Mastercam vs. Edgecam

[deckard]

I'm seeking the opinion of professionals out there in the field making their living in CNC machining. We are reassessing our CAM software and are considering looking at Edgecam because of its compatibility with Solidworks. I have been told by the users on this forum that Solidworks is the program to use for designing aesthetically pleasing automotive aftermarket parts. As an Industrial Designer, I've tried using Mastercam X and have found its CAD capabilites to be limiting and frustrating for me to use. How well does Mastercam read Solidworks files? How do Mastercam and Edgecam compare to one another? Pro's and Con's any useful information would be appreciated. I need a users opinion and not a Salesperson's opinion. I will be posting this thread on Edgecam's user forum if they have one.

You can reply here on this thread/forum or [email protected]

Thanks in advance

[tooling]

We use solidworks and Catia for the designs. Most everything we cut is a converted Solidworks file. Mastercam is designed as a toolpath software first then design second. Mastercam can do several things that solid works can’t do. Like converting solids to surface. You can draw surfaces with Mastercam. Some things just can’t be done in solids so the flexibility is nice. Mastercam is a very good software for toolpath. I think if you were looking for something better you would have to go with U.G. $$$$$$$$$$$.

[specprogrammer]

MC can be a little combersome for designing. As far as compatibility with solid woks it is very good. MC can now read solidworks files directly without having to creat a parasolid or iges file. There is also the MC to solid work direct switch. If a revision is made to a file that is already programmed when you open up that file Mc will tell you what changes have been made. I haven't needed it yet but am waiting to try it.

[beej]

you may want to hang on just a bit. It sounds like the integration between Mastercam and solidworks is about to become much more extensive. I read in a thread somewhere on here that they are working towards recognition of changes on Solid works files. I'll have to do a search and see if I can find it for you.

[gcode]

quote:

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MC can now read solidworks files directly without having to creat a parasolid or iges file

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Mastercam has been able to read native SolidWorks

files since V8.1, though I personally prefer the

parasolid format.

 

With parasolids your can assign coordinate systems

to your models in SolidWorks and control the model's orientation when imported into Mastercam.

Its an extremely useful tool and I've been begging MC to include Coordianate Systems in

SLDPRT import for years, but no luck so far

 

You may want to check out

the X2 change recongition videos

this will be a very useful tool for people who design in SW and machine in Mastercam.

It will change the way a lot of folks design and build parts... its one step closer to the holy grail of real time associativy between SolidWorks and Mastercam

[Jack Neelands™]

Our designers here use Solidworks and then we get them. We have both Edgecam and Mastercam here and there is only one individual out of 8 that uses edgecam for their programming...for some reason they look at it and cant be bothered with it....the reason...too complex and not user friendly.....Mastercam is pretty straight forward even for the novice once walked through it.

Neither of them are meant to be a serious modeling package.

 

There are indications that X2 is faster and better with Solids construction and design and that a few resellers are giving ppl a peak at it

If you are looking for both incredibly high priced cad and cam software then you might want to look at UniGraphics and do all your programming in the office...

 

 

but do you really want all those greasy dirty machinists in your nice clean office all the time? j/k

 

[ 10-20-2006, 11:26 AM: Message edited by: Jack Neelands - Rho-Can Machine. ]

[High Sierra Plastics]

You might want to check out Camworks and see if it might work for you. It works directly with Solidworks. Although I have never used it myself, people I've talked to that have used it, sounded impressed by it. I use MastercamX direct with Solidworks and I don't seem to have any problems. But then again I'm biased toward Mastercam.

[New Job]

I one thing to remember is the size of the mcam communtiy. There is no better resource for help in the use of cam software than what mcam offers here in this forum. I challenge anyone to show me a mcam competitor that has this kind of access to realtime help from actual users AND the company that makes the software. My interactions with the formal tech support have been phenominal compared to other software I have used. When making a decision to purchase an industrial software package such as this you must consider all angles and the person using the software has got to be able to get help when they need it.

[bogusmill]

How well does Catia import into Solidworks?

 

We get wind tunnel models in Catia that we then have to design into a disassemblable model with moving control surfaces. Solidworks is one pkg. that we have considered using but Catia needs to play nice with it.

[TR Mfg.]

We had an EdgeCAM in house demo and ran it for a bit before we decided to go with Mastercam. It was “ok” for simple 2d type parts but didn’t have the flexibility that you have with Mastercam. Seamed a lot more complex with less functionality. If we added all the features you needed to get up to what a level 3 seat of Mastercam can do it was more $$$. I was also disappointed that the guy that came to do the demo couldn’t make it thru his own demo and was completely lost when I gave him my part model. So I was pretty turned off from the start.

[deckard]

Thanks to everyone that has replied.

Anyone else out there have anything else to add?

Anyone switch from Mastercam to EdgeCAM or have the luxury of both at their place of business?

[Tom Dorgan from American Precision]

I am a former Edgecam user. My former company used it forever and it was a constant bug patch that caused new bugs. Started as Pathtrace when it was DOS based and became Edgecam when they went to Windows interface. I find Mastercam to be much more intuitive than Edgecam. The learning curve is way less and the post configuration is way easier with Mastercam. AND the main reason is the level of support you will get from Mastercam and the forum here.

[jeff]

quote:

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I will be posting this thread on Edgecam's user forum if they have one.

---

You may have just answered your own question right there!

[Kannon]

here is the edgecam forum..notice the replies

[New Job]

The last post date is informative as well.

[JNO]

I use MCDirect to import files directly into MC. This works good 99% of the time. However,I have had problems with parts that were mirrored in solidworks, sometimes MC loses features.( or it just roles them back on the feature tree) I have sent copies of the files to CNC Software. They admit there is a problem and say they are working on it. I have also had problems with parts that the engineers built in an assembly, MC tries to find relationships to other parts and crashes. One way around this is to open files as SLDPRT files. The problem with that is it does not bring in the feature tree. Which can be a pain in the A$$ if you need to suppress certain features.

 

quote:

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Neither of them are meant to be a serious modeling package

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I Agree 100%, Solid Works is the way to go for designing.

We looked at EdgeCam, and Camworks before selecting MC. They are all about the same price. Camworks seemed good, but it was not nearly as versatile as MC.

Also, It seems like more people are using MC, so it should be easier to find people that are experienced programmers.

[deckard]

Thanks again everyone for your time and effort. It looks like MastercamX may stick around for a little longer until an Edgecam USER or USERS comes along and offers up better reasons to make the switch. Resellers need not apply.

[Jedi Lone Star X]

Well

we use both here. both have their advantages and disadvantages. i still think MX is much more powerful and not as excessive. but what wins MX in my book is the customer service. HANDS DOWN MX tech support is better.

 

-R.