Hello everyone. Up until now, I have been doing basic 2d designs on an older version of cadkey I bought several years ago. When I needed to have molds made with involved 3d features, I was subcontracting the mold builds out, even though I had the necessary machinery. I was just shy about learning the 3d stuff.
The prices from my subs have been on the rise, and as 3d becomes more and more polular, I find myself building fewer and fewer molds in house. I can't afford to keep feeding my subs, and have my machinery sit idle.
My main subcontractor uses Cimatron. My first thought was to just purchase Cimatron and bring the work back in house. That was until I got the quotes. As a 1 man shop, there is no way I can afford $17K for Cimatron cad and another $18 for the cam.
That brings me to looking at Solidworks. Many of my customers use it for design already. My question is, does anyone here use it for mold design? I have been doing a lot of reading and they say it will calculate parting lines and such for you, and well as seperate core from cavity, but does it really work? Or is it a feature that will take me years to learn?
Also, I intend to look into a package deal with both SW's and Solidcam. I need to do some research on Solidcam as well, so if you have any imput on that with 3d work, I would appreciate that as well.
Thank you all in advance for your time.
Jay