Is Mastercam right for me for 5 axis?

[Greg Williams]

quote:

---

I want to do simultaneous 5-axis machining of Titanium 6-4. I need excellent surface finish and high throughput. Does anyone have experience with 5-axis simultaneous machining with Mastercam? If so, are you happy with the software? Any experiences with Surfcam?

---

It is a little tough to answer that question here however, At the end of the day it depends on what you are trying to manufacture and to what tolerance. You may have to consider other options such as processing time, usability, and avalibility of training for your staff before you make a final decision.

 

[pimij]

I have used MasterCAM for the last year and a half - we bought it in hand with a DMG 5-axis mill - a little different than the router, but the principle is the same. The post was developed by in-house ( the guys who run this forum ) it required some tweaking for simultaneous to run smoothly but all that was done very with a very quick turn around - hours instead of days or weeks! Now it works like a charm!

I tried Powermill for 4-5 months - it does a good 3d toolpath - as good as mastercam - but the 5-axis routines are all new - maybe a year old for simultaneous. but powermill does not do 2d justice like mastercam and well as an overall package --

 

MasterCAM Rocks!

[mattmann]

Wow we just got the quote for Delcam Powermill 5 vs master cam its 32% more money than MasterCAM

 

We are getting MasterCAM.

[acerx3]

Just my 2 cents, I think Thermwood has an OEM relationship with Mcam. They should have a post available to your dealer if not direct.

HTH, Tim

[Charles Davis]

I think when you make such an important decision, you have to look at several things.

 

Of course, first and foremost, will the program do your work? Will it run my machine? Will your people be able to learn and use it? Can I afford it?

 

So you weed out the ones that don't fit that criteria. Then you get into the questions that make the difference between you being happy and living in CAD/CAM hell:

 

Are the people selling and supporting it responsive when I have a problem or a question? No software worth anything if the training, support and service sucks.

 

Is the company that makes the software likely to be around in a year, five years, ten years?

No software is worth anything if the parent company closes its doors and you get a "Sorry this number has been disconnected" when you call.

 

Big decision, and these days a confusing one since the CAD/CAM business is as full of hype and bull as any. Stick to the basics, look at the big picture, look for the long term, and you'll make a good decision and your face will look like this:

 

[ 02-23-2004, 12:33 PM: Message edited by: Charles Davis ]

[mattmann]

Yes we looked at what out there, location of service, postprocessors, ease of use and got a demo on both. I think with Mastercams new version it will match the appearance of Delcam, currently Mastercam interface sucks but will be better.

 

People on this post have the same machine and run the Router PRO package with little problems, plus it is what they teach in the college here.

 

It will do what we need since I will program once and run the program for 15-30 years which is the life of our products. Once and a while program fto cut a pattern.

[crazy^millman]

Could you give me an explaintion of this comment please:

quote:

---

urrently Mastercam interface sucks but will be better.

---

If you have not used the program and do not have the program at what degree are you able to make this comment. Interfaces can come in many shapes forms and fashions and I think you need to be a little clear. I would also be looking at Level 3 Mill with soilds for your application but isnce I have not used router I can only go by what I use to program our Thermwood model 67 5 axis machine. I would talk to Thermwood and find out why they are a major supporter of Mastercam for their machines because they have their own guy and teach their own Mastercam Classes there.

[mattmann]

Its the old dos interface that I don't like. I have had demos on both and have used ACAD, to CATIA and prefer the windows type interface. The scrolling menu is annoying but that is my opnion.

 

With mastercam X coming out I was told it will have a windows interface and look like the reset of the software out there for cad/cam.

 

Also Thermwood is not close to us so training and service across north america is not a smart thing to do since we have local suppliers to train and support.

[PE @ IHS]

Mattman, you will like the new GUI in Mastercam X. It is quite a bit different than the current one, but easy to navigate around. There are plenty of satisfied Thermwood/Mastercam 5 axis users around.

[DavidB]

I have used both Mastercam and Powermill at the 1 job.

 

Mastercam was much better for drilling and 2D work.

Poewermill was fantastic on 3D work. It was on average 8 times quicker in processing the same toolpath as Mastercam.(large 3D surfaced model)

 

Powermill was gouge free and much easier to edit toolpaths.The trim toolpath was very good.

 

As for service I got a post the next day from Delcam that worked great for a Heidenhein.

 

My mastercam reseller was asked to do a post for me back at the start of this year and still no post.

The service I got from Delcam compered to my Mastercam reseller is 100%.

 

What you must remember is Mastercam is a CAD/CAM package and Powermill is just a CAM package.With powermill you can't do any surfacing or changing of your modal.You would have to purchase Powershape.

 

Sounds to me that people in the USA get great service from there M/c reseller.But if your in OZ I can't say the same thing.

 

All in all mastercam is a great all round product for the $.

 

Im currently using Mastercam to program 5 5axis machines and 3 Lathe-Mill machines,and i love using it.

 

[Charles Davis]

Like I said, dealer support is the key.

[GREG]

DavidB

You hit the nail on the head.

2 seats of Powermill 5 arrive today for that exact reason.

If support is hard to get in Melborne you should see what its like here in Brisbane.

Mastercam is here to stay as it cant be betten for our production type work and we dont need the support.

5 axis components need skilled support and a great post ,both are saddly lacking here.

I would really like to see what Mcam can do for us if we had the technical support that appears to be available elswhere. Might get to the US later this year to have a look.

 

Cheers

[tss]

Hi Greg,

Maybe you can give me a call.

I am the Australian dealer for Mastercam and have re-sellers in all states.

If you dont get the support you require and need assistance with posts, you should give me a call prior to going worldwide with complaints.

We have a top guy in Melbourne who can customise 5 axis posts if the machine info is complete, we have generic 5 axis posts for both Fanuc type and Mill plus, also we have a team of post guys at Mastercam to solve any problems.none of thes cost more than a phone call to find out.

Have you tried any of these optons.

Phone me 02 4455 3904

Kindest regards

bob hill

[DavidB]

quote:

---

We have a top guy in Melbourne

---

He might be but try get him to return a phone call or an email.

 

[Jimmy Wakeford from Barefoot CNC]

Welcome to the forum tss.

[Charles Davis]

This is in response to a post regarding multisurface processing speed on very large parts in Mastercam. I don't think CNC will mind me passing this info on a little early.

 

 

March Maintenance Release

 

We are planning a maintenance release to be available to Resellers the beginning of March. You will be notified via email when this is available for download. It will be made available for maintenance customers to download one week later. This release will contain new executables and will be made available as two downloads, with and without CATIA information.

 

The biggest feature of the maintenance release is the added performance and new high speed motion we have built into Level 3. These new features are slated for X but we are pre-releasing them now, making them available to maintenance customers, new customers, and new seats.

 

With the maintenance release, Mastercam users can experience a dramatic boost in speed in a specific set of toolpaths, and can take advantage of a series of new tool motions. The Maintenance Release delivers dramatically faster processing time for these important Z-level toolpaths:

• Rough Pocket

• Rough Contour

• Finish Contour

• Rough Restmil

Generation times for these toolpaths can be reduced by amounts ranging from 10% all the way up to 75%, depending on the cut. The most dramatic increases are in Rough Contour and Finish Contour, where users can easily drop three quarters or more from their processing time, getting parts to the machine faster than ever before.

Below you will see the results of time tests we performed on a variety of parts. To make sure that we put the software through its paces, we chose a variety of complex models built from a fairly large number of surfaces, rather than relying on traditional CAD/CAM sample files.

 

[two examples with pics were included with the press release]

 

Example 1:

Previous Calculation time: 655 seconds

New calculation time: 248 seconds

Calculation time improvements: 70%

Toolpath type: Multisurafce Rough Pocket - Parallel Spiral

Surfaces:3,647

Cut tolerance: .001"

Tool: .75" ball

Stepdown: .1"

 

Example 2:

Previous Calculation time: 883 seconds

New calculation time: 248 seconds

Calculation time improvements: 71%

Toolpath type: Multisurafce Finish Contour

Surfaces: 2,250

Cut tolerance: .001"

Tool: .75" ball

Stepdown: .05"

[DavidB]

Sounds good to me im on maintanece.

Just hope I can download it from the web site and not have to rely on my reseller for the the update.

 

Do you know when they plan on relesing it?

 

[PE @ IHS]

David, if you are having issues with your reseller, please try to resolve them privately.

[FITIN IRISH]

Regarding 5axis Posts. I have had great success with Mastercam/Camaix (CAMAIX 5AxMSurf). I tried Delcam's Powermill(against my will) 5 axis package and it was a nightmare. I had to machine a very complex compressor wheel Matrix and the only package that came up trumps was Mastercam/Camaix.

 

You can see the parts here http://www.5axismanufacturing.com/portfolio.htm

[cadcam]

Gerard, were did you go One min you are down the street next you left me with a nightmare....

 

WERE DID YOU GO? Keep intouch.

 

Jay

[Bruce Caulley]

I'll give you my current experience:

 

We use both Powermill and Mastercam for 5 axis work. The powermill support is greater in Brisbane, but like Bob said, help is only an email, phone call, or forum thread away. I know Bob is busy, I am waiting on a few replies myself .

 

Greg M,

I don't know what work you are doing now so I can't really judge, but for your reference Ferra have decided to discontinue using Powermill. I know you were at Ferra when the decision to upgrade the PM seats was made, and you are probably dealing with the same Camplex people now as you were then, but don't let the sales pitch sway you too much. Our experience has been that PM is in some ways easier and more user friendly, but the jobs that were completed 100% powermill were not well recieved on the shop floor. Most had to have a few additions done in MC to complete some super complex features like tapped holes. Some of the eurocopter parts that did have some PM work done to them are now 100% MC. At the end of the day Ferra would have been better off spending a few $ on upgrading the MC seats we had with a few of the addons we didn't get in the beginning when we were doing electronics boxes, rather than spending big $$$ duplicating what we could already do if we took the time to do it right.

 

Again Greg, I don't know what you are up to now so please don't take offense.

 

My $0.016c

 

Bruce

[gcode]

Bruce.. do you have the multiaxis solids verify add-on for your Mastrercam seats?? I bought it last summer when they were running a sale and it was money well spents.

Multiaxis verify runs much better with it and it makes really clean STL files from multiaxis toolpaths.

I still do a final gcode verify before sending the code to the floor, but solids verify is a big help.

[Bruce Caulley]

It is on the way Gcode. When the MC seats were configured we were recieving most customer data as a 2d DXF. Therefore our seats were configured along those lines.

 

We are now in the process of "filling out" the seats we have and then hopefully getting another full mill seat as well.

 

Bruce

[Ol Slow Hands]

We recently purchased 3 seats of Mastercam from our local MC dealer, to program a Thermwood 67 - 5 axis router. Then we purchased the post directly from Thermwood. It took almost a month to get it, and they claim it's custom written for us. Right out of the box it doesn't work... not sure why yet... The post was approx 2.5k for the 1st seat and was discounted for the additional seats.

[FITIN IRISH]

Jay,

I a here in Ireland for a couple off weeks. Of 2 Germany in the morning for a 5axis job. Be back in your territory for Paddy's day- we will have those drinks then.

 

I never want to see another wheel again

 

Semper Fi