[dent424]

Hi! So as the title suggests, I'm looking for a CAM package for my shop.

Here's a little background. We are a job shop that (I believe) is woefully behind in terms of technology but are trying to catch up. One of the things that we are interested in is using CAD/CAM with our machine centers. At the moment, one of our milling machines is programmed with straight G-code and the other uses Mori Seiki's conversational programming interface (which is terrible). Also, at the moment we would only need 2.5d CAM capabilities.

One of the caveats is that our shop is in Japan. The reason this is significant is because computer literacy is quite low for people in machining (strange I know!) and so I'm somewhat worried that starting out with a high end program (like mastercam or esprit), as its capabilities would just go to waste for some time.

As far as CAD goes, we've tested out several and are probably going to go with SolidWorks, but we're a little lost as far as CAM goes. Does it make sense to start with a somewhat lower end program (like VisualMill) and trade up later, or would starting out with something midlevel (like SolidCam) or even high level (like Esprit, Mastercam) make sense?

Whatever the case, what are good CAM packages that would fit this situation? Ideally we would start out with something less expensive, but I also understand that sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and go for it.

Any advice would be great.

[greggv]

You can get HSMExpress that works with Solidworks for free. Seems like a decent program. Autodesk (AutoCAD) owns them.

[dent424]

Thanks. That does look like a good package. Do you know how post processors work with this?

[wwendorf]

Another good package is DolphinCadCam. Their milling software can be learned with about an hour and 3 videos that they have available. It's only 2.5d and doesn't integrate with solid works, but all you do is export a DXF, read it in, add NC contours, then go to the milling module.

Don't know anything about HSM Express, but it might be a good choice too.

Wade

[cygnus x-1]

If you go with Solidworks for CAD you should really check out HSMXpress. It's fantastic for 2.5D work and is totally free (For real! I've been using it for about 1.5 years now.) You can always upgrade to the full HSMWorks later for 3/4/5 axis capability. The integration with SW is incredibly streamlined and it truly does feel like an extension of SW and not just a separate program in a SW window. It's also unique in that the developers are involved in the support forum and actually respond directly to issues and feature requests. Of course it's not open source software but at times it almost feels that way.

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[dent424]

Thanks. HSMXpress really does look great. I do have a quick question. How does it deal with post processors? I know that a lot of CAM providers charge a fee to set up a post processor for your machine - at least from my understanding. Does it just mean that you have to do that on your own?

[cygnus x-1]

Thanks. HSMXpress really does look great. I do have a quick question. How does it deal with post processors? I know that a lot of CAM providers charge a fee to set up a post processor for your machine - at least from my understanding. Does it just mean that you have to do that on your own?

The HSMW post processors are written in Javascript so anyone with even a small amount of programming skill could edit them. They have a pretty good selection of *stock* post processors for many of the common machines out there and many times they will work just fine with no modification. If you do need to modify a PP you can either do it yourself or get help from your local reseller (or from the many helpful users on the HSMWorks forum). And as far as I know the resellers don't charge for post modifications.

What make/model are your machines?

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[dent424]

The one that I would be trying first is a Mori Seiki NVXII 5060. I'm glad to hear that their post processors are written in Javascript! I do have a little programming experience so hopefully if necessary I would be able to figure things out.

[cygnus x-1]

The one that I would be trying first is a Mori Seiki NVXII 5060. I'm glad to hear that their post processors are written in Javascript! I do have a little programming experience so hopefully if necessary I would be able to figure things out.

Ok. I'm not familiar with those but I know there are people using HSMWorks with Moris so I'm sure there is something available.


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