Here you go, the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth....
GibbsCAM is a GREAT all around product, it does 2D VERY well and is very flexable. You can make it do just about anything anyway you want. This is importaint because every mold/tool and Die shop I have sold GibbsCAM to have a large amount of 2D work as well.
As for the 3D toolpath. Here are the good and bads:
Good
Very SIMPLE
Fast toolpath calculation
respectful use of associative toolpath
Good Roughing Paths (not a ton of retracts)
Flexable
Can be proficent at it in less than a week
Many more.....
The BAD
Not suited for LARGE Mold work, IP's, Dash Panels, Facia Molds
This is because there are not many "Optimizing" toolpaths. The ones that find and 3D re-Machine the extra material.
Lack of Shallow/Slope Miling
Looping Toolpaths (Lace Cutting)
Skimming Retracts
In all, If you are doing VERY Large, VERY COMPLEX Molds/Dies you should look at a specialized product. The 2 best in the industry are WorkNC and PowerMill. (I have used them both)
If your work fall into slightly smaller work and you need to use Solids for modeling and cutting then GibbsCAM is a Great fit for you.
As some one said before, Gibbs is adding numerous 3D Milling upgrades and additions to the product. (Slated for V8). The stuff that they are talking about will make most if not all the above information useless. GibbsCAM should be close to a one stop shop for all your milling needs.
Your comment about the retracts, I think the operator did something wrong, Most of the Finishing cuts in GibbsCAM stay down very well and retract only if needed. The roughing and Z Level finishing have some retracts but no more than other products do.
Good Luck
GG  |