[kgiessler]

Hi All,

I'm a high school teacher in Hanover, MA. Right now my co-teacher and I are looking for some advice because we are getting hung up in getting our new Tormach PCNC 1100 up and running completely. Basically, there are so many options in CAM software, we don't know where to start or what exactly to be looking for.

A little bit about our program: We are an academic high school that has a progressive (for education) engineering program. We have a design lab that uses Solidworks, and this summer we were fortunate enough to get a Tormach PCNC mill, with the rotary 4th axis.

We plan on using it for making robots, molds/casts (just for instructional purposes), electronics projects, promotional items/engravings, and whatever comes up. The 4th axis is key as we don't have a very good lathe in the school.

Right now we are trying to figure out what CAM software should be the missing link in our system. We have and know Solidworks well, and the Tormach came with Mach3 controller software. Other than that, we are not sure what direction to take.

Our assumption is that the Mach 3 software is the only software that should be used to control the mill, is that correct? And, if we choose the proper CAM software, we can avoid having to use a post processor, correct?

If anyone has any recommendations for our setup, or any advice at all, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Kurt

[squale]

have you found any CAM software yet? I am looking into doing the same thing.. although I have Solidworks 2008 and GibbsCAM 2007 which works great IF you have a post for your CNC controller. I can't find any CAM software that will post to a Mach3 software controller..

[harley4ever]

Try dolphin cad cam. I use mach 3 myself and the post processors are built directly in.

[DareBee]

VisualMill has a PP for Mach and is 4 axis capable.

[squale]

so visualmill and dolphin are the ONLY 2 out there that have post processors for Mach3?

[miljnor]

No.

but they are the cheaper ones..

I use Gibbscam and posts work quite well from that to mach3.

although if you teaching kids to work in the Job market, your doing them a disservice by teaching a Non-standard cad package....

I would talk to Master cam people they supply school grade versions of their software and I wouldn't think they would charge anything for it. As it predisposes people to use it.

Other big name cadcam manufacturers might be willing to do the same....ie Gibbs, surfcam, pro-e, etc....

[squale]

are you saying that GibbsCAM is non-standard in the job market? I find a lot of shops are using GibbsCAM..

do you have a Post for GibbsCAM to get into Mach3 software? I have a bunch of GibbsCAM posts but not one for Mach3.

Thanks!

[miljnor]

No....i ment the dolphin cam lazy cam ........those kinda products are non-standard


I love my gibbscam and it is a good product....although maybe not as widely used as Mastercam....but a great product none the less.


I dont know if gibbs has a deal for schools though. And i know master cam does

[JerryFlyGuy]

There are several CAM programs out there which will post to Mach3, some have a Post which is specifically for M3, some don't. OnceCNC also has a post for M3. I've had great luck just using a standard Fanuc post.. never have to re-do or hand edit any code.. [so far anyway]..

Most likely one of the cheaper solutions will work for you, Visualmill, Dolphin, Onecnc but my favorite is probably SolidCAM. It runs right inside solidworks.. however it's not on the cheaper end of the scale.. however for educational purposes.. I'm sure you'd get a hefty discount..

[daoneua]

I use Mastercam X, it's work very well for me.

[squale]

Is Solidcam as easy to use as GibbsCAM? does solidcam include post processsors for Centroid controls?

[JerryFlyGuy]

I guess it's all what your used to. I've never run Gibbs, but from vid's I've seen of it.. I'd say yes it is.. but then I'm an old school Solidworks user.. and am pretty confortable in the interface.. others may feel different.

Output to a centroid should be no problem. We have a centroid at work which I program all day [not w/ SolidCAM] and the code froma Fanuc post would work/run easily as well..

[miljnor]

I use solidworks too and that's not one of the programs I was lumping in as non-standard....but solidworks doesn't produce g-code.

there are several vendors that produce addons that generate g-code from solidworks...but again these change with the weather and maybe aren't the best to teach for long term in a school.

And I'm in no way casting dispersions on any of the cad software out there....just commenting on marketability of the methods

[miljnor]

Oh.....and the post processor for gibbs i use i believe is a VERSION for HAAS that i had made when i got Gibbs......it produces all the necessary g-code for mach....it may not be perfect but I have had NO problems with it so far.


if your still interested in it after this post PM me again and I will tell you more about it.

[kgiessler]

So, I've learned a bit since that post.

The first thing is that the Art Soft site has links to post processors
http://www.machsupport.com/posts.php

The other thing I learned is that Mastercam (who has good educational discounts) will be putting out a product they call "Mastercam in Solidworks" which will use SW as the modeler and integrate a plugin into SW that generates tool paths for mills. Its sounds like what we are looking for, so I'm going to wait for (and continue to learn the wizards) until I can learn what it will offer.

[squale]

I wonder why Solidworks never built CAM themselves into their product, sorta like how Pro/E has both

[miljnor]

mastercam and solid works might be a good mix.....the only problem i have with SW plug ins is that they are prone to falling out and then no suport

[squale]

what cnc machines are you using Solidworks to Gibbs to Mach3 for? I am looking at doing the same exact setup going to a Taig CNC mill for teaching entry level cnc machining..

this way when it's time to step up to the larger VMC's... basically the process is the same with the exception of using a different post processor for whatever control you have on the machine.. ie.. Fanuc, Fadal, etc.

mastercam and solid works might be a good mix.....the only problem i have with SW plug ins is that they are prone to falling out and then no suport

[JerryFlyGuy]

mastercam and solid works might be a good mix.....the only problem i have with SW plug ins is that they are prone to falling out and then no suport

Really? Miljor... you have a documented experiance of this happening?

[miljnor]

yes!

surfcam was one that made there stuff native with SW. for a very short while.

I got a package to try out so it wasn't as though i spent money on it.

But still after you start learning stuff, its a bummer to have to go somewhere else to find something to use. And you know how it is......once you learn something (even a little) your always looking for something else that's similar in form and function.


I believe the tech-soft people had same issue, although I don't have experience with that....that's from a friend that used that combo.

And its an assumption (I know), that if Mastercam is getting in bed with SW then the old partnership is Kaput.

If this is erroneous I apologize, as The folks at SW make an awesome product, it just doesn't have any native machining component (that I am aware of).

I've never cared for Mastercam, but the last time I've looked at MC, was 9.xxx something and it was DOS based menu driven mess. But very functional.