online tutorials

[peturk]

Does Mastercam9 include online tutorials that work you through various projects? If yes, how are they accessed? Are they part of the regular help files or are they part of a separate program?

 

I use Solidworks and I've begun to explore how one learns to use Mastercam to see if it's worth learning.

 

Thank you.

[Hy D. Tran]

Mastercam (at least, for educational users) ships with workbooks that walk you thru using it as a CAD tool, then, as a CAM tool. These are pretty good, though I would prefer to skip the modeling tools since we have other (& better) solid modelers.

 

If you're using SolidWorks, you can output an IGES or ParaSolid, which Mastercam is more than happy to import (saves lots of tedious re-drawing).

 

You then tell which geometries you need machined, & Mastercam generates your toolpaths. Very powerful, but also with lots of options.

 

Mastercam does not have a "40 minute running start" like SolidWorks. The menu structure is a bit awkward. That said, the online help is pretty good.

 

Richard Cozzens has written a pretty nice tutorial workbook (SDC Publications; www.schroff.com; ISBN 1-58503-089-9) which is very much a "click-by-click" tutorial, similar to the books shipped with educational Mastercam.

 

Lin & Shiue's book (Scholars Int'l Press) is v8, not v9, but is extremely comprehensive. One of my graduate students swears by it.

[cadcam]

There are training disk that you can get that will walk you thru alot of features.

They are on this forum under books.

 

You can get a good understanding useing the On line help but you must read thru it.

 

As for Hy D. Tran thought on SW files brought in to MC just bring in the *,sldpart file right in . no need to make a Iges or parasolid model.

 

there is also a direct from SW to MC that will interface between the to softwares.