Cam software opinions.

[chrisryn]

The company I work for finally decided to let me program with cam instead of pencil and paper. We have reviewed and demoed most of the cam software out there. I am a mastercam user but am trying to keep an open mind. Thought I would get the opinion of the masses. So vote and if you have time give reasons why that software.

[xs-speed]

SmartCam is back and I recently went through a demo period with the latest version of milling and turning. As a former SC user I was making good programs from the start.

[jbird68]

We purchase ESPRIT back in 2006 for our Leadwell CNC Lathe. We looked at others too, but went with ESPRIT based on it's simulation capability. It took a little while to get our Post Processor correct, though. If we were looking at using the CAM for a CNC Mill, we probably would have gone with Surfcam with TrueMill. SurfCam also includes SolidWorks PDO(Parts Design Only), which allows you to create solid modeled parts within the SurfCam software. Come to think of it, I wish I had SurfCam now because after we purchased ESPRIT we bought SolidWorks the next year. But ESPRIT will take in a SolidWorks .sldprt file.

[albyrne]

I have been using MasterCam For the last 5years, It like Autocad just gets better every year, more intuitve. Have used the demos from other companies, BobCad, Rhino, etc., but I still prefer MasterCam to setup My
Router files and AutoCad to Design the parts.

Alfred Byrne
Design Engineer
Mar-Lan Industries, Inc.

[chrisryn]

We'll after much deliberation its come down to edgecam and mastercam. We'll have to see who can cut the best price.

[JROM]

The numbers don't lie.
Mastercam has over 235'000 seats world wide.
I've used alot of different systems over the years and as of now I would take Mastercam over anything else for 2.5 and 3 axis on up to 5 axis tool paths.
The user base is so big that you almost can't stump them on anything. If you have a problem chances are someone else has already figured it out and your software supplyer has axcess to all that data. Ask the mastercam folks to show you the C-hook files. These are macros that do very specific operations.
And there are hundreds of them. They solve alot of tasks that would take you alot of time if you started from scratch. Good luck

[jason25]

I have been using MasterCAM since version 8 and am now on X2, I use MasterCAM for everything from design to programming our Heian's, CMS boring machine, and another in-house machine.

[mastercam9user]

Mastercam... have used 7.2 to 9.2.. looked at bobcam, i got lost... could not even figure out how to draw a line (LOL), and i am good with computers and cad. have not looked into other software, but mastercam to me is pretty easy to use and understand..

[kritic]

We use Featurecam which is now owned by Dellcam. I like it a lot. Am a former Surfcam user.

[nabil_elbadri]

Originally Posted by chrisryn The company I work for finally decided to let me program with cam instead of pencil and paper. We have reviewed and demoed most of the cam software out there. I am a mastercam user but am trying to keep an open mind. Thought I would get the opinion of the masses. So vote and if you have time give reasons why that software.

i have been working with mastercam for 4 years and i consider it as the best (CAM) software because of it's flexibility in preparing machining stratigies

[Rekd]

I've made a living using all those listed and then some.

Mastercam hands down is the best and most versatile for all the types of programming I do. Gibbs is a distant second.

[bbrreid]

Featurecam quickest and easiest to use even for estimating jobs
mastercam I had a look at and found it too long and drawn out for for quick simple programs