Recommend me CAM Software for a High School Class

[TheCamMan]

NO Comment

[AiR_GuNNeR]

I would check out the SpaceClaim and VisualMill combination. SpaceClaim is super easy to use and you can generate/modify parts very easily. VisualMill will load SpaceClaim parts, and there is a free plugin for SC that will export a selected part and load it into VM automatically. VM isn't as full featured as MC, but again, it is very easy to use and understand.

[osphoto]

You only mentioned CAM. I'm assuming you are already using a CAD system.

What ever CAM you choose, make certain you are able to import from your CAD successfully.

You can always start with Freemill from MecSoft. It's simple and starts you out fairly cheaply (free).

When I used, tried to, Bob Cad, v22/23, I recall that it didn't have a "Z" containment. When I called in to verify, the tech support said there wasn't a way to set a min/max to Z depth. I'd like to think you could, since I was able to do this in Visual Mill.

Glad to hear a Teacher wanting to support their kid's futures in this skill set and making an informed decision. I've often heard to much BS with school administrative folks putting their "crap knowledge" into making decisions about something they absolutely know nothing about.

If you've not make the call to say Master Cam, etc, you might be cable to score something from them since our economy seems to suck.

Good luck with you choice!

[SirDenisNayland]

How about you teach them to use and program the machine manually? Fancy 3D products are fun and all, but its a bit asinine to jump into doing that type of work when the students don't even know how to perform a tool change or write a basic program on their own.

That's the problem with our manufacturing industry, no one with any brains left. Everything thinks its all cad to cam and go. Newsflash, 99.9999999% of all posts are faulty. And no student jumps into full profile 3D machining from school. Those jobs are reserved for the true great machinists who can program everyhibg save for complex axis transformations and full out 3D profiles with their eyes closed behind their back. 99.99% of parts are going to be turned or 2.5d stuff that is almost always faster to program by hand than the redundant, CADwastetimedrawingprettypicturesandrenderinv-CAMwastehourssettingandmeasuringtoolsandplayingwithpaths-post-wastehourseditingapostonaprogramthatisdoingbasicdrilltap**** that could have been running had you handed the set up guy the print and said go

Kids need real basic skills in this industry. Softwares are not the be all end all. Lots of whiz kids who can model whatever you dream of, but when it comes to putting them on the machine they freeze up because they have no idea what they're doing, no idea how the code really works and are so restricted by their security blanket programs that they're soon out of a job.

[sanddrag]

How about you teach them to use and program the machine manually?

I never said I wasn't going to.

2.5d stuff is almost always faster to program by hand than the redundant, CADwastetimedrawingprettypicturesandrenderinv-CAMwastehourssettingandmeasuringtoolsandplayingwithpaths-post-wastehourseditingapostonaprogramthatisdoingbasicdrilltap**** that could have been running had you handed the set up guy the print and said go

I'm not sure what kind of simple run-of-the-mill parts you're designing but anything I design in 2.5 D, and for that matter anything I have my kids design, is going to be far more complex than is worth programming by hand. There is no way you could do it more quickly by hand than with CAM. I don't mean to be rude, I just cannot fathom how the above statement could be accurate, having done both manual and CAM programming.

[NCTEACHER]

First congratulations on getting a Haas. Way to go for helping your students get real world skills. We got our Haas Mini-Mill about 5 years ago and now have a ShopBot gantry router w/ 4th axis for wood and a A CNCMasters metal lathe. My students going on to engineering and machining educations always come back to say what an advantage they have with CADD/CAM experience. We use SolidWorks for our modeling and HSMWorks which is embedded in SolidWorks for CAM. I have had the following experience after teaching CADD for 20 years and CAM for 5. SolidWorks is the modeler I think you should use due to it's widespread use in industry and post-secondary institutions and it's logical interface that in my experience today's tech savvy kids understand and it becomes transparent letting them get to learning modeling not the interface of the software. I want the same thing from my CAM, let's learn machining not let's all try to figure out what the programmers where thinking when they designed the software. I have been through, Vectric Aspire (great simple 2D/2.5D and artistic CAM), SolidCam (just kept wanting more $), OneCNC (kids had trouble with the positioning and interface). HSMWorks keeps you in a SolidWorks interface, does 3D and Turning, and you get great support. I value being able to place a phone call and get a human and the humans you talk to want to help education, they do not see us as just another revenue stream. Call them and I am sure they will set you up for 30 days to try it and I think your kids will be making parts quickly. Right now we are making more parts then we ever did and concentrating on learning to make tool paths not looking for some icon or function buried in the software.

[txcncman]

I'm looking to outfit a 13-seat high-school class with CAM software to use with a new HAAS Mini Mill. The idea is that ultimately students would become proficient at the entire process from CAD->CAM->Manufacture. I'd like to limit this to under $4000 if possible, $5000 if there's a compelling reason to push it that high. What's the best I can do on 13 seats for that budget? BobCAM V24 will fit in the budget, but is it good? My only experience is with MasterCAM X.

Have you obtained quotes from the software distributors yet? How much are they telling you the cost will be?

What did http://www.trainingcenters.org/ tell you about working with you when you contacted them and asked for assistance?