Help to choose CAM software

[Carlos Sequeira]

Hello, I'm new on this forum!
I am from Portugal and I need your help ...
I have to buy a CAM software and do not know which to choose, I will ...
I already have a CAD software is SolidWorks and now I have to buy a CAM and not know what the best software in the market ...
I already have some names but not which to choose, I will, SolidCAM, Mastercam, Esprit, HSMWorks, which this is the best?
Thank you in advance for your help.

[harley4ever]

I'm an avid fan of Dolphin for my 2D & 2.5D work. When we get more sophisticated 3D jobs, Surfcam comes in handy.

[SBC Cycle]

I think the important question to ask is, what is your budget.

Spending a ton of money on CAM software can be easily justified by the time savings. But if you simply can't spend more than X amount of dollars, that's going to limit your options.

If you have Solidworks already, you may be better off with a package that integrates with it. All the ones you have mentioned I believe will operate as a SW plug in. Not sure about Esprit, never looked into it.

Dolphin will NOT import a native Solidworks drawing. You will have to export from SW to a format that Dolphin will recognize. Best I can tell from the Dolphin site, the only import options are DXF and Iges (optional for extra $).

If any information I have here is incorrect, anyone can feel free to update.

[Carlos Sequeira]

Good afternoon,
Already thank you for your answers ...

HSMWORKS you know?
I've seen a couple videos and I liked what I saw ...
But I have some fear in relation to POS Processors ...

Anyone can give me some feedback regarding HSMWORKS?

Thank you and hug

[SBC Cycle]

I too have only seen the videos of it and it looks very impressive.

I believe there is a HSMWORKS forum here, maybe you could get some feedback there.

[AiR_GuNNeR]

VisualMill is worth looking at aslo. It is very easy to use, and very intuitive. They have several tutorials on their site to get you going as well.

[Carlos Sequeira]

Thank you!
I'll try to see if I can find this topic here in the forum.

[montie]

We have GibbsCam and its works great together with SolidWorks although it is a separate program. It is very powerful and easy to use.