Best CAM for Mori 5-axis?

[Togliatti]

Our company just purchased a Mori-Seiki NT1000, which came preloaded with Esprit. None of us has experience with Esprit. I have experience with Surfcam and Gibbscam, and one other guy in the shop uses Mastercam. We recently had a demo of Partmaker, but when I asked to see full 3-axis motion, he showed us 2-axis motion: C and X. I'm not concluding anything from that about Partmaker, only that the guy doing the demo didn't understand my request.
My question: what are 5-axis mill-turn people using for CAM software? Any description of likes/dislikes would be appreciated.
Thanks.

[underthetire]

Why not learn Esprit? You already have it on the machine, and one computer seat of it, and the solid models of the machine pre-loaded.

We use both. Mastercam on the mills, Esprit on the EDMs

[Paulo E.]

I happen to use Esprit for mostly 5 axis milling and 2 axis lathe work.
The program its incredibly powerful and up to the task to do 5 axis continous machining and some nifty things with mill/turns.
On the down side, there is hardly any information on the software out there.
A couple of books if that and some video tutorials from CamWizard (look them up) other than that, you're force to their training in one of the approved facilities. The other down side is that having a limited user base, the post and user info is hard to come by.

On the plus side, the customer support is fenomenal and to go from machine to machine or to change from a lathe to a mill to an edm its the same interface, the program is somewhat cumbersome in the begining but once you get the hang of it LOOK OUT!!!!! =^_^=

Hope this help

[billcain]

Hello Togliatti,
I work here at PartMaker. I am not sure who Demo'ed you but I assure you we have an excellent solution for any Mori Seiki machine. I am the Post Development Leader here and work directly with the Manufactures like Mori. I am currently working with Maruka(New Jersey Mori Dealer) to help Program a Turn Key part as well.

I know Mori's come with Esprit. I am not saying anything bad about that but quite a few of our customers switch from Esprit to PartMaker for it's Multi-axis capibilities and ease of use.

Please let me know if there is something you would like to see that you did not see in the Demo.


wcain@partmaker.com

[Brandon@HPMS]

I have extensive experience with mastercam and Mazak integrex mkiv and e-series integrex machines. Mori seiki machines would be no different.

I program parts over 12 hour cycle times, hundreds of toolpaths, weighing a couple thousand pounds. Works great, good support. I hear a lot of people talk bad about mastercam, but I can assure you they do not know it well enough if they say it can't do something. I know it works well.

[jsinykin]

I have made a good post for the Mori NT and NL. I know at least 6 different people using mastercam with good success. PS the New X6 works awesome for park pick up and transfer using the new pick-part addition.

[Paulo E.]

I guess no one wants to talk about the obvious...... Sure partmaker is great and so is mastercam, now do you want to drop another 20k for having a different cam program???? If money is not an issue then go with whatever seems simple to you. Any cam manufacturer will work with you and get you a post processor to earn your business, the question is do you need a different cam system and does it justify the cost?

Another thing is to ask if the cam package you purchase will be a true 5 axis continous machining, some companies used to do 5 axis positioning. Not sure now.

Just saying............

[Togliatti]

Of the 3 demos we had at our company, the consensus among 3 of us-one current programmer, and 2 former programmers, is that Esprit is the winner. Not only is it preloaded on our machine anyway, it also comes with an excellent machine sim package. The learning curve looks steep, but our impression is that in the long run, the effort involved in training will pay off.

Thanks very much to all for your input.

[Alan L]

indexing or simultaneous motion ... the game changes rapidly

some interesting reading
Aerospace Manufacturing and Design - October 2011