What do you use/like to use to program NTX 2000 (or any millturn machine)

[?Mark]

I just found on the other forum that Mori APT CL is on hold.

 

I'm guessing that buying Mastercam MT module would be a waste of time and money at this point

[Zoober]

Partmaker

[Guest]

I just found on the other forum that Mori APT CL is on hold.

 

I'm guessing that buying Mastercam MT module would be a waste of time and money at this point

 

Mark,

 

That doesn't affect what we were discussing

[gcode]

I just found on the other forum that Mori APT CL is on hold.

 

I'm guessing that buying Mastercam MT module would be a waste of time and money at this point

can't you run the machine with regular gcode instead of Mori APT

the MT machine will come with a regular post

I didn't know what Mori APT was  and googled it.

Doesn't look like there is much going on there.

I'm thinking the problem is on MoriDMG's end

[YoDoug®]

A full seat of Esprit is not cheap, but it can program every machine in your shop. Mills, 5X, Lathes, Multitasking, Swiss, Wire, etc. We sell Okuma, Tsugami, and Hardinge machines. I know with Esprit we can program and simulate every one of them.

 

Here is the bottom line, as a distributor we get free seats of just about every software. We are in and out of shops that have every software out there. We see a lot of Mcam shops, a lot of Gibbs shops, some Esprit shops, some Surfcam shops, Partmaker, Featurecam, Edgecam, and more. I can say that the most complaints come from the shops that have to work with software distributors. The software makers that are direct have the least complaints and the best support. Likewise I can say the time/cost of getting a new machine/post up and running is the fastest with Esprit. You are getting a post from a corporate guy that works directly with the MTB. Others are getting a post from a distributor who buys it from another distributor/post maker or corporate who may or may not work with the MTB. For some out there post revisions are a revenue source. I'm not going to call out any specific brand but there is one distributor here in our area that always gives a generic post and makes the customer provide samples of what they want it to look like. We can sell a machine to a shop that is the exact same config as a different shop bought 6 months prior. We will tell the customer to ask their CAM distributor for the same post that we helped the last customer get dialed in. The distributor says that's not possible and send them a generic post. It may not be the same in all geographic areas of the country but that is what I see here.

 

FWIW, If it was my money based on the experience I have had working with all of these different CAM vendors/distributors, there are only a few choices I would even consider.

[?Mark]

Mark,

 

That doesn't affect what we were discussing

Got it. Still learning what different parts of the whole thing are.

Thanks!

[?Mark]

Great info everyone!

 

Doug, care to share those choices?

[mkd]

I keep hearing on PM that NX is the same price as MC, except for maintenance. That has not been my experience. I also tried to get a quote as a privateer. Distributor didn't bother to give me numbers but did offer me a job.

Guess they knew I couldn't afford it. Lol

 

[gcode]

I keep hearing on PM that NX is the same price as MC, except for maintenance. That has not been my experience. I also tried to get a quote as a privateer. Distributor didn't bother to give me numbers but did offer me a job. Guess they knew I couldn't afford it. Lol

Several years ago Seimmens turned  their small business accounts over to Tata Technologies

(small business = less than $100 million )

I dealt with them several years ago when I was looking at NX.

They never managed to get me a working trial license and my enquires about posts yielded a 35 page questionnaire

and a $20K quote ( for one 5X machine)

NX is amazing stuff but I had no faith in their ability to deliver working posts .... and without posts.. its just cartoons

 

We also had a full seat of NX5.

Our server went down and we required a new license .. they want $1000 to issue a replacement license .. I told them to pound sand

[YoDoug®]

Got it. Still learning what different parts of the whole thing are.

Thanks!

 

If I need a solution for full machining, including multitasking and Swiss, I would go with Esprit or Partmaker. If the shop purchasing has high level programmers that are good with post mods I would say Partmaker as their post edit utilities are great. If the shop does not have that level of programmers and wants better MTB certified posts I would go with Esprit. If the shop in question does not do Swiss or Multi-tasking I would consider Mastercam, especially if the shop does a bit of 5 axis. 

 

Note; I also want to specifically say that the distributor in the story I mentioned in the previous post is not the local Mcam guys. The local Mcam guys here, Protoek, have been good to us. 

[jas6142]

Isn't Esprit included on the controller on that machine?  If not I will have to say Esprit is the way to go. All Mori machines are modeled and posts written.  The last 2 that we got the esprit was included on the controller.  You could network your controller to your pc and use that seat of Esprit. Don't know if the still have that?

[Zoober]

If I need a solution for full machining, including multitasking and Swiss, I would go with Esprit or Partmaker. If the shop purchasing has high level programmers that are good with post mods I would say Partmaker as their post edit utilities are great. If the shop does not have that level of programmers and wants better MTB certified posts I would go with Esprit. If the shop in question does not do Swiss or Multi-tasking I would consider Mastercam, especially if the shop does a bit of 5 axis.

 

Note; I also want to specifically say that the distributor in the story I mentioned in the previous post is not the local Mcam guys. The local Mcam guys here, Protoek, have been good to us.

That is one reason we like Partmaker and Mastercam. A good post (customized to exactly how you do things) that nobody else has is simply a competitive advantage over using the same shelf post as (that pretty much sucks, trying to be everything to everybody) as everybody else.

[Zoober]

A full seat of Esprit is not cheap, but it can program every machine in your shop. Mills, 5X, Lathes, Multitasking, Swiss, Wire, etc. We sell Okuma, Tsugami, and Hardinge machines. I know with Esprit we can program and simulate every one of them.

 

.........

We tend to use the best software (for us) for a particular need.

We use Partmaker for Swiss and Millturn, Mastercam for mill, and Esprit for Wire.

They are all tools. We try to apply the correct tool for a certain job.

Then, we try to customize that tool to be the best for us. Posts that don't need any edits, setup sheets that populate with a couple clicks of a mouse, etc..

[Mick]

Re: NX maintenance. Yes, it is expensive, and they make you bleed if you come off maintenance, then try to get back on.

 

Also, it depends on the reseller (like all software).. Our NX reseller has a great technical guy, but we purchased a full seat of Design/Lathe/Mill up to 5 axis and they've never even set foot on our site. One of the reasons we decided to stop paying them anything. Plus, they never fully delivered on the posts they said they would.

 

NX seemed to be pretty good for Mill/Turn, though I honestly don't think it is as good as some of the others.