Cad/Cam for Apple computers

[leggetmachine]

I was just wondering if there are any Cad/Cam software for apple computers. Really dont know much about them. just wondering if there is anything out there . Any input would be great

Thanks
Michael

[cbass]

For CAD you might look into Sketch-up. Very easy to use (created for designers, not engineers). I think it was created for the apple (Machintosh). http://www.sketchup.com/ Before buying it, you'd want to make sure it will export as a file that your CAM will be able to open.

I'd also look into Rhino 3D as a CAD program. They recently added a CAM pluggin for it which should streamline the whole process considerably. I'd be surprised if it wasn't available for Mac.

I don't know of any stand-alone CAM programs for Mac.

Good luck!

Carlo

[ger21]

http://www.nemetschek.net/machinedesign/index.php

[expotec]

3Design Jewel is an excellent CAD program and it works on Apple and Windows based computers.

If you are interested in getting a 2 week trial version of 3Design, please send me an e-mail at ernie@cadforjewelry.com

Best regards,

Ernie

[capatto]

For CAM you can emulate windows in your MAC OS and use anyone.

For CAD I tried MiniCAD in MAC OS 9 some years ago, it's very good in 2D but I dont know about 3D.

[teejaytee]

The only concern about going the emulation route might be the lack of corresponding ports on the Mac. For example, if your CAM software uses a parallel-port-based protection key, there has never been a parallel port shipped as standard equipment on a Mac, Apple has never offered one (to my knowledge), and there have been some compatibility problems with the few third-party party boards that have been sold over the years. Also, Macs used to have RS-422 ports instead of RS-232C serial ports and now have USB, so that may be a problem if your CAM equipment requires an older 9 or 25-pin serial port. (There are convertors available, but you're probably on your own as far as support is concerned). And you may have a problem with older products that attempt to talk directly to specific hardware, as they won't find that hardware under emulation.

That having been said, modern products that talk to the operating system (instead of directly to specific hardware) and use USB ports for communication should work quite well under emulation. There may be some native UNIX/LINUX CAM software that would work well with the underlying FreeBSD code that Mac OS/X is built upon, too. Good luck!

[S Lovette]

There are several excellent 3D CAD programs for the Mac. Vectorworks, referenced above is a very good 3D program. In the past it was poorly suited for machine design or mechanical engineering due to missing snap points on centers of round parts, e.g. cylinders and spheres. They have recently released a new version which addresses that issue and improves 2D drawing generation from 3D parts. Vectorworks is excellent for architectural design.

I have switched to Ashlar Vellum's Cobalt. Hands down better IMHO for mechanical design and Industrial design too. It has very robust exporting to other CAD formats. I have e-mailed STL files and receive parts, exactly what I expected from my rapid prototyping vendor.
www.ashlar.com

As far as CAM, translating a 3D design into tool paths and G-Code, there is very little available. I recently Googled G-Code and found some activity in the open source world, but no integrated packages for the uninitiated. I think it's coming though.

Spencer

[Chris Welton]

I wish there was more for the Apple too.
If anyone out there is working on any open source GCode programs I would be more than happy do do some of the grunt work in my spare time. I have experience creating Apple GUI's in C, C++, and Objective C, as well as creating optimized logarithmic stable sort and self balancing binary search tree procedures using the BSD libs. Send me a private message if interested, and my apologies to everyone who had no f'ing clue what I just said...

[Tarkus]

You might be able to get a hold of an old version of virtual Gibbs... If I recall, it was Mac first.

[Timinator]

I've been using a Mac as my primary computer for years. I am brand new to CNC and the mac compatibility issue was on my mind as well. As a jeweler, I'm seriously considering investing in this equipment, but I'm reluctant to jump into things that I don't understand.

[MegaMoog]

Turbocad=Mac

[Chris Welton]

It says their CAM package is Windows only, though.