[ADRIANB]

During the last few months my company has been investigating the purchase of a cad/cam system for the generation of nc data for machine tools.

Most of our client drawings are now being supplied in dxf, iges or catia format. we are thinking of purchasing two cnc machines, these are the Puma 230 MS 3 - 4 axis turning machine and the Bridgeport cnc milling machine for 2.5D work.

Obviously we would require the software for both of these machines to be supplied by the same company. Our main priority is the turning software but we would also require the software to perform relatively simple 2.5D milling work.

Can anybody advise me of software suppliers that may be able to assist? the company has a budget of 10 - 15k and I need to get quotes from at least 5 suppliers.


Thanks
Ade

[TAB]

Well the good news is that your budget is right. I would recommend starting with your CAD software supplier and see if they have any software that works well with their package.

I would recommend Gibbs and Mastercam as they are the two packages that seem to be well used and recognized in that price range. as for any others in you budget I cannot commnet as I have only used tehe two I suggested. They both will work with IGS, DXF, STP, or other file types.

When you are looking at CAM packages be sure to include the price of teh post in the sales agreement. This will be important as a machine post can cost as much as several hundred dollars per axis. If you negotiate that upfront your implimentation will be smooth if you don't address it up front you will look like a hero. If you deal with Mastercam, they will tell you about their huge library of general posts. Those are great but with them or any other company using this ploy be sure that they will work with you (i.e. modify or change the standard post it will be faster if they do it) on making the post work for you.

Good luck other than that.

[cncadmin]

Take a look at Excaliburcnc, i've been using it and works very well and is affordable.

[al3azim]

Hi,
With that budget, there are a lot of options out there.
You should also check out Geopath CAD/CAM. For that budget, you will a complete package to support all the machines, including 3D programming. They are definitely one of the easiest systems to use, especially when it comes to 2.5D
They also have some of the best post-processors to support the machines you want. We use them all the time and I always recommend people because we are very happy with what they do for us, inclusing the support we get from them.

Like I said before, you have a lot of choices, but it is going to come down to actual part making, ease of use and training and not pretty pictures or how many buttons does it take to click something.

Check them out at www.solution-ware.com and I believe their number is 888.322.3226

Good luck

[the thrill]

i just want to add my 2 cents... why do companies that have 10 cnc machines buy 10 different brands? are they just cheap? or is there something here that im missing... the last company i worked for was tried and true mazak all the way... my old bosses philosophy is once you find a good machine, you stick to a good machine and he has 10 of them which makes life easy because every machine is programmed and set up almost identical (exception being the integrex 100y) so even the bozo machine operators we have can set up tooling and all that... sorry i needed to vent

[cadman]

Originally posted by the thrill
... sorry i needed to vent

Hmmm... I think your venting in the wrong place. This thread is a software related question. Maybe you meant it to be in one of the machine tool threads?

[Igot2drip]

Have you looked at EdgeCam? It will accept any drawing format & you can write your own posts for any machine...It also includes a bunch of posts for most machines.

[svenakela]

Hi,

I don't know the software pricing at your location, but I've been working in MasterCAM and SmartCAM and they are truly powerful pieces of software. MasterCAM is amazing.

Regards,
Sven

[TAB]

I will cheerlead.

I investigated Mastercam and Gibbs when I needed to purchase a CAM package for work. Ultimately I went with Gibbs because the sales guy was willing to work with us more than the Mastercam sales guy. I have heard (correct me if I am wrong guys) that the mastercam posts may or may not work with newer releases. Also Gibbs is very easy to use.

What ever you do, make sure that you negotiate a post for each machine as part of the price. DO NOT let them convince you that the generic posts are the same. You will want a post designed to generate code as you want it and it will take the software guys way less time than you to do it.

[hardmill]

Originally posted by TAB
I I have heard (correct me if I am wrong guys) that the mastercam posts may or may not work with newer releases.

Correct, you are wrong
Mastercam posts can be configured however you like. The only
limitation with there posts would be ones imagination.
If you don't believe me I hear there are a couple of dealers here
on this forum.
Ooops, i'm one of them.
It truly is a great piece of software and there are good things for
the future. I have used all the big names out there and this is
still the best in my opinion.
It all boils down to what you are going to do with it.
contact me and I'd be happy to make sure you get any info you may
need to aid in your decision.

PEACE