gonna be a gibbs guy soon

[poster]

Looks like my company is buying gibbs cam for our 4 axis miller. I haven't used CAM before how difficult is it to start producing? Can i use 2d CAD files? Is this as complicated as learning AutoCAD or Solidworks? or is it user friendly?
Most dwgs i have right now are AutoCAD, with a few Solidworks, but mainly 2D, how important is it to learn 3D?

Thanks

[dtm]

Gibbscam is very powerful and easy to learn.

[DepthOfCut]

I've been using Gibbs for almost 10 years. I've never even had time to go to a training class and I find it very easy to use. The 3D portion of any CAM software has a higher learning curve but it is necessary and it will help you even with parts that are more 2D in nature. IMO, Gibbs is far simpler to use than AutoCAD and also simpler to use than Solidworks, though of course, they are both CAD rather than CAM.

There are other good products out there as well but I'm happy with Gibbs and have never even entertained switching to something else.

[txcncman]

I have found that MasterCAM is easier for creating geometry and has more options available when creating tool paths. GibbsCAM is good for point, click, machine. GibbsCAM is quicker to start making G-code with.

[miljnor]

I've used Gibbs, master-cam, surf-cam, and played with a few others and they are all good. They all have strong points, Gibbs-cam 2.5d stuff is best of the ones I've use, master-cam has infinite options (it seams) but has a steep learning curve (at least pre X) and surf-cam has great 3d stuff but none 3d stuff is super cumbersome!

They will all get you there! I use Gibbs-cam almost exclusively now just do to ease of use. The other two just don't have the Idea of K.I.S.S (keep it simple stupid) and really other than a few options that I've never really cared for you aren't loosing much by the simplistic approach.

[sixshootertexan]

We had Gibbs do a demo this week and it seems very user friendly?

[double a-ron]

What are all these other "options" I keep hearing about that MC has that Gibbs doesn't. I use Gibbs 10hrs/day 6 days a week. I have never ran out of "options". Maybe you guys are running an older version than me. As far as I'm concerned, I have 1 option for roughing 2d: Volumill. For 3d, they have so many tool paths if you can't find the right one your doing something wrong. Then there's the menus. Open, close, open, close, open, close. How do you get anything done when 50% of your mouse clicks are used to close a dialog box. Check out my screen shot below. That says it all. Everything open and available all the time.
I don't mind a software discussion but, every time someone asks to compare Gibbs to MC, they always says there is more you can do with MC than you can do with Gibbs. Really? Then start giving examples and I bet I can show you Gibbs can do the same thing. The one thing everyone always gets right is speed. Gibbs is fast. I can write a program for our dual spindle lathe, with turn and mill work on both spindles, in less than 45 mins. I'd like to see any other software come close to that.

[miljnor]

I have very little experience in anything BUT Gibbs so I don't tend to argue with naysayers. I love what your saying though and I agree....no one has every said "here do this, I bet mine does it better and faster"....lets put the money where the mouth is.

[Dane Lindon]

Check out my screen shot below. That says it all. Everything open and available all the time.

Wow, Bill Gibbs puked on your screen.

[double a-ron]

It's all about marketing. Ever wonder why MC spends more money on marketing than any other cam system? A good product can sell itself and shouldn't need to be shoved in your face all the time. Think about drug dealers, they don't do any marketing. Drugs sell themselves. Funny how the most expensive cam suites available do almost no advertising. All in all, I'm glad mc is "the most used cam software". Makes it that much easier to compete.

P.S., If that's Bill's vomit on my screen, then I hope he continues to have stomach problems. That vomit made me a lot of money this year.

[hpowell]

I think it’s all about proficiency. I’ve been using MC since its DOS days (v5), and just before I retired was using X4. So naturally I think MC is better. I’m sure if I had the same experience with Gibbs I’d feel the same about it.
This kind of argument makes about as much sense as whether Chevy is better than Ford.

[double a-ron]

If you have only used one system then yes, your correct. If you've used both, as I have, then you can form an opinion based on your experience. Believe me, there is nothing one can do the other can not. The real difference is the UI. The Gibbs UI is much faster, therefore you can write the same program MC can write, only quicker. More programs per day, equals more money, which means bigger ROI. I got to work today at 6:15 am. I've written 5 mill programs and 2 lathe programs. As well as setting both machines up, and keeping them running. It's now 12:13 pm. If any MC user would like to challenge me I'd be up for it. Like miljnor said, "....lets put the money where the mouth is".