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  1. #21
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    I've seen some benchmarks that show with equal hardware the mac will out preform a PC. But the fact is until we are able to run native, or have a solid emulator, it still is a Windows machine. The reason many of us would rather run on a Mac is we could do most of our work on the OSX side and only use Windows to run essential programs like Mastercam. The one thing I hate about Windows is all the bloat added in. I loved the fact, when I used Linux, was the ability to install the packages that best fit how you planned to use the machine. It kept it nice and clean. Windows should give you the same option. Heck, so should Apple.



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    I run V9 on my MacMini with Parallels.
    For me it runs smoother and faster than it did on my Windows machine.
    The only thing I use the Parallels for is AutoCAD and Mastercam.
    I can run both programs simultaneously with no slowing of the machine at all.



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    I am a Designer/ Illustrator. Dabble from Hand to 3D. Hubby is a Solid Surface contractor. We have talked for years about why we Don't invest in a CNC. Always landing on the fact I have no clue about Pc's.

    This Xmas we bought a Power book with window added. WHOOOOOOOOOOOO

    The problem still remains, that side of my brain does not work, LOL. I am a Illustrator/Photoshop pro.

    Look's like you know mac based designing. SSSOOOOOOOOOOO

    Is their a CNC or engraving or Lazer capabilities that are on our/ Mac side.

    really, like mac only even.

    Ok call me prejudice, No worries. I know what I've only known all my computer life, Heck ill be 50 this year, not going back now!

    Thanks Ally Savage or Ally@allysavage.com If your info is more CNC Based Blair@Savagesurfaces.com. (hubby)



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    As I know now there are not direct softwares for CNC anymore that run in Mac, But I am going to check on some Kaser software that might.

    Well sense this post was brought back up.
    I have added another programming computer two list.

    I am useing now a Mac Pro with dual quad core 3.4 xeons with 6 gigs ram with the really nice 30" monitore and so on. running XP pro thru VMware to run solid works and Mastercam X3 and Beta X4. runs Great.

    Oh I removed te Mac mouse for a PC mouse and use a Space ball to.

    (Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management)
    Cadcam
    Turning Product Specialist for a Software Company, contract Programming and Consultant , Cad-Cam Instructor of Mastercam .


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    No, I don't think there is any CAD/CAM on the Mac side at this point like cadcam said. I could be wrong.......it's been known to happen.
    As far as CAD....There are some pretty good softwares out there.

    My personal favorite is, if you're looking for a solid modeler :

    Ashlar Vellum Cobalt

    http://www.ashlar.com/sections/produ...lt/cobalt.html

    Like posted above, TurboCAD is pretty good also.

    I've heard good things about Vectorworks as well but have not tried it.

    So, There are plenty of tools on the designer side but when it comes to manufacturing ...........I'm afraid we're stuck with Winblows for now.



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    Wink Mac CAD

    There are quite a few good CAD applications for OS/X.

    VectorWorks, Ashlar Vellum, TouchCAD, etc. There's a beta of Rhino as well.

    What's lacking is CAM. There are only two.

    CenonCAM, and the CarveWright wood routing machine both support OS/X.

    I'm running the demo for MasterCAM X4 right now, it seems to work fine in Parallels 5.0.

    What remains to be seen is whether I could design in a Mac application and import to X4, rather than using Solidworks for design.

    As some others have said, there's an appeal to setting up a virtual machine that's stripped down and bulletproof, and using it just to run MasterCAM.

    It would insulate users from the prevailing climate of malware on Windows.



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    Siemens PLM NX for Mac OS X [CAD/CAM]



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    Member cadcam's Avatar
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    you should go to bootcamp as it runs better then in VMware or the other.As now I have done more testing. I also run this way on my Mac Book Pro.

    (Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management)
    Cadcam
    Turning Product Specialist for a Software Company, contract Programming and Consultant , Cad-Cam Instructor of Mastercam .


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    Quote Originally Posted by cadcam View Post
    you should go to bootcamp as it runs better then in VMware or the other.As now I have done more testing. I also run this way on my Mac Book Pro.
    So I don't need to even install my shiney new copy of VM Fusion 3 and just partition my drive with Bootcamp, install Win7, then X4, and it'll run? ...(oooh, i make it all sound so easy)...

    Just got a new i7 27" iMac with 8Gb ram, and would love to see X4 on it. The main weakness being the video card, with what I've read about the ATI issues and the relatively low ram (512) of the 4850 card. The other issue is the dongle....assuming the system will recognize the dongle without issue?

    This is brand new territory for me, the whole Mac thing. Was gonna build a new PC from scratch just for X4 'cause I'm tired of long rendering times,,and then the iMac came along.....As someone said, I liked the idea of running in a safe virtual environment.



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    Thumbs up

    Quote Originally Posted by casta-baga View Post
    Siemens PLM NX for Mac OS X [CAD/CAM]
    Yeah, I just now read about that. Anybody tried NX ?

    The demos were gorgeous. Particularly the ability to drag a part right across a substrate to reposition it... that was stunning.

    The price quote I found was for $7500. That's less than half the traditional MasterCAM/Solidworks combo.



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    Quote Originally Posted by Jkirk3279 View Post
    Yeah, I just now read about that. Anybody tried NX ?

    The demos were gorgeous. Particularly the ability to drag a part right across a substrate to reposition it... that was stunning.

    The price quote I found was for $7500. That's less than half the traditional MasterCAM/Solidworks combo.
    $7,500 is for NX CAM Express. You don't get the high end CAD that's in NX.

    $7,500 is for 2 1/2 axis Mill and for 2 axis Lathe. You also get a very basic 3 axis surfacing toolpath. Not sure if you get 4th axis positioning. If you don't it's only like $1,000 extra.



  12. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by thebowman View Post
    $7,500 is for NX CAM Express. You don't get the high end CAD that's in NX.

    $7,500 is for 2 1/2 axis Mill and for 2 axis Lathe. You also get a very basic 3 axis surfacing toolpath. Not sure if you get 4th axis positioning. If you don't it's only like $1,000 extra.
    You can get Mastercam Level 1 cheaper than that and it has 5 Axis Indexing. Granted if you want Solids it's an additional 1 to 1.5K. So your looking at about $6,000 total Level 1 w/Solids.

    Toby D.
    "Imagination and Memory are but one thing, but for divers considerations have divers names"
    Schwarzwald

    (Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management)

    www.refractotech.com


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    Finally!!!!!

    I've been searching for this thread for almost 3 years. Ok so you guys got this to work as far as designing, but have any of you tested the gcode to make sure your controller/CAM software is reading it properly ?

    What are you using for CAM software ?

    Next what CNC simulators are available for Mac ?


    Any successful parts that have been made without any problems ?




    .



  14. #34
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    Default CNC Simulators

    "Next what CNC simulators are available for Mac ?"

    A standalone simulator?

    None, apparently.

    I'm running a pretty good backplotter from Germany, called CADKAS, in CrossOver Mac.

    It's only got one rough spot left, relating to the fact that in Germany they apparently draft blueprints with the Bottom, Side, and Isometric views rather than the U.S. Top, Side, and Isometric.

    I'm begging the author of CADKAS to make a toggle switch option to reverse that. It makes G02 and G03 arcs come out backwards from our point of view.

    Then there's the free CNCSimulator, that runs in Parallels or Crossover Mac.

    But it doesn't run WELL so I can't recommend it at all.

    A pity, it looks pretty on the surface, but has persistent problems.



    I don't have the funds to buy NX for Mac to try out. It most likely has it's own simulation engine builtin.



  15. #35
    Member CyborgCNC's Avatar
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    Talking

    Yeah..WOW....PC's get all the problems....MAC's never have ANY issues...

    They run perfect, have no viruses, and just work!

    Too bad you can't really do anything with them, and you need to dual boot to get any sort of CAD/CAM software to work on them!

    Hey, Maybe the guys at the genius bar can offer help!!

    Oh, and do not forget, you need those "special" $120.00 cables from the Mac store as well...or nothing will work....

    ------------------
    https://cncguitar.com


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    Default You may be confused...

    Quote Originally Posted by CyborgCNC View Post
    Yeah..WOW....PC's get all the problems....MAC's never have ANY issues...

    They run perfect, have no viruses, and just work!

    Too bad you can't really do anything with them, and you need to dual boot to get any sort of CAD/CAM software to work on them!

    Hey, Maybe the guys at the genius bar can offer help!!

    Oh, and do not forget, you need those "special" $120.00 cables from the Mac store as well...or nothing will work....

    Dual booting isn't difficult. And with the new NX client for Mac it's not necessary.

    I'm running MasterCAM X4 in Parallels 5, it works.

    BTW, where did you ever hear of a $120 cable at the Apple Store?

    As far as I know, they don't carry anything like that.



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    Hello... I am new here.. and very confused... i'm about to buy a CNC... I am a MAC user.... i have about 6 here from G3's to the newest Intel's... I'm over the fact that my mac can't run to a CNC... no probem.. I will pick up a PC for that... but my question is what software can I design in?... I am a Graphic Designer Using CS4 Photoshop...Illustrator & Flash....so what would be the obvious choice for me to design wood workign projects in?.. My intention is to begin building Electric Guitars & Strumsticks.... In a perfect world... I would like to be able to do my basic 2D guitar outlines in Illustrator then import them into a another mac program that will let me finish the deisgn of the instrument ..ie.. Routed edges... Pickup holes , Tuner key holes etc...... then bring that file over to the PC to do the CNC coding.. My apologies... I am very new to this... and I'm not quite sure I even have a handle on the process... Correct me if I'm wrong... but...does it work like this... A.) design object in a Cad program... Export or save file in a DXF format... then import this into a CAM program ( No Idea what a Cam program is BTW ) and that CAM program will create GGode and send it to a CNC?... is the way it works?... Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Imacman



  18. #38
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    CAM stands for computer aided machining. Mastercam can be used as a design tool the thing that makes it a cam package is the fact you can also use Mastercam to draw toolpaths using tooling that is going to cut the part.If you are just looking to design the part then Autocad or solidworks would be something to look at.Hope this helps.



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    Default Mac CAM

    There's NX CAM... on new Macs it runs as an X11 application and will both design and cut.

    Using a PC as your controller isn't a bad idea.

    What that means is you'd need a PC running MasterCAM, or Pro E, to do the cutting.

    And thus you'd need a design program for your Mac that outputs in a CAM friendly format.

    MasterCAM users do this all the time with SolidWorks.

    I'm beta testing a program called Ares, with this same end in mind.

    I wish I had a solid list of programs that had been tested and proven to work; I don't yet.

    Basically you look for the requirements of MasterCAM. Does it need IGES, DWG, DXF, STL?

    Then find a Mac program that outputs those formats.

    There are some pretty good Mac design programs, as you might expect.

    SolidEdge, Ashlar Vellum, Vectorworks (mostly architectural), ARES, and there's a rumor about SolidWorks coming to the Mac...

    IF SolidWorks makes the jump, that's probably the best bet.

    One piece of advice: DO NOT pay for a program without testing it.

    EVER.

    If the salesman promises two days of training, and on the first day plaintively asks "can I have my money now?";

    Say NO.

    They don't make money while they're training you. They make money while they're on the road looking for new vict ... I mean, new clients.

    I forgot to mention: if you can't find a good Mac CAD program that fits with your CAM program, remember that all Macs made in the last three years can reboot and run Windows natively.

    Last edited by Jkirk3279; 03-31-2010 at 03:56 PM. Reason: Forgot something


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    Default why pay to get a special post and at the end, the post create crashes?

    Mastercam runs fine on my VirtualBox, we have used a shared folder for the DNC APP... all the info is on the net...

    where I work, we have lots of applications related to CAD/CAM/CAE/DNC/ADMINS ETC running on windows, MAC X and Linux, the best is Mac X

    the place has a apple server networking all the mac computers for over 2 years already...
    we went through strange conversations with people that represented edgecam + autodesk inventor, better not mentioning their company's names... to try to construct a good system... did not work at all, very strange experience for us, why the F word spending over 30T euros for a combo that sucks in the first?

    so we have decided and I felt that, going out of the microsoft OS System spectrum, ( spending money with IT personnel, problems with network, file exchanging, virus etc etc...) for what?
    why not pay for students to develop a new CAD/CAM app?

    why not to go with a solution for Mac and Linux and kick all the microsoft stuff out of the door...
    so they have had decided to purchase nx unigraphics,...

    works perfect, myself I'm strong on mastercam, powermill, smartcam, gibscam.... autodesk inventor, cimco dnc (money suckers) etc...
    I got to run unigraphics after 16 hours of a learning experince...
    all on a Mac X system... and .... the only problem now that we are having, is a Mac/Linux machine to send PGM to machines like Okuma(like it), mazak(suckers) and haas (don't like it),

    just today we have had some problems with a very special special machine that is from North America...,why spending $3000 dollars for the post processor if it does not even work????????

    we pay for the post and after more fees to fix it? why Mastercam?

    Last edited by casta-baga; 04-01-2010 at 06:50 PM.


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