mastercam is good

[riverracer]

i'm not trying to start a brand war here, but ideas which is the better out of mc or powermill?

let me explain my question!

over the last month or so we have been trialing both, the mc trial is limited (no 3D), but pm is full function. (no expert on either)

i have found for doing 2D profiles that mc is quick an easy, draw in mc/ import acad dwg (no need for solid/wireframe), set stock, run contour path dialog, 1 button verifiy, 1 button G code,
in pm, clumsy draw system, need solid/wireframeset block, set cutter, set boundry, select cutter path style, activate path, turn on/off view mode, simulate, create prog name, drag toolpath/s into prog name list (hopefuly in same order), write prog.

just a quick example, and by no means a true test, but it sums up what we would do most of the time. if 2D i so easy, then i guess 3D would be simple as well?
pm seams fairly complex in the 3D department, has a few nice functions i noticed.
the money is ready to buy, i like the ease of mc, boss leaning towards pm, but he dosent run the machine.

do you guys have any other pro's/con's for either that i could use to justify our choice ?
cnc forum has over 1000 pages for mc, but only 1 question for pm!!!

thanks
remember i dont want a brand war - just options

[rcpilot82]

I've never used powermill before but I love that MasterCam is so easy to work with. I have tried other brands but just don't care for them as much as MC in the drawing/ toolpath area. I can't obviously voice an opinion between the two, but I can say I love my MC. I am running x2 mr2.

[Derek Goodwin]

hi RR, I just did a tutorial on the site that shows the Mastercam 3D process, it's not "in-depth" , but you will get the idea of the steps you need to got through
http://eapprentice.net/index.php?opt...-articles-page

[mastercamguru]

Riverracer:
I am thinking that pm is another of a long line of softwares trying to be like Mastercam. I've used many different cam softwares over the years, and ended up buying Mastercam for myself when a shop didn't want to buy new.
They had Mastercam in the engineering dept a few months later when they saw my productivity/accuracy exceed that of those using brand x (almost mastercam look alike).
I stand by my decision to buy Mastercam 7 back then and love using V9 now. I just renewed my service contract to upgrade to X2mr2 (X3 soon maybe).
I think I am correct in saying that Mastercam came first, and I'm sure the number of questions/posts for Mastercam vs. pm reflects popularity, not complexity.

Does pm have support like here or emastercam forum?

[mastercamguru]

Mastercam - Camtool - Hypermill as far as I know are the top 3 cam softwares all for different aspects of machining. 2-5 axis, mosty 3 axis, or mostly 5 axis. Your decision depends on what kind of work you do the most.

[dvaliket]

Powermill is better for gouge-free toolpaths, thats the reason for having to set-up a block and so on. Mastercam is far easier for 2d. Powermill will give you better toolpaths for 3d surfacing. I've done extensive testing of softwares and use Mastercam, Hypermill and Powermill. Sometimes to get the right surfacing toolpath in Mastercam, it really pays to have alot of experience, knowing tricks and work-arounds. Ask to try Powermill 9, with that you can finally draw wireframe and machine from it, it is much simpler. Mastercam came from 2d and wireframe and grew up, Powermill started with complex surfacing and multi-axis and is getting simpler. If surface finish is very critical, Powermill has an advantage. I've done back to back tests with same toolpath type, stepovers, speeds, feeds, machine, alloy and the powermill algorithyms make a finer finish part. There is 1 exception, when I have a flat surface with a pocket and a fillet between, the old Mastercam 2D wireframe toolpath is the cat's a$$. Oh, Powermill costs more too. If you do molds, I would get Powermill, if you're a jobshop, I'd get Mastercam.

[dvaliket]

Oh, when I was purchasing cam software and choosing between the 2, it helped to talk to Axsys in Michigan, they sell both and are usually the top Mastercam and Powermill reseller in the US. I heard Vizion Technologies beat them last year for Powermill but you get the idea. Since they are a good dealer for both it was the closest I came to an unbiased reseller.