[Foodnetwork]

So, in looking around, it seems that MasterCAM will likely be the winner of this poll, but I'm trying to compare/contrast the differences between MasterCAM, GibbsCAM, and SurfCAM. Seems like the people I talk to that use SurfCAM like it a lot, but they're few and far between. MasterCAM does seem like the obvious choice, but it the higher cost really worth it? Anyone have any experience with using multiple of these options, or just able to easily point out the differences?

[pimpbike]

LOL I wonder how long until the crap starts flying and this poll gets deleted. I guess It will depend if mastercam is losing or not... LOL

[irlizzard]

i find gibbs much easier to use. mastercam has too many places to enter the same information. Gibbs is very simple but powerful. the nock on gibbs is that it makes the simple things hard and the hard things simple and i find that to be true.

[jvangelder]

I had a mastercam and a gibbscam demo in december of last year. Gibbs seemed much smoother of a work flow. We ended up buying 2 seats of gibbs.

Ive been using bobcad v23 for a few years, after a week of skimming manuals and reading online i just switched 100% to gibbs, transition was much easier than i expected

I dont have any hands on experience with mastercam, however i can say that gibbs is a nice product.

Mastercam and gibbscam's prices were pretty much the same fyi, i had quotes for 3d, 4th axis, volumill, soilds etc

-Jacob

[Freddy Bastard]

I agree, Mastercam is a little more complex, but it's a lot more complete. There's nothing you can't do with Mastercam. I've used Surfcam in the past and it's not bad at all but a step under Mastercam. Gibbs? I've see it in some shop but it looked very basic. Good for newby.

[miljnor]

all of them can do all of the stuff, I've used all three. I have gibbs in my shop now as I liked the interface better. But other than that I think its what your preference is. I can make complaints about them all (but who would listen)

[Spinnetti]

I'd like cam that's just cam. Most of these are like microsoft. They try to be all things to all people instead of doing less, but better. I'd like a simple, fast cam for the stuff I do most. which is really just 2.5d, but with 4th axis as I machine 4 sides typically.

[datac]

I'd like cam that's just cam. Most of these are like microsoft. They try to be all things to all people instead of doing less, but better. I'd like a simple, fast cam for the stuff I do most. which is really just 2.5d, but with 4th axis as I machine 4 sides typically.

There is a LOT to be said about this..... many years ago I was a user of two of these exact products. For various reason's, It came to a point where document management became a little more "open", "available", "shareable", etc, if I kept the drawings in a separate Cad platform entirely. Frankly, and I guess more to the point, I started to DRAW everything in drawing programs I really ENJOYED using rather than always being locked into the lagging dev cycles of the combo Cad/Cam providers. I realize that some of this has changed now that certain patents have expired and much better drawing tools and aids have finally been applied in the three programs discussed.

But I also got tired of "playing the game"... "upgrades" to patch their own bugs, "maintenance" agreements to keep it (what we understood as) "financially manageable" to get newer methods, DONGLES ! Do I need to mention Dongles! and hard locks! to keep watch over so that you didn't come in on a Monday and wonder which employee was not being exactly honest with you ?..... Its some game, that's for sure !

Even now, all our drawings are just in the Cad we like to use and imported to whatever Cam we select for the project. Granted, we do not have much for sophisticated work. If by chance a purchaser is looking at one of these for just some 2.5D work, I would have to wonder why bother.

While it is always an additional step to make a change here and there, there is no doubt that it is less costly, especially if you have multiple people drawing.... no need to have more "seats" this way and when newbies are allowed to at least come in and use something they are familiar with in Cad.... we get more done.

[jvangelder]

I understand the dongle issue. We are going to have our dongles mounted inside the PC to eliminate the ease 'borrowing' the dongles, obviously its not a 100% fix but its something.

As far as Cam that's just cam, id agree with you if there was a great, universal, native 3d format that i could open in any 3d cad/cam software that didn't require some sort of cleaning up

-Jacob

[reno510]

I have used both Surfcam and Mastercam for many years now. Surfcam definatly had advantages over Mastercam, untill.................... Mastercam X came out. Now there is no question in my mind, Mastercam is better. Not only because of full solids package, but because of support as well.

I had a horrible experience with Surfcam support. When i started this job they were using Surfcam. And there were serious issues with the thermwood 5 axis post processor. Basically the head would rewind in the middle of a cut and crash the machine into the fixtures. So i went about fixing this problem right away. Called tech support and asked them to "tweak our post" for us so that we would not have to pour over thousands of line of code to find the "bad" code. Thier reply was that the post was sighned off on and they would charge us again for the post issues. So then i got my Plant manager involved, and he was able to get them to "fix" the post. And after one month we had a modified pos processor. Needless to say it still wasnt perfect, and we were always making time consuming edits to the programs.

So after banging my head on the wall for the first few months at this job, I decided to demonstrate the capabilities of mastetrcam x2. Showed them the solids package and the time savings involved with importing solids, and they were sold. Two weeks later i had Mastercam x5 with solids, and am now using Mastercam x6-64, and I love it. Not to mention that Cad Cam Consulting services has been more than helpfull with post issues for all of our machines.

So the bottom line is that unless Surfcam comes out with a full solids package, there is no question what software is better. And as support goes Mastercam is tops!

Hope this helps

[Steve Seebold]

So, in looking around, it seems that MasterCAM will likely be the winner of this poll, but I'm trying to compare/contrast the differences between MasterCAM, GibbsCAM, and SurfCAM. Seems like the people I talk to that use SurfCAM like it a lot, but they're few and far between. MasterCAM does seem like the obvious choice, but it the higher cost really worth it? Anyone have any experience with using multiple of these options, or just able to easily point out the differences?

I have no experience with Mastercam or Surfcam, but I have been a GibbsCam user for about 13 years.

After getting demo's from several, I went with GibbsCam because it would do the same thing Mastercam would do, but with 1/3 fewer key strokes.

My brother is a BobCrap user, and he swears by it. He gave me a demy once, and all I can say is "WHAT A PIECE OF CRAP".

[reno510]

when did you demo mastercam? How many years ago was this?

Have you tried mastercam x, any version?

Mastercam 9 was cumbersome and sometimes just plain would not work. That is why surfcam gained popularity.

Now with mastercam x6-64 it blows surfcam and gibs out of the water!

I was never impressed with gibbs at all, always seemed kinda cheesey. But i have not tried it since mastercam 9 was out. Perhapse it has changed, my boss swears by it.

[Jerseycnc]

Adding my 2 cents they all have their advantages

I first started out with Gibbs 4.3 back in '94 and it worked for me at the time. When they left the mac platform and went to windows base (virtual Gibbs) I was stuck to update or change platforms. So I changed I went with Surfcam and that did the job-was doing 5axis. I decided to try Mastercam X when it first came out--OK. The training and learning for that was when I was in college and took beginning and advanced courses and applied it. I feel as programmers we adapt and make it work. One software I Left out was Powermill- Wow. 5 axis work Great. 2axis work not 2 good- and was with that for 2 years writing 35-40 programs a month.

Jerseycnc

[Steve Seebold]

when did you demo mastercam? How many years ago was this?

Have you tried mastercam x, any version?

Mastercam 9 was cumbersome and sometimes just plain would not work. That is why surfcam gained popularity.

Now with mastercam x6-64 it blows surfcam and gibs out of the water!

I was never impressed with gibbs at all, always seemed kinda cheesey. But i have not tried it since mastercam 9 was out. Perhapse it has changed, my boss swears by it.

I got my Mastercam demo right after V7.0 came out. I'm sure it has improved a lot since then, but I'm supposed to be retired now, so what I have does everything I need it to do. I let my maintenance lapse in 2001, so for me to get a current version, it will be about the same price as a new seat.

When I bought my first seat Gibbs, it was on a Mac and all it would do is lines, No solids. Then I upgraded to V6.0 and started to learn how to use solids. THAT changed my life.

[Jerseycnc]

Couple of the colleges in my area offered CNC programming and Mastercam was in their program So I took it. It was OK
Then Did some piece work for a company using theirs (Mastercam X) ... later..it worked


jerseycnc

[sld4121]

Here is my two cents worth.
Since you did not say what type of work you do, it may be a bit impossible to say which software is better for you. Regardless of what your poll says.
Have all three of them demo YOUR work on your parts.
Anyone worth their salt can make their own "canned demos" look like it is the best thing since sliced bread. See how intuitive the software is when they have to think a little.
BTW - I have used all three at one time or another in my career.

[Steve Seebold]

Have all three of them demo YOUR work on your parts.
Anyone worth their salt can make their own "canned demos" look like it is the best thing since sliced bread. See how intuitive the software is when they have to think a little.
BTW - I have used all three at one time or another in my career.

That's exactly what I did. I swiped a drawing from the place where I was working and had the sales person stand behind me and tell me which buttons to press. I felt I couldn't get a good demo even if the sales person drew my part.:violin:

[Jerseycnc]

I did stair work. Look they all have their plus and minus benifits I think it depends on you. My friend swears by Gibbs and does areospace work. My other friend does race car work and swear by Guess who - Mastercam.
It gets crazy. I feel if you apply yourself to that particular software you'll make it work.
I was making hulls for a 80 ft yachts using powermill made it work. Its up to you
When I worked for someone I had no choice on what software was used just theirs.

Jerseycnc

[camarillojohn]

I guess the question should be "How many use the various CAM software.
I took the class in community college and like Mastercam a lot. Perhaps Surf cam has its own good points as the other software do.

I find Mastercam very flexible, and easy to use very intuitive. still a lot to learn.
My two cents is stay with what you started with and learn it well.

[Jerseycnc]

I guess this saying is true " A jack of all trades and an ace at none".
I agree stay what what you have. Lets face it if you work for a company its their choice of software. When I used varies cam software I found over time not too compare but to work with it, tech support - help files etc.

JC