master cam vs unigraphics

[Bill Z]

can anyone help me prove that master cam is better than unigraphics? I would like to here from someone who has used both systems. thanks

[Hardmill]

I wouldnt say better.

It all depends on where you company is going

and what type of work you do.

 

UG is a powerful prog.

 

 

PEACE

[chris m]

Simpler to use? From my limited exposure to UG; yes.

 

Better? As Steve said, it depends on what you're trying to do; every software package has strengths and weaknesses.

[Guest]

Better from what point of view?

 

Design or CAM?

 

Having done both, they both have their strengths and weaknesses.

 

What are you basing this comparison on?

[RandleXX]

I prefer NX for 5-axis and MC for everything else

[gcode]

Its worth doing a search..

this has been discussed several times and there is a lot of good info going back a year or so.

[j.nguyen]

Bill-

 

Have you used both systems?

 

Mastercam is very user friendly and great if you are a job shop and not designing and manufacturing. It doen't matter what tool you use as long as it's the right one for the job. I don't use a machete to cut butter, but don't use a butter knife to cut shrubs.....Some may get really good at using a butter knife to cut shrubs, but not the best way to do it. " It depends on what you are doing "

 

Jamey

 

X4

[Bill Z]

I have not used both systems. I would like to hear from anyone who has. If money was not a facter and you want something that can do it all, which system would you go with?

[calnet42]

If money was not a factor, why not get both?

[Mr. Dayshift]

Bill d,

 

I used X and X2 for about 3 years. I think the strengths of MC are how quick you can get a part cutting and all the tool path options. I believe MC does not have the option to create shop floor prints with section views directly from solid models. MC has this forum, it was a big help over the years. As far as the multi-axis suite MC and Gibbs Cam are basically the same (created by the Cimatron software company), so it comes back to posts, and quality there of. I think MC only has verify and compare to STL, no dynamic machine simulator included. Solid is MC are static, no advanced simulation.

 

I've been training on NX6 for about a month and it seems to be more of a complete manufacturing package. The design side is more complete, closer to something like solid works, using design tools such as constraints, expressions and exportable design data for families of parts. The only advantage on the CAM side that I know of is the dynamic post editor, which I have not got to yet. Apparently, you edit the code and the post edits itself. The learning curve and cost seem far greater with Siemens NX products.

 

IMO, buy only what you need to get the job done, properly. In short, MCX is cutting parts for customers and UGS is sold as an engineering package. MC was great at my last job, but we did feel the maintenance costs were getting pretty aggressive and the version releases were coming too often (a cash grab). Perhaps you should be comparing MC to GibbsCam instead.

[chris m]

Could you not buy Solidworks and Mastercam for the price of UG? If I had to buy ONE package and I needed to detail drawings I would NOT buy Mastercam.

[Mr. Dayshift]

BTW, DellCam has parallel processing now too. I don't know that anybody else has it out yet for tool path generation. From looking at my current training syllabus, the machining component is about 1/5 of UGS. In X4 I'd imagine it's 4/5 of the product, right?

[Ron Branch @ 5th Axis]

quote:

---

I believe MC does not have the option to create shop floor prints with section views directly from solid models.

---

Sorry but you would be wrong on this comment. Solids Layout then Create Sectional view in there.

 

HTH

[j.nguyen]

Mr Dayshift-

 

Not a post builder expert at all , but don't believe (unless it's something new) you can just edit the code and it updates the post..... That would be too easy! Also note if you want to get real custom with the post you better know tcl or grip. There are fewer UG programmer then Mastercam programmers since the learning curve is greater. The difference is like driving a cessna compared to a 747.....a lot of buttons and the training is more extensive. They both get you from point A to point B, but a short flight would not be practical in a 747!

 

Jamey

[gcode]

quote:

---

Could you not buy Solidworks and Mastercam

---

Yes...

If you drive a hard bargain you can buy UG for

a price that is competitive with Mastercam..

Once you own it .. they screw you blind..

Maintenance on ONE seat of NX5 is more than

4 full Level 3, 5 axis seats of Mastercam..

 

Mastercam will do 90 percent of what UG does..

cheaper and faster..

If you're doing high end 5X work.. UG rules

If you're doing multiaxis mill/turn UG rules

(cause Mastercam can't even show up for the tryouts)

 

If you're a young programmer trying to decide

what to learn..

Mastercam is MUCH easier to learn and there are

a lot more jobs available for a Mastercam guy.

 

UG is harder to learn and a top UG guy gets

MUCH better money than a top Mastercam guy.

[Rob @ Target Machine]

quote:

---

Not a post builder expert at all , but don't believe (unless it's something new) you can just edit the code and it updates the post..... That would be too easy! Also note if you want to get real custom with the post you better know tcl or grip.

---

I think that is the grep language from unix, tcl is from unix as well.(Originally anyways, now they can be compiled to run on Win/Mac/Unix/Bsd/Linux...)

 

The MP language is the reason I haven't strayed from MC.

 

Custom posts are so much easier.

 

Much cheaper all around with MC.

 

JM2C

[Leigh @ Kodiak]

quote:

---

Perhaps you should be comparing MC to GibbsCam instead.

---

Thats an easy one. Unless you are doing MTM work, there is no way Gibbs comes close to Mastercam.

[Rob @ Target Machine]

quote:

---

Perhaps you should be comparing MC to GibbsCam instead.

---

LMFAO

[j.nguyen]

I drive both Mastercam and Unigraphics. I do alot of work with large ( forgings ) hard metal parts in Unigrahics. Some of the parts go across muliple 4-5-axis machines and after desiging the tooling and creating all the prints, the tooling may change because I need to get to a small clevis on the side of a part and a tower is in the way. If i modeled it in solid works and brought it into mastercam I loss all my drafting and model associativity. If modeled and programmed in UG i can change the tower height and my drafting updates and the manufacuring as well. This is time save for me. If I have a part in a vise or technigrip and it's cut on one machine in 2-3 ops way not mastercam! The G-post Postbuilder in UG is very easy too use for anyone and there is lots of custom macros you can download from the UG site.

 

Jamey

[j.nguyen]

Bill-

 

Don't forget that you will need Vericut with whatever system you use. Need a budget for training and building machine kinematics. I don't care how big or small your shop is. It's a tool that every shop should have! Every system has a verification, but I have not seen one that is as complete as Vericut. How much does a spindle cost, time down, Material, Cutters?

[Rob @ Target Machine]

Jamey - I talked to Seimens last week about an entry level seat.

 

Rather than Nx Core + Nx Cam, I'm looking at SolidEdge + Nx Cam express.

 

Have you any opinions or recommendations about that combination?

[j.nguyen]

I honestly had to google solid edge. I know nothing about it other then it was a seimens product. Do know it's always best to stick w/ the same system for cam and cad....If possible

 

Looked at you home page and think I will copy that disclaimer into every one of my contracts

 

Jamey

[Leigh @ Kodiak]

Every shop does not need Vericut. Yes, it's a great tool to have, and certainly a necessity for some applications, but in no way can EVERY shop justify that expense.

[Mr. Dayshift]

We never needed it for fixed axis machines. The verification was good enough. Then again, the guys used to set their own cutter protrusions etc....

[j.nguyen]

Well I have been to couple of companies that refuse to buy it and have seen contracts lossed because simple little consistant mistakes that could have been caught by Vericut. I posted another programmer job a few years back. It was a nutating machine ( c-axis ) and Mastercam Inverted the axis on a goto point. It hit the foam tool at 1800 ipm (linear ways). Was not my mistake, but I would have caught it if they had ran it through Vericut. If you are a small machine shop and produce good parts on a consistant basis Vericut will pay for it's self by bringing in more work. It's alot easier to see which side of machine you are on with you have muliple tool axis solutions.

 

Jamey

 

X4