Cimatron Help me!

[Rick Henrickson The Boeing Co.]

please help, I am an avid mastercam user and our company is trying to go to one cam package! I want someone who knows about this software to help me explain why mastercam is better. I love Mcam and have since V6 I dont want to lose it.

any one who knows bad points or limitations please respond.

 

[Thad]

Iskander should be by shortly.

 

Thad

[heavychevy2155]

I dont know anything about cimatron, but you already know MC and that is a plus already. No learning curve. It is fun to see what else is out there, but I always come back to my mastercam X. I would put it up against any cam package. X2 is just around the corner and with the new tool paths and stuff mastercam is on the right track. If your boss could wait I think mastercam is just going to get better.

[BernieT]

Some previous posts on this..........

 

 

Read all - very good info

 

 

Another

[Teh Bear without Brains kinda idiot]

I will do it on monday /busy/

Please ,specify ,what sort of Cam U R :

Molds ,general machining .4=5 axes etc.

[Rick Henrickson The Boeing Co.]

I beleive it is cimatron e is the most current. See the problem is I am not the senior programmer so I dont really have alot of say in this but if I could come up with some good arguments I am hoping to overcome this.

Thanks

[Jack Neelands™]

first arguement..."support"..how much and how fast

second arguement.."training" how much and how fast

third arguement ...How easy is it easy to use...

Cimatron has evolved alot over the yrs since i last used it but i still got the complaints from fellow mouldmakers...great looking software...long winded programming

[Fig sign]

Cimatron is great package .

But ...

It is made for molds in mind .

even while starting it says "Cimatron -toolmaker`s choice "

In general production it is overkill ,cause you do not need assembly ,molddesign and etc .

Learning curve is long ...

In three monthes - one year you will be effective 60 -70 proc of MC .

It is not so intuitive ,not has straitforward approach as ver9 has ,and has a lot of bugs that means you will learn how to overcam them .

Generally designing part is of Solidwork strength and might ,no more no less .

NC side of Cimatron sux .

There is no full associativity .

2.5 axes not even close ,3 axes -one of the good things -stock recognition on every operation .

But sux anyway to other things .

No filtering so code is loooong .

Post is recompiled thing and you will no have

way to change without access code .

ETC .

Still I was successful with Cimatron elite ver7 too ,but much happier with Mastercam now .

In two words - we can say all the bad things on Mastercam but it is simple ,fast and mighty and stable too ,especially comparing to Cimatron .

Learning curve long .

All their terminology is different too ,you `ll need to get used to it .

You will work slow for at least 3-6 monthes .

iT IS UP TOO YOUR BOSS TO DECIDE .

In one of my places I WAS making molds using MC ,while designer used cImatron .

When I designed mold I used MC .

But assembly and molddesign ,mold analisys ,quick split ,quick electrode are good tools .

In Israel Cimatron rules on Molds market .

In general machining you can find lots of Cad-cam .

If you have wire and lathe forget about Cimatron ,their lathe and wire completly sux .

Things like lathe-mill especially .

Horizontals ,agregates ,mill turning and wire if they support some specific machines ,than through post ,you will not able to verify them .

Speaking on verifiers they have backplottting and two different verifiers ,all sux ,do not espect to find all mistakes ,but to verify every program is a must .

You make 3 oidentical electodes with the same toolpath and get three different results .

toolpathes like drill ,pocket and contour are 99 % of 2,5 axes jobs are very poorly made .

You can easily scrap your part in contour because they have no such thing as gouge check in countour

And so on .

But if I will need to use it tomorow I am ready to do it ,cause anyway this is only tool and up to you .

You are PROGRAMMER AND REAL PROGRAMMER CAN USE ANY TOOL .!

[Rick Henrickson The Boeing Co.]

I am not sure how it handles multi parts multi sides this is in a horizontal inviroment. Mastercam handles it flawless with wcs and t/c planes with translate and rotate no hand editing and good verify. I see him having multiple files to make 1 part with lots of hand editing and cut and paste I do not know if he knows how to use it right or if that is just how it is.

[Jack Neelands™]

kinda sold yourself there didnt ya?....put the boss to the test....seat of mastercam and cimatron side by side doing the same job...see who wins without all the hassle

[beej]

I've used both and liked both. Mulitparts and multiple programs are no problem. but if you are wanting to stick with mastercam you might also mention that Cimatron is about 150% more expensive---at least here in the states it is.

[bestguest]

I am gonna jump in the fray here...

I have many years experience on both Mastercam and Cimatron.Both are good products in their own right.I personally like Cimatron for mold and electrode design.I will also use Cimatron on occasion today if I need true stock model machining.Anything else it gonna be Mastercam or Gibbs.I kinda equate this to whether I am gonna program a specific item for a Mori or a Makino.

The biggest problem I see with Cimatron is lack of users here in North America.It is much easier to find a programmer for Mastercam than Cimatron.Problay 100 to 1 ratio or better.

 

Later

[Steve Arteman]

There is a forum ecimatron.com but nobody knows how to use it!

This was a very complex system back in the day I used it and we couldn't get much help.I'm sure it does more than you need but how to get there may be another story. Cimatron was stored on the shelf and never used again after we had Mastercam

[bestguest]

If you want a feel for some the issues current Cimatron users have check here:

http://207.89.153.227/support/forum/