[stooley]

We are getting a new Makino 3+2 axis machine in the very near future. What do people recommend for cam software for five axis? Trying to get the most bang for our buck. We are a Mold shop. Presently we have Mastercam Software. Just want to know what people think ease of use as well as problems they have had with there cam software. Let me know all input is very welcome.

Scott

[awerby]

Take a look at VisualCADCAM Mill Premium, from Mecsoft. It's quite intuitive, comes with good support, and we offer a discount as well. One of the things you'll need is a post-processor that takes the specific kinematics of your machine into account so the toolpaths are translated into accurate motions at the tooltip. Most software companies charge a lot for that; Mecsoft includes it with the price of their software.

Andrew Werby
computersculpture.com

[headscraper]

Products | Vero Software

[Zoprano]

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[warrenb]

What kind of mold shop? Do you design your own molds? Do you ever change existing molds? Are you a job shop?

If you are a job shop that just cuts molds someone else designed stick with Mastercam because you have it and it is easy to find people that know MC.

If you are a mold shop that designs and builds the molds stick with a plug in that runs inside your design software (Solidworks with (SolidCAM, camworks, hsmworks MasterCAM for SW etc) ) to maintain design associativity and CNC "knowledge" and have your designs all linked together.