[bmwjoe]

Hi,

I am a complete newbie at CAM software. I have an R&D shop with two very experienced machinists that have been making great parts for me with a manual Hardinge lathe and a Bridgeport EZ track mill. I just took delivery of a Haas TM-1P mill and ST-10 lathe. I was thinking that we could do the programming conversationally, but that will not quite cut it for the mill.

Our products are not too complicated from a machining standpoint. They are blocks with holes and threads, valve seats and solenoid stems etc. There is no complicated surfacing. The design work is done on SolidWorks and NX (mostly SolidWorks). We already have solid models for all of the parts. the machinists know some G-code and we have a few guys that write code directly for production parts.

I want CAM software that I can run from the SolidWorks environment and not too hard to learn. Esprit may do the trick, but it sounds like it is cheap to buy, but lacks support. From researching the Haas and SolidWorks websites I fond that:

Mastercam
Gibbs CAM
BobCad-Cam

May also do the trick. Will Esprit work for me? Any pros or cons on any of the above packages? Suggestions welcome.

Cheers,

Joe

[underthetire]

Esprit is great software, but may be way more than you need. Esprit is probably the best at 3d stuff, but may be way to complicated for what your doing. We have both esprit and Mastercam. Mastercam has its own problems, but seems to be preferred for 2.5 d parts. They use solid works files and import them in Mastercam and have a program in no time.

[dimoko]

Joe, i would take a look at Camworks, it might be cheaper for you than Esprit and it is built into the solidworks environment.

[Tolyatti]

Joe, This is long after your posting, so you've probably already made your decision, but I would agree that Esprit is probably far beyond your needs. (BTW, in my experience, there is plenty of good support for Esprit.) I've also used Surfcam, Gibbscam and Mastercam. If I were you, I'd look at a 2-1/2D seat of Gibbscam. I have never understood the enthusiasm for Mastercam, but each to his own. For painless geometry selection on prismatic parts, I don't think you can beat Gibbscam for simplicity and speed.