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Mastercam vs Mastercam for SolidWorks


Matateu
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I just demo'd it. I thought it was gonna be the xxxx, but after a week or so said naw I will stick with importing from solidworks. The chaining is a pain for me, and stuff like making silloette boundries and bounding boxes ect. in a few clicks is to hard to give up. I think it has its place esp. on simple one off parts that change slightly from one to another. I know I only gave it a week but after using mastercam for 15yrs. I am biased I guess. With wcs and levels I can merge a changed model pretty quick anyways.

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I also just finished a demo of X7 for SW. I have the same opinion as above. If you were a SolidWorks guru with little mastercam experience the tool paths works well. I would rather do my 2d work in mastercam and import the model for only the 3D work. I stink at sketching in SW.

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If your going to run a CAM system inside solidworks give HSMworks a try.

 

I find there chaining methods very quick and easy, almost no sketchs required.

 

But take the time to get over your mcam conditioning before judging.

 

Personally I use Mcam at work daily, and HSMworks for fun stuff periodically, but find it fully capable and gasp, fun.   

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I've been wanting to give MCFSW a try, its too bad it doesn't sound like its up to par with regular MC.

 

I'd really like to have the tool path associativity with model changes. \

 

 

I haven't looked into HSMworks for a few years, is that software still being developed for Solidworks? I'd be weary of getting to heavily invested in it for fear of getting dumped to just be an autodesk only product.

 

The only other good integrated cad/cam system I'd like to spend some time in are Topsolid and NX.

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Hi Sticky,

 

If you are familiar with designing inside SW I would definitely recommend at least giving MCfSW a try. No disrespect to any of the previous posters on this thread but what I've found over the years is non SolidWorks users can sometimes struggle at first with selecting and chaining. That's because many are expecting Mastercam selection and chaining dialogs and techniques. However this is Mastercam for SolidWorks so we use standard SW's techniques as much as possible since this is functionality they already know and use. 

 

For example take "partial chain" in MC you would enable this in the chaining dialog then select start and end positions. In MCfSW there's no need for a button to enable such an option, just select the start edge then right click on end edge and select Partial, standard SW selection technique. Additionally the focus in  MCfSW is toolpathing directly on "Solids" so you will find it to be much easier than in standalone in this regard. Take an inside mold cavity. Simply right click on any face and select "Select Tangency". With two clicks you just selected potentially hundreds of faces without setting any masks or predefining colors ahead of time.

 

I'm not sure what the difficulty was above with creating "Bounding boxes" that functionality is identical to Mastercam and Silhouette Boundary requires 4 less clicks then standard MC. Also starting with MCfSW X8 you'll no longer even need to create wire frame containment boundaries ahead of time in many cases. Now instead of selecting a predefined chain you just click the face(s) you wish to contain to and they are automatically projected to your current toolplane and joined together to form the boundary. The added benefit here is it's also all associative. So if you change the model later down the road the boundaries get updated automatically. No need to create a new boundary. 

 

All that said MCfSW is intended for the user that designs in SW. Design your part, toolpath it in the part or assembly which ever makes the most sense for your shop. Then later on if you make a design change, simply regenerate your toolpaths. Verses re-exporting the model, importing it into MC, import operations from previous reversion, create new containments and reselect the geometry in each toolpath. However if you import most of your models from various cad packages, the versatility of standalone Mastercam is certainly hard to beat and may be a better option. Especially for experienced MC user.

 

Either way don't be afraid to give it a try and if you do, feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected] with any questions you may have. We're always looking for feedback. 

 

Ryan

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Hi Ryan, thanks for the information.

 

It certainly sounds like it is up my alley, I am just concerned about bugs, I already find so many in standalone mc, I'm worried that mcfsw being seemingly less popular it could be even more troublesome. I would like to try it though as all the parts I work on are designed in Solidworks, and a good portion of them I design myself. Personally I would be happy to never create curves to create a tool path ever again. I prefer to work off solids only, and the associativity would be a major bonus.

 

I have a few questions for you. I only do hmc programming with MC right now, I do Top/Front style, I use multiple custom wcs's. Are there any users using mcfsw doing the same thing?

 

1. Is there any functionality lost in the transform/translate tool paths?

2. Is there now, or will there ever be any of the old wireframe tool paths in mcfsw?

3. How are custom wcs's handled in mcfsw?

3a. If you create a custom wcs does it maintain associativity with the model?

4. Does mcfsw use the solidworks plane system or the MC plane system?

5. How is the stability of the software when you have 10-100 custom wcs's?

6. Is Productivity + supported?

7. Are view sheets available and reliable in mcsfsw?

 

I'm sure I'll think of other questions too :)

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1. Is there any functionality lost in the transform/translate tool paths? - No as a matter of fact all toolpaths and toolpath dialogs are identical to standard Mastercam with just a few minor exceptions. The only different between Mastercam toolpaths and MCfSW is in the selections techniques used to select the geometry.

2. Is there now, or will there ever be any of the old wireframe tool paths in mcfsw? - These are being looked at as we speak. But sheshhh you didn't hear that from me. So it's veryyy possible.

3. How are custom wcs's handled in mcfsw? - Identical to standard Mastercam. 

4. If you create a custom wcs does it maintain associatively with the model? - Yes and no. Just like in Mastercam if I associate my WCS to a solid face or sketch/edge point, it will move up and down with the geometry as it changes. However again just like Mastercam, it will never change its view matrix which is by design.

5. Does mcfsw use the solidworks plane system or the MC plane system? - Both. So if we open the MCfSW Plane Manager you will see an almost identical interface as Mastercam with a few additions. One of these comes into play when you click Create Plane from Geometry. Here I can select geometry just like I can in Mastercam but I can also select a SolidWorks sketch plane or and a SolidWork Coordinate System. 

6. How is the stability of the software when you have 10-100 custom wcs's? - Custom WCS's are just planes, so inthemselves there shouldn't be any stability/performance issues. That would be more effected by the number and complexity of toolpaths. In this regard I haven't seen anything behave any differently than standard Mastercam. However this would be a good area for you to explore if you decide to get an eval. I would however recommend waiting just a few weeks till we release the potential MCfSW X8 production candidate. Reason being is we just made a change that drastically improves the graphic display performance of toolpaths and classic backplot. Previously large amounts of toolpath data on the screen could get choppy. That's all gone now and parts rotate backplot and behave as smoothly as they do in stand alone.

7. Is Productivity + supported? - Not at this time. MCfSW is all about being fully associative to the model. Currently P+ is a none associative toolpath in Mastercam. Perhaps down the road.

8. Are view sheets available and reliable in mcsfsw? - View sheets really aren't that applicable to MCfSW. A large portion of those settings are design specific which wouldn't apply since we're designing with SW. However you can do things like program across multiple configurations or with design tables. So what this means is let's say you make slightly different variations of the same part. For example let's say you make cup molds. In MCfSW what you do is design your master model and toolpath it. Next to create a 2nd configuration of this part in the same file at this point MCfSW asks if you would like to also import the toolpath data from the master. Click yes, 3 clicks we now have two copies completely programmed. Now make a few design changes to make a large size mug and regenerate any effected toolpaths. Now we have two completely programmed mug molds. 

 

Additionally we can spawn new configuration via a design table in SW and here again when you do MCfSW asks if you would like to import the toolpath data. So after I create my master and toolpath it I can spawn literally hundreds of different variations of this part through a design table in seconds. Hard to beat the efficiency.....oh but wait, you can. :-) Instead publish an ordering form online using SolidWorks included functionality and let the user input there exact dimensions based on fields you made available to them. Next morning you start SW import the table which spawn the custom configured part(s) which imports the toolpaths. Regenerate effected toolpaths, verify and send to the machine. Thank you for programming your own part Mr. customer.  
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1-2. Sweet.

3. :2guns:

4. The only way I know that you can associate a wcs to part in regular MC is by using "wcs by geometry", picking or drawing two 2D sketches, and then creating a point at the intersection. WCS will NOT stay associative by picking a face or model geometry. Major dislike of mine when I need to create 10's to 100's of wcs', you can waste many hours with this, and its a major MC dislike of mine.

5. I'm kinda confused now. Is SW TOP same as mcfsw TOP now?

6. That is what they say about regular MC though!!!!

7. Major bummer.

8. I use View sheets for managing all my custom wcs'. Very handy for when I am on 12+ sides of a part or tombstone, selecting everything from the view manager sucks because its not dockable, and its a waste of time when you have multiple tools on multiple sides of a part. By spending the time to make view sheets initially it cuts down on mistakes being made by accidentally having a wrong wcs associated to the wrong tool path.

 

As for the rest it sounds kind of like using saved operation templates. Hopefully its more reliable though? Imported tool paths and operation templates can be pretty buggy in regular MC.

 

I'd really like to try a demo of it but not sure if I want to get into it without probing. I assume you could still set up some custom drill parameters to do some probing though?

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I currently use Mastercam and ProE and I have been contemplating a switch to Solidworks. I have two licenses of Mastercam. What would be involvoed it switching to Mastercam for Solidworks? A new license? Can it be bought as an additional module for standard Mastercam?

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I currently use Mastercam and ProE and I have been contemplating a switch to Solidworks. I have two licenses of Mastercam. What would be involvoed it switching to Mastercam for Solidworks? A new license? Can it be bought as an additional module for standard Mastercam?

We had a redundant seat of Level 3 Mastercam at work and I swapped it for a seat of MCfSW 3D.

It been a few years so things may have changed. MCfSW 3D also includes multiaxis, so it wasn't a one for one swap.

There was a little $$ involved too.. but that still better than having an unsuded seat on MC3D sitting around.

It wasn't easy to do, my dealer had to pull so strings to make it happen, but it is doable.

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"5. I'm kinda confused now. Is SW TOP same as mcfsw TOP now?"

 

In MCfSW configuration there is an option to set how you would like to align the default WCS and view matrix.

 

Option 1 - "Mastercam Top = SolidWorks Top" Meaning the Mastercam WCS / Top plane is parallel to the SolidWorks Top construction plane.

                  (This is a custom WCS)

 

Option 2 - "Mastercam Top = SolidWorks Front" With this option the Mastercam WCS / Top plane is parallel to the SolidWorks Front plane.

                  (So Mastercam world Z = SW world Z)

 

"As for the rest it sounds kind of like using saved operation templates" Actualy it's quite a bit more. With spawned configurations you are not just importing operations. You are importing / re-applying "all" settings from the parent, toolpaths, tools, machine/control/post, stock setup ect. And most importantly you are not re-selecting geometry, those association are all maintained.

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Thanks Ryan and Tony.

 

Ryan, in regards to the imported ops, that sounds great that you don't have to re select the geometry, but how does that work on multiple/custom planes?

 

Any comment on custom drill parameters set up for probing? Does In House or CNC software sell a set of custom drill parameters set to use Renishaws inspection plus?

 

Can you open regular MC files with MCFSW?

 

Can you comment on what is required in making the switch from regular mc to mcfsw? Can we trade in licenses?

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"how does that work on multiple/custom planes?" All data is copied from one configuration to the next. This includes planes / WCS's. Think of it this way it's an exact copy of your original file but with your design changes applied to it.

 

"Any comment on custom drill parameters set up for probing? Does In House or CNC software sell a set of custom drill parameters set to use Renishaws inspection plus?" Not that I'm aware of. 

 

"Can you open regular MC files with MCFSW?" No SolidWorks can not import MCX files. You can however import toolpaths from MCX's. And since Mastercam supports opening SolidWorks files, you can open a MCfSW files inside of Mastercam, toolpaths included.

 

"Can you comment on what is required in making the switch from regular mc to mcfsw? Can we trade in licenses?" At this time there is no option to switch from one licence type to another.

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"Can you comment on what is required in making the switch from regular mc to mcfsw? Can we trade in licenses?" At this time there is no option to switch from one licence type to another.

So an existing Solidworks user can add Mastercam functionality to Solidworks by simply buying Mastercam for Solidworks but an existing Mastercam user has to buy a new seat of Mastercam AND Solidworks to add the Solidworks functionality?

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So an existing Solidworks user can add Mastercam functionality to Solidworks by simply buying Mastercam for Solidworks but an existing Mastercam user has to buy a new seat of Mastercam AND Solidworks to add the Solidworks functionality? You guys really know how to take care of your existing customers...

 

I agree. I already have Solidworks though.

 

I'm going to talk to my dealer to see if I can work anything out.

 

The lack of probing really burns though. But its not like it works in regular MC worth a crap yet anyways. It was supposed to be seamless 3 years ago when i bought the software, that along with machine sim were the major drivers in our purchasing MC. And they still don't work. It would be fair to say that I wouldn't be "enthusiastic" about having to purchase a replacement seat, that still doesn't fix a couple large issues for me, when the original never worked as advertised.

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I'm still curious to know how associative custom wcs's actually are in mcfsw though. I realize Ryan said it works like regular MC, and in regular MC custom WCS's are supposed to be associative to the face/model/lines etc. But there is only one way to make a truly associative wcs in regular mc and you have to create 2 lines and a point to do it, and that new wcs will stay associative to those lines, which while it works, is slow, and prone to errors. Sure would be cool if the other custom wcs options in mcfsw actually maintained associativity :)

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Why do you need them to be associative? Are you changing the ones you make allot?

What if you could make one but now by going into the Plane Manager you could change them using the Dynamic WCS or say incremental then you would not need to make geo.

Like having options like the picture.

Are those options available in X8? I often to families of molds (orthopedic) so I will bring in new geometry and reassign toolpaths. The plane angles will change and there are several toolpaths tied to these planes. It would be great to have the ability to rotate the tool planes accordingly. Currently I rotate the curves they are tied to and it seems to work well.

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Why do you need them to be associative? Are you changing the ones you make allot?

What if you could make one but now by going into the Plane Manager you could change them using the Dynamic WCS or say incremental then you would not need to make geo.

Like having options like the picture.

 

Yes I have to change them often, here are the most common scenarios for me:

 

1. Programming a  multi plane part before you know where it will be located on the machining center.

2. Programming castings or weldments, which have features that shift from part to part or batch to batch.

3. Working on repeat batches of part that have features tied to a minimum cleanup feature.

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Bob yes this is some of the new options, I used it as came across it. I was mirroring a part to do the Opposite hand and I had tilts that needed to be adjusted and this become very handy.

 

Sticky, this would work great for these options and not have to make reference geo for every plane.

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