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IndustryArena Forum > CAM Software > Uncategorised CAM Discussion > What is the best 3D CAM Software?

View Poll Results: What is the best 3D CAM software?

Voters
577. You may not vote on this poll
  • Catia

    85 14.73%
  • Cimatron

    37 6.41%
  • Esprit

    47 8.15%
  • Mastercam

    289 50.09%
  • One CNC

    49 8.49%
  • Surfcam

    70 12.13%
Page 26 of 27 1624252627
Results 501 to 520 of 522
  1. #501
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Posts
    14

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    WorkNC is Vero is Heidenhain

    - - - Updated - - -

    EdgeCAM is MW/MW is Heidenhain

  2. #502
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Posts
    14

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    Heidenhain.

  3. #503
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Posts
    424

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    I was referred to some aftermarket educational products for Mastercam by some Mastercam CAM programmers on a Facebook group. I don't believe these are official Mastercam products, but I was able to view some material from Streamingteacher.com, a product of an authorized reseller of Mastercam products. It took me 15 months with the product to get this information which is not at all ideal, but I do appreciate those end users helping me in that regard and I hope that will help. I paid for a subscription and watched a couple videos last night and they were very promising. I was also recommended caminstructor.com (a resource I e-mailed a question to and received no response from in the past), but as a result of the referral I purchased books from caminstructor.com. Those included a 2018 home edition download, so I can run simple tests at home when I'm not being bothered by people here at work. I wouldn't move my dongle from work, I don't want to flirt with losing it because there was some ominous warning about the serious nature of a dongle loss.

    It was interesting to hear that programmers generally believed making the software easier would make it less functional. There are a couple major improves that would seem logical for simplifying mastercam programming without removing any functionality.

    Simple communication with the end user, like a download link also being accompanied by a read me instruction, or a critical message like "Swarf milling is not supported by Mill turn" would save time and money for the customer. It seems sometimes that CNC software attempts to have a clean, minimalist, graphical appearance can cause the end user runs into an unnecessary need to call a re-seller for PDF support of a complex download integration for example. The less we lean on the re-seller, the faster they will be able to return a call.

    Bringing a question mark (actually descriptive help topic) into each dialog in the tool menus would be killer. I often deal with 5 linking parameters or some other often logical appearing pictogram based feature that I wish could tell me what it actually meant or a roll over pop out (IE: THIS PARAMETER CONTROLS THE MICRO RETRACT INCREMENTAL VALUE FOR RAPID POSITIONAL MOVES IN THE DYNAMIC MILLING OPERATION, TYPICAL INPUT = .005-.010") . Sometimes the logical settup doesn't produce logical motion which I read as I didn't properly decipher this image. Question marks on each page of a tool would be a patch for the software having hundreds of tools that work on different information input and different menus. It would be cool to know what each linking parameter in a given tool was actually manipulating rather than having to post operations several times to achieve a desired logical format. The variety in the software can give the newer user (or anyone without amazing recall) a feeling of being in a labyrinthine maze requiring impossible memory recall. I'm not an anchient Egyptian, or a cave person. Doing everything in unsupported hieroglyphics or symbols is sometimes not ideal.

    If lathe stock could auto populate 3D lathe stock and talk to mill tools, that would prevent the need to do stock depiction which is a confusing and unnecessary redundant obstacle to work. This would allow the new dynamic mill tool that uses stock and 3D part features to be quickly used. Mill turn has a feature that allows planes to auto generate or associate for milled features (AKA the software knows it is in a lathe and is somewhat capable of making code without being spoon fed extraneous settup information). That would be a feature that would be neat to bring to lathe, even if that was a $1000 priced "planes template" settup by corporate or the reseller to talk to that individual post. I have 6 axis lathes not supported by mill turn and a 5 axis mill, It would be cool if they could have an auto plane generation template (I'm only assuming planes are not fun to work with in the 5 axis mill either). There is a beauty to lathe, it is dirty and faster. You can post one operation if you want.

    The ultimate goal of CAM is to make difficult things easy. Strategies to accomplish that without removing control can be devised. If easy is a bad word, burn your CAM software and resume long hand programming.

    I just opened a Zero Clamp workholding box, to find a nice manual. I opened the 50 page or whatever manual with its laminated cover, and looked for one simple thing- I wanted to know what air fitting was used on this European clamping pot fixture and to see a description of using the clamping and unclamping feature because IMTS 2016 was a long time ago. I saw exploded diagrams of clamping pots, pages of crazy math calculations for rigidity and force, but no simple diagram of how to clamp the workholding. Maybe they should have had someone stupid write their manual for them? The machinist and I laughed, but neither of us currently know the answer to that.

  4. #504
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Posts
    74
    NX. Then Hypermill. Then Catia, then Delcam, then Edgecam, then gibbscam then mastercam.

  5. #505
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Posts
    2

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    Machining Strategist, 3D & 2D .Really easy to use.many with machining strategies . machine just a single surface by silhouetting its boundary It will just machine that one surface without gouging any other. boundaries can be just hand drawn about an area Been using it for 20 years now and its never had a crash. It may not be the most powerful that is something not easy to define. but it is the easiest and stable out of peps or Edgecam. Edgecam has 5 axis capability which strategist does not but at least it will keep within any boundary you define unlike Edgecam that has problems keeping in an area.

  6. #506
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Posts
    1

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    I just came around, I think that the best CAD programming for Pros is SolidWorks, and the main CAM programming is Mastercam, however Fusion 360 is arriving quick. Professionals need the product that performs best for somebody who is a specialist in utilizing the product. They need CAD that lets specialists make accuracy drawings quicker.
    DM me, if you dont agree with me.
    Currently working with customization in salesforce, with crm consulting app.

  7. #507

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    I just posted a link to a video series I did, and HSMWorks for SolidWorks came out best for me. SolidCAM was most capable but a little pricey. MasterCAM was hard to use, pricey, and they charge back maintenance like SolidWorks does. VIsualCAM by MecSoft was the best user interface, the easiest to learn and use, and had clear pricing on their website. I only considered programs that run inside my SolidWorks. When I tried the stand-alone VisualCAM, I thought I was in 1992 doing AutoCAD 12. It makes complete sense to use the same interface to do CAD and CAM.

    So your first question is: Standalone or add-in to a CAD program? Some companies don't want to buy SolidWorks thinking they can buy a stand-alone CAM like BobCAD or MasterCAM. I feel this is a mistake. Watch that BobCAD video where they do all kinds of grief trying to do 3D toolpaths over some holes in an imported IGES part. In SolidWorks it is trivial, you just move the rollback bar up so the holes in the surface disappear, or suppress the holes, then pop over to the CAM tree, do the toolpaths, and then you can restore the SolidWorks condition and keep doing your CAM. So then the question becomes the best CAM that has integrated CAD. For hobby types Fusion is hard to beat, it's free. But you have to keep your files in AutoDesk's server up in the cloud. I think AutoDesk inventor uses local files, and there is an HSM port as well as a SolidCAM port to it. There is always NX, which not only has great surfaces, but tightly integrates its CAD and CAM. Since I have used SolidWorks for 20 years, and have hundreds of parts already done, getting a CAM that worked inside SolidWorks was my choice.

    I found VisualCAM by MecSoft to be the easiest to learn, but it was unstable on my goofy 4-monitor laptop setup. They also have clear pricing and you can get decent 3D for $2500 bucks that includes a compare function on the simulator so you can see gouge and excess conditions color coded.

    I found MasterCAM to be extremely difficult to use. I disliked SolidWorks CAM by CAMWorks having three trees, a feature tree, an operation tree, and a tools tree. I never knew where I was and what tree did what. I did three parts and the CAMWorks automatic feature recognition never worked right. None of the automatic wizard stuff in any program seemed to work for me. The most capable program was SolidCAM, by a long shot. Thing is, it is five grand instead of 500 a year, and HSMWorks was good enough.

    I was also delighted that there is a Mach4 post for HSMWorks on the web, though the Mach3 post that comes inside the install would probably work as well.

  8. #508
    Join Date
    Feb 2021
    Posts
    1

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    Gibbs likes to say "simply powerful, powerfully simple" I agree with them. but you did not include them in your list? I just could not pass up the opportunity to say something good about them. It is obvious when cam developers do not have enough machining background to have the responsibility of creating the interfaces that makes your job unnecessarily complicated. maybe, take a poll on the cam software people dislike the most.

  9. #509

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    Best - for what purpose ???
    For Turning and turning+drilling+milling with MTM machine = EXAPT systems
    For Milling Moulds and Patterns = WorkNC
    For flame cutting = Nestix
    For robot milling CAM-software + RoboStudio
    --- JTS

  10. #510
    Join Date
    May 2021
    Posts
    1

    Re: This post is for you Mike.

    Quote Originally Posted by crazythunder View Post
    So I see Mike is stirring up trouble again.

    So you would like for me to prove it how, where, and when??? We do work for Boeing, Ge Aerospace, Fuji, Mitsubishi, Vought, Spirit, and about a half dozen other aerospace companies. Programs from 737 to 787, Apache, Osprey, and other Programs from Top secret to experimental to everyday commercial. Materials Range from O Condition Alum to Titanium Weldments.

    Machines I have programmed using Mastercam.

    SNK 3 spindle 5 axis 230' x 160" gantry.SNK 6 axis Horizontal SNK HPS-4B, profiler, 5 axis SNK Vertical Profiler FSP120V, SNK Vertical/Horizontal 5 face RB-4VM and RB-2NM, Mitsui-Seiki HU63A-5X 5 axis Horizontal Trunnion, Cincinnati 3 spindle Double Gantry 100' x 120" 5 axis profiler, Hitachi Seiki Horizontals Ranging from 400mm 40 pallet FMS to 1000mm all with either 4 axis indexing or full 4 axis milling, Hitachi Seiki Hi-Cell 4 axis Mill/Turn, Hitachi Seiki Verticals 3 to 4 axis, 3 axis Komo Routers, 5 axis Thermwood Routers, 3,4,5 axis Haas Vertical Mills, 3,4,5 axis Fadal Vertical Mills. 2,3,4 Axis Mazak Slant Bed Lathes with C & Y axis and Dual Spindles. Horizontal Integrex E410-HS What some would consider 9 axis I only Consider 5 axis Mill/Turn, Okuma 2,4 Axis up to Dual Turret Lathes, Yama Seiki 4 axis Vertical, Mighty 4 axis Vertical, Viper Lather 30"swing 72" between Centers, Mazak Vertical Mills 3,4 axis. Those are some of the machine I can think of off the top of my head that I have or are programming. I have programmed Mori's, Kitamura's, Maho's, Sodick Wire, and even made part programs for Swiss Screw Machines. I have in the last 6 months developed my own SYNC method inside of Mastercam for pinch turning and pinch milling using Cantext as my wait code driver. I help people all over the world with Mastercam problems; free of charge and do what I can to better this Industry.

    Does Mastercam have faults yes!! Is there any software that does not and is so perfect it puts all programmers out of jobs?? Mike you like to stir up trouble and I applicate your response in the Employment thread, however hashing up a comment from some time ago just to twitch swords accomplishes what exactly? You think I am full of it fine, send me any part you think I can not handle and pay me for my time and I will show you I know what I am talking about if not keep talking out of both side of your mouth. Thanks Rekd for pointing that out. You use Mastercam and are fast at it, yet if anyone else makes that claim we are to be doubted?? I have no reason to lie, my bread and butter comes from Mastercam, I make a very good salary, with awesome benefits and get to work from home 2 days a week thanks to the grace of God for giving me the ability has has given me to understand machining, computers, and manufacturing. You got a problem with that take it up with God.
    have MASTERCAM SNK RB-MII POST?

  11. #511

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    Arbeitet seit 7 Jahren an SolidCam.

    Ich habe HyperMill jetzt seit ein paar Monaten und es scheint das bessere Programm zu sein

  12. #512

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    Has been working on SolidCam for 7 years.

    I have had HyperMill for a few months now and it seems like the better program

  13. #513
    Join Date
    Nov 2021
    Posts
    1

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    Free Cam is best for editing

  14. #514
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Posts
    3

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    Cimatron is by far the all around winner but it’s very pricey. I’ve been using it for 25 years and they’re progressive and stay ahead of the competition. I also use Solidworks and Camworks on a daily basis and have grown to really appreciate the feature recognition. They have come a long way in the last 5 years with their 3-d routines. I’ve been playing around with Mastercam lately and it seems pretty archaic.
    I’m a journeyman mold maker and have been using 3-d Cad/cam software since 1987, so I’ve been around the block.

  15. #515
    Join Date
    Apr 2022
    Posts
    1

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    Fusion360.
    SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD.
    Solid Edge CAM Pro.
    GibbsCAM.
    AutoCAD.

  16. #516
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Posts
    18

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    To cut 2D parts or project toolpaths as 2.5D or even generate G-Code for 3D Bas Reliefs I think TYPE CAM is among the most advanced solutions.
    https://www.type-edit.com/cam/

  17. #517
    Join Date
    May 2022
    Posts
    8

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    please help me , i need post processor for citizen cincom m32 to machining in esprit pleas urgently

  18. #518
    Join Date
    May 2022
    Posts
    1

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    MasterCam is Best.

  19. #519
    Join Date
    May 2022
    Posts
    4

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    No votes for Revit?

  20. #520
    Join Date
    Jul 2022
    Posts
    3

    Re: What is the best 3D CAM Software?

    Cimatrone

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