I agree with everyone, they all have valid points but, there are a few things to think about.
If you go the ICAM route the cost will be more, the interface integration for your machine paramaters will NOT work with the post. You will need to buy a APT-CL option for GibbsCAM to output the code needed to get ICAM to work. This is also a BIG expense.
When using an ICAM post, you might NOT get the machine motion to match the rendering/simulation in GibbsCAM. They (ICAM) are changing the outcome of the program after the simulation. There is no way to check to make sure that the code is coming out correctly or not. If you are using Gibbs post, they make sure everything is working to gether.
Also, with an ICAM post if a function in Gibbs is added/fixed/modified in future versions, they will corect the post at no charge. You will have to go back to ICAM for fixes, which I assume will cost you more money.
Seecond thing for Rekd, I agree that being able to build/modify your posts is a big deal. This all depends on who the person is and if they can do it or not. Most people would NOT have a clue on building a 3 or 4 axis post, let alone a post that needs to program spindle sync, turret syncs, wait codes and get everything to come out correctly aligned between two programs that are needed to run a mahcine like this one.
Gibbs will be offering Post Haste with support for ALL GibdsCAM modules including multi spindle/ multi turret machines as well as 5 axis simultanious milling.
So if you really like to do it yourself, there are the tools, so have at it.
GG  |