[SDK73]

Hello All,

I am curious, as to what the going price is for Mastercam. I'm looking to branch out of machining and start to get more into the CAD/CAM aspect of it. Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

[cadcam]

There are many option of MC and Levels so the best Idea it to get a quote from your local dealer. go to www.mastercam.com to find a dealer near you.

They will ask you what you want to do and help you with what level you need and cost.

[WASLYH]

if you want 2d milling (mastercamx) it is $5000 per seat...and it gets progressively more costly....up to about 12/15 k for 3d and lathes added in...
i am using the mastercamx 2d milling learn it book by valentino and goldenberg that comes with a disc that is really good/well explained with lots of examples....cant save the jobs though as it is a "student" version...i by pass this by drawing the exercises in autocad,save those and then import to mastercam to do the programming.....hope this helps...

[Mike Stevenson]

Sorry it is a huge secret what the cost is. Because blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, .......

[WASLYH]

yeah..i got that too but i am purchasing it for my business and all i need is the 2d milling(for now)so i really had to dig out the info from the local rep..."bare bones" 2d for milling is all i need but i still got some "flak" about cost...all in all it is a good setup for starting out....fyi, a lot of shops use catia and solidworks for design and import to master cam to machine...
all i need is autocad to do the 2d shape and then use the "3d" capability to look at my shape and then program the machining...

[Boots]

Entry level mastercam is $5,000.00 US. You will need a post processor to go with that unless one of their free generic ones will work. But if you are getting into writing programs for different machines just remember all machines are not created equal and you will most likley need a post for every machine you program for at the tune of about $500.00 US per post. It's not cheep because anything that can make you money will cost ya.

[WASLYH]

YUP...you are correct...if you're lucky(like me)and only need the generic and one specific(haas) it is possible to do a LOT of work....

[DareBee]

or you could get software that for less than 5g you get the Pro product with 4axis machining, over 50 posts, and free support/service packs.

[THend]

Who writes the posts? Mastercam or the machine folks? I have Mach 3, is there a MCX post for Mach 3? $500 for a post! I have Visual Mill Basic, and the post came from Mach3 folks.

[Mike Stevenson]

THend,

You can use the MPFAN post that comes with Mastercam with very little editing for free.

[g-codeguy]

$500 must be for a generic post requiring not too much editing from the standard post you get with the software. I believe the price for one to run our Fagor controlled lathes was quoted at $1200. The one for our Nakamura-Tome TW-20 was quoted at $2650 as they would have to farm out getting the post made. We will be doing without the Nakamura post, and haven't heard anything on the Fagor post for about 2 years, tho it was just brought to their (the dealer's) attention again a few months ago. Original guy who was supposed to be making the post moved on. Guess the ball got dropped.

[Mike Stevenson]

g-codeguy,

No, Mastercam comes with MPFAN and about 30 other posts for free NOT for $500. They only cost if you get a CUSTOMIZED post.

[cadcam]

Boots the cost you stated (Entry level mastercam is $5,000.00 US) if for a level not an entry seat.

[Boots]

You are right. The cheapest we could get Mastercam was $5,000.00. It is their "Entry Level" and it does come with several posts none of which we could use. We had to have one made and it cost $500.00 . We probably got a deal on the post because it was written by Thermwood, the makers of the machine we purchased. If you already have the machine and then get the software later the post might be pricy. But if you know Basic or C++ you can write your own posts or write some posts for some of the folks here and earn a little extra $$$ in the process. I have started to edit mine now to get the machine to run more efficently, park it's self away from home so the table can be swapped out for the next sheet, run consecutive programs without having to load each one, give estimates on cycle times, that sort of stuff.

[rickyt]

I bought Mill Level1 for 5k, solids add on for 1k, and price goes up from there. Mill level1 gets you solid toolpath verification, and other useful stuff. If you need to do simple surfacing toolpaths, I use the Wireframe toolpaths. Nice clean code with them, you can also use the trim toolpath with the wireframe paths and get code close close to the suface roughing toolpaths. That type of stuff is more involved, but can be done with level 1. You can also program a rotary indexer and tombstones one a horizontal with level1. The list goes on and on, just talk to you reseller and get a demo disk, or try to get a limited license so you can get actual seattime and usable code. If their serious about selling the software they will work with you.

You may want to test drive other cam systems as well, Featurecam has a stong following, Onecnc also has a lot of users, and they just released the new XR3, Ive heard good things about the XR3. Just don't limit your self to one brand, test drive and see what work the best for you and the way you think and program. There are somany good options on cam software it can make your head spin. That is a good thing though, competition helps drive product improvement and service after the sale. I bought Mastercam because I have used it for years and there was no learning cuve. It was a no brainer for me, I also have an excellent reseller and support network.

[Dr Pete]

For people just starting out Alibre gives you a nice 3D cad package and they just added Cam capability to the program.
You can get a free trial for 30 days & I believe the program will still run after that in express mode with the cam enabled.
Prices are not that steep, a very good contender to look at for package cad/cam.

[Mike Stevenson]

Dr Pete,

(wrong)

[chuckbuck]

I'm just getting started wiht this CNC. I have a thread going related to getting MasterCam to run on a Yasnac 300G. Does anyone know if MasterCam has a post for the Yasnac 3000G? Also do I need to go through the Greco MTIC or go straight to the Yasnac?

Thanks,
Chuck

[timmydabull]

we purchased mill level 3 with solids for $13,000 1350 for maintenance tax total bill $15000.

we are very happy withthe program.

[g-codeguy]

g-codeguy,

No, Mastercam comes with MPFAN and about 30 other posts for free NOT for $500. They only cost if you get a CUSTOMIZED post.

Sorry for not responding earlier, Mike. Will any of these posts run on a lathe without some modification? Wouldn't any editing qualify it as a custom post? We have our own way of setting up the headers. This alone requires every post to be edited. I've run MPFAN a few times. It might run okay, but I sure don't want a G28U0.W0.M05 at the end of every operation no matter the model of lathe (of ours) that it would be used on. Nor do we output the tool information before each operation. That goes in the header. Plus we have it in a different format. Don't need a G20 either. This is set by a parameter. These are just a few of the changes I would make to MPFAN.

You must have to ask for these 30 free posts as I don't recall nearly that many on v9, and only one default on X2. Tried downloading the free post for Fagor controls from the website when we were using v9. No way would it run on our Fagor controlled lathes. Thread cycle on our Fagors use G86 (yes I know they also use G87 for X-axis, but I've never used it) not G76 as the downloaded post output. Same for the other cycles. Mabe they've rewritten it since then.

I don't think our dealer charged us for some (any?) of the posts they helped us modify, but then I am only the programmer, and not privy to pricing charges. I only know the 2 prices I quoted as the plant manager made it my business to find out. My original comment WAS for customized posts. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

Our dealer has been great with helping us...no matter the problem. I've no complaints with their service.