Have anyone tried feature recognition based CAM?

[Sjongest]

Any idea compare to Mastercam?

I used to work on other CAM use feature based and it was a big pain in the beginning, but after a while it looks a bit easier than Mastercam, specially when you have tons of tiny details on the model and when I use MC I have to deal with them one by one, what a PITA, but anyway MC is not a mold CAM software.

Another good thing is they always auto trimming the air cuts.

For sure MC has way strong control of toolpath because of it's geometry based, specially when you have to control tool tiltings.

BTW, I never used MC's stupid solid pickup, always curve on all edges..

[Leon82]

Mastercam has it.

 

But from what was told you need to set it up to your liking as far as how small you want your re machining tools to be

[JoshC]

On 12/18/2021 at 3:28 PM, Sjongest said:

Any idea compare to Mastercam?

I used to work on other CAM use feature based and it was a big pain in the beginning, but after a while it looks a bit easier than Mastercam, specially when you have tons of tiny details on the model and when I use MC I have to deal with them one by one, what a PITA, but anyway MC is not a mold CAM software.

Another good thing is they always auto trimming the air cuts.

For sure MC has way strong control of toolpath because of it's geometry based, specially when you have to control tool tiltings.

BTW, I never used MC's stupid solid pickup, always curve on all edges..

when you say "btw, i never use MC's stupid solid pickup, always curve all edges" tells me that you have not had proper training because if you were properly trained you would most not think that way and would be using solid chaining and making your job easy instead of doing all the edge curves. So i would suggest getting some training and revisiting mastercam powerful solid chaining options.

I am not saying that everyone that creates edge curves does anything wrong nor am i saying wireframe chaining is bad, im just saying that in my opinion you must not have properly learned the solid chaining in mastercam if you think that way or made a statement like that

[JB7280]

20 hours ago, JoshC said:

when you say "btw, i never use MC's stupid solid pickup, always curve all edges" tells me that you have not had proper training because if you were properly trained you would most not think that way and would be using solid chaining and making your job easy instead of doing all the edge curves. So i would suggest getting some training and revisiting mastercam powerful solid chaining options.

I am not saying that everyone that creates edge curves does anything wrong nor am i saying wireframe chaining is bad, im just saying that in my opinion you must not have properly learned the solid chaining in mastercam if you think that way or made a statement like that

Not to derail the thread, but what do you suggest for training if your reseller is....less than capable?  I'm totally self taught and I think I could benefit from real training.  However, we've done some training with our reseller and it did not go very well at all.  It was definitely not worth the $$

[MWearne]

Feature based machining in Mastercam does not compare to other CAM systems that are strictly feature based, eg Esprit. Its not a fair comparison though. Mastercam is a toolpath based system that added a bit of 'feature based machining' ability. It's kind of jury rigged into existence. There is no feature for you to interact with. The software is creating this feature and turning it into a chain and then putting it into toolpaths along the way. For some applications, this works just fine and accomplished the feat of making life easier. 

Solid Chaining, I don't put that into the Feature Recognition category, although I guess it is technically recognizing features for the chain its creating. The solid chaining in Mastercam is getting pretty slick so if you don't use it and are working with solids on the regular, you need to explore. 

Every CAM software has its plusses and minuses, could be software limitations or even just personal preferences. When switching software it is often hardest to see those plusses of the new software when you keep trying to do things the way you did in the old. Yes, training is often the quickest way to adapt even though you already know how to CAM.