in the market for a new CAM solution

[nash]

Hi there,

Our setup is as follows:

1. Rhino 4 and currently 5wip for all surface modeling
2. Alibre expert for all solid modeling
3. QuickCNC with syntec controller and 4th rotational axis

I'm trying to evaluate what we could use aside from the AlibreCAM (part of Alibre Expert which does only 2.5D work), to machine both alibre models and Rhino surfaces.

Our main machining needs will be high density PU foam and Resin boards (Rhino surfaces), followed by aluminum parts in 7075T6 (alibre designs, which can be easily exported to Rhino in Step format).

In the evaluation process I have shortlisted the following:

1. MadCAM
2. VisualMill
3. OneCNC

I'm sure that you folks have already treaded the selection that currently I'm struggling with. So can you please give me your reasons for going with madcam. Something else that comes to mind is: Suppose I have a model in Rhino, I generate the tool path for it and now I make a small modification, will I need to do all the tool path generation again? Anyone here who's got a syntec 940M controller and knows how to generate post for it?

Thanks a lot,
N

[svenakela]

I do foam and alu milling. What I really like with MadCam is that I do all work in Rhino and that's it, and the path's are really reliable. If you make a change in your model you need to reprocess the path's. I don't see that as a major issue though, it's quite fast.

About the controller, send an e-mail to Joakim directly and he weill help you with that. He's pretty busy, so be patient.
http://www.madcamcnc.com/contact.html

[awerby]

It's essentially the same as VisualMill, but it works inside the Rhino workspace. It's quite handy to be able to make little tweaks in Rhino without having to switch programs and then switch back. If you do make changes, you have to regenerate the toolpath, but I think that's true of any CAM program.

I don't know anything about your Syntek controller, but the tech guys at Mecsoft probably do, and will help you customize your post-processor to accomodate it. We sell RhinoCAM (and VisualMill) for a discount, but you still get the same tech support as if you'd purchased directly from Mecsoft, as well as my 2 cents worth...

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

[svenakela]

It's essentially the same as VisualMill, but it works inside the Rhino workspace. It's quite handy to be able to make little tweaks in Rhino without having to switch programs and then switch back. If you do make changes, you have to regenerate the toolpath, but I think that's true of any CAM program.

I don't know anything about your Syntek controller, but the tech guys at Mecsoft probably do, and will help you customize your post-processor to accomodate it. We sell RhinoCAM (and VisualMill) for a discount, but you still get the same tech support as if you'd purchased directly from Mecsoft, as well as my 2 cents worth...

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

Eeeh... Lets be clear now. You're talking about RhinoCAM, which is the same as VisualMill.
MadCam is a totally different software made by MadCAM Corporation.

[nash]

Thanks for your inputs. I've downloaded a copy of MadCAM and am trying it with my Rhino installation. My part is a large foam model

1. The part is X=1000mm Y=3000mm and Z=190mm
2. I'm using roughing at feed rate of X,Y of 10000mm/min, Z of 1000mm/min
3. The tool bit is indexable circular cutters (spherical cut).
4. The maximum machine travel is set in the controller to be 40000mm/min

What strategies would you suggest and which tools will you suggest for a gentle surfaces for such a piece?

Thanks,
N

[svenakela]

Are you making a longboard?

What foam are you using and what density, how strong is the spindle and what collet does it have? Your question is actually more adressed to the machining itself than the software in use.

[nash]

Nope, I'm not making a long board but the object is similar in dimensions and gentleness of curves. The material density is 250kg/cubicm. The machining will be 3 axis, so not loading on the 4th axis.

I did a tool path generation, which came to 200hours. The machine is very very fast, and I've posted the code on the machine and then done a simulation on the machine. I've not cut the material.

BTW, forgot to add that the tool path visual crashed my win-7 machine. This is a workhorse machine that is used for engineering analysis, with 48GB of ram, I can't understand why it crashed. It also made rhino crash a number of times.

The tool path seemed to be very slow, even on the machine with 173111 lines of code!

[svenakela]

Something is wrong in your strategy or setup, For me it takes about 8 hours to run really fine cuts at the same size and my machine is way slower than yours.

Did you read the 3D tutorial? Might be some facts there you can catch.

Never heard of that crashing thing. I know there was a graphical driver that caused problems before and that was solved by updating it. You better contact MadCam about that.

Do you have Skype? I'm kinda interested in your path problem...

[turmite]

Any update? I am curious if this has been addressed?

I bet my machine is slower than either or you guys!

Mike

[svenakela]

No, didn't get a response.

[turmite]

I wish he would reply. I have posted tool paths for fairly large parts of a car in foam and never had times like that. I wonder what kind of stepover he uses?

Mike

[svenakela]

Well, hopefully he solved the issue.