborate on how Mcam had advantages?

Thanks

Dan

all that and less than 10 posts.
did someone at onecnc mass email all their customers giving discounts to anyone posting about onecnc on this forum?
or did onecnc buy advertising rights here?
i deal with cadcam with many people and hardly anyone has ever heard of onecnc except for here and cncbonz.

Are your remarks because Onecnc latest version is not on your stolen software available for sale list and you dont like legitimate users to want it.

[ 03-05-2006, 06:02 AM: Message edited by: ColinP ]

Ah please! Let's just talk technically base on our experiences with any of these CAD/CAM solutions. It may help to find better solutions for our needs at a better price, but not by just being a fan of any of them as our favorite Football teams!

Onecnc does not offer a demo per se. They have a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. If you want to be hostile to a manufacturer this isn't the one to dislike. I found them to be very honest and up front in my dealings with them. I was especially impressed by the satisfaction level of their user base. Does it have all the features of Mastercam? No. Is it easier to use? Yes. Is it more intuitive to a new user? yes. Can you save a huge learning curve? i would say definately yes. Is the software fully tested before release? I am told yes. I would have to be a long time user to answer that question with certainty but I believe it to be true. I am a small manufacturer competing in a difficult market and I am not easy to please. There are a couple of products I have tried that would not recieve any kind of recommendation from me - quite the opposite. I did not buy the product - yet. (I may never buy it for MY application in My situation) I bought a product (more expensive) that I felt was the ultimate mold design / manufacturing solution. I found Onecnc to be an excellent value for many applications. I am not recommending you take my word or anyone elses on what to buy. I recommend looking at this package as an easy to use well designed user friendly solution for MANY not ALL users. Thats it period.

I recommend looking at this package as an easy to use well designed user friendly solution for MANY not ALL users.

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So I have to buy it to find out if I am one of the many users? Why can't I use it in the real world to find out? It's not that I'm being hostile to that company, it's just that I don't agree with the "trust us" approach for CAM software.

Again I can't help but wonder why there are so few users in an area that is the automotive capital of North America?

I agree with PI, in that I too deal with CAM/CNC issues daily (as CAM Manager at this company) and no one has ever heard of OneCNC in this area. That doesn't necessarily mean it's not a good product, but with the buy/no-try policy, it's not likely to ever have a presence here.

Perhaps, if they re-evaluated their sales techniques, their product could get into some of the 100's of tool shops in this area. Relying on the word of anonomous people on a couple of forums (whether planted or not) is not the way to market a product.

Perhaps if they are represented at IMTS this September, I'll see what they have to offer. Still not enough to close a sale, but better than a 1 hour on-line demo, that's for sure.

Dan (still beating this dead horse )

Dan,

Have you called the Tampa office and spoken to anyone there? Onecnc started out in Australia and is a worldwide player. I don't know when they came to the U.S. market. I am certainly no expert on their history. I own a small mold shop and have received NOTHING from Onecnc. I happen to like the way I was treated and the way they do business - they don't try to pull every cent out of your wallet. They guarantee the software will work for you period. If within 30 days you don't like it - ship it back for a refund. Ask about it. They stand behind their product. They also let you transfer the liscence. Try that with other CAM software. I feel it is an excellent small to medium sized business solution. Maybe even a large business solution. Bottom line is the user interface is excellent. It is user friendly and easy to learn quickly. You get lifetime internet and PHONE support with the product with no maintenance fees. I don't know but as someone who has to pay for the stuff we get, that seems like good value to me. The network liscence is an INCREDIBLE value, ask about it. Like I said, I am no expert with this software, I played around with it and took input from my two CAD/Cam guys. They liked a LOT about the software. We would have bought a network liscense if we didn't have thousands of Mastercam files and much money and training invested in Mastercam already. Keep in mind that in spite of the inuendo, I am not affiliated with Onecnc in any way nor am I paid by them and cannot speak for them or their product. This information is what I remember being told. Call and ask for yourself if you are interested.