Are you saying I'm calling you a liar?

So Mastercam was 5 axis before 5 axis was cool, and well before ModuleWorks was founded (2003). In fact, it says it was created to develop the plugin for, wait for it... Mastercam! LOL.

I was talking $#!? on a Gibbs forum about moving to Mastercam when we move to 5 axis machining and got shot down by someone claiming they both use the same engine, kernel whatever. Is that true? If so, wow.

Snobs? Hmph, yeah, in a way I guess. LOL.

I suppose you're right. The software is getting smarter so people don't have to. I need a nap.

Where's that damned unlike button...

At this point it's not. It's an old garage shop mentality trying to join the 21st century. Volumill is their go-to path no matter what the geometry. Drives me bonkers. They're starting to see how much faster things can go but it's like pulling teeth. They just don't want to move out of their comfort zones. This. This! A thousand times this! And to your point, I didn't say they should never use it. They use it way too much when doing simple square outlines etc.

No.

Varimill rental program FTW!!!

That's what I'm saying! And like I said, when I walk by a machine and see it running volumill in stinkin' aluminum I get edgy.... throw a damned face mill in there and move that metal! No, not a customer now. We're using Gibbscam. (Yea, I know, don't rub it in meh face mkay?) I'm sure they have. And I haven't touched MCam for years so I'm not up to speed with what they're up to. Hearing some, um, interesting(?) stories about 2017 and the ribbon bar. Lots of power users seem to be upset that they've been kicked to the curb in favor of book-smart kids that want something simple, not powerful. But I digress. I'm trying to convince the company to move away from Gibbscam. Been thinking about pushing towards Mastercam but will need to see if it's as bad as I've heard. Thanks David. I'll print this out and use it as a reference next week when the rep comes in.

That's what we're going to do. He's going to bring a few different types. Mayhaps I should have Dr. Mengele come in on the same day to go to bat for the Varimills, just to make it even.

Yes, that's what I was saying. Total air time cut = 27%. NOT that it was 27% faster than Mastercam. But Ron is correct in that the rep does not program day in and day out and probably is more clueless than clued when it comes to toolpaths. Thanks for the input. I think it's time to have a Mastercam rep bring their laptop here and do a side-by-side vs Gibbscam on one of our parts that we haven't programmed yet.

Rep was in today from Emco trying to sell us their IP series EMs. I was relating an experience I had with Hannita Varimills over a decade ago and how they were some of the toughest endmills I'd ever used. He laughed and said he knows Jonathan (I affectionately refer to him as Doctor Mengele because of how he mangled metal) and that his IP series endmills will mill circles around the varimills. Has anyone here used both and can you validate that claim?

In Gibbscam they have Volumill as an add-on. It creates toolpaths similar-looking to the tricordial toolpath form Mastercam of old. A tool rep came in today and said the Volumill toolpath takes into account the cutter's engagement and that Mastercam's toolpaths do not. Is that an accurate statement? He also said the air-cutting time of Volumill is about 27%. What is Mastercam's version of this type of toolpath and how does it stack up compared to 27%? Personally, I cringe when I walk up to a machine and see it using Volumill on alum.

We have not run any cast iron in these machines in the year I've been here. We do run a lot of Molybdenum, which has it's own set of issues but I don't think rust is one of them.

Even Bobcad ??? LMAO

Ours rusted itself to the spindle. Was on a 12 year old HAAS.

The 2.5 axis version of HSMWorks is "free". I heard the posts are open source and based on java. Haven't tried it though.

We haven't moved from GibbsCam yet. This will be a huge selling point, though. I've looked at HSM for Solidworks (have not tried it) but I would be much happier to have MC in there!

Wow! That's incredible. Thanks for sharing. Will make life much easier going forward.

That's an interesting take, gcode. Makes much sense, too. I've often move my CAD models from the CAM system to Solidworks to test fixturing techniques but it's always a PITA. This would make it a snap.

On purpose !!! ??? LMAO!

That was perfect, and didn't seem so difficult. Thank you. For us it will be solids associativity, and the ability to design and program in the same seat. Considering you don't need a separate license if you have MC already, I think it's a great idea, (earlier mentioned limitations considered).

Not sure. We had it on a laptop then moved it to VMWare but I think they changed the licensing to do it. I haven't used Mastercam since the mid X's. Anything that stands out in particular? (Trying to convince the company to move to MC from GibbsCam since we're considering a 5 axis or a mill/turn) Oh, and yes JParis. I have a quote for stand alone but would rather hear things like this from real users.

Good to know. How's the performance of MiS? Would I need special video or processor? We run Solidworks over VMWare (PCoIP) and it really sucks. This setup would prolly make that worse huh?