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SolidWorks CAM addins

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ctopher

ctopher

Mechanical
Jan 9, 2003
17,441
I see some old posts about which CAM to use.
I'm looking for any update.
We use MasterCAM standalone (one seat).
I'm looking into updating it to either MasterCAM for SolidWorks, or change to SolidWorks CAM.
We are still on SW 2019, updating to 2022 in about a week or two.

Any suggestions or input on the difference between the two are appreciated.
We are also adding the MBD add-in. I see SW CAM takes advantage of this, not sure about MasterCAM.
We will be looking at demos soon.

Chris, CSWP
SolidWorks
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I love Eng Tips but the cam side is somewhat unrepresented. I would post this question in the CAD/CAM forum at the Practical Machinist site. Be sure to mention the nature of your parts to be programmed. I believe mastercam is more advanced than SW CAM but also consider the price up front as well as yearly maintenance so you buy enough capability but not overpay if you don't need extras. Have you considered NX CAM?

I trained and used mastercam for a year and currently use Gibbs for aerospace and defense part programming but haven't tried SW CAM. I used and administered NX for a couple decades, formally Unigraphics, which I really miss. It was extremely powerful, polished and well supported. It does 2, 2.5, 3, 4 and 5 axis exceedingly well, turning is ok but it's wedm was weak. I suppose that's why they integrated Opticam recently. NX is on a short list of software at the top of the game, I recommend taking a look at it as long as you're looking at mastercam.
 
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Aero-Defense,
Thank you for your response.
A couple days ago I received a response from our Mastercam VAR. They sent us a free download "Mastercam for SolidWorks". We installed it and works fine. We have two CNC programmers, they both only know Mastercam. I guess that's what we're sticking with.
I also liked NX. Been over 20 years since I have looked at it. There are still some major aerospace companies using it.

Chris, CSWP
SolidWorks
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Not that this post will help you in your situation, but if you find any good news about the SW Cam, post it here.

We just bought the Carvera CNC machine. I am hoping to try and use the Solidworks CAM software eventually since we have it with our SW bundle.

Scott Baugh, CSWP [pc2]
Mechanical Engineer
Ciholas
"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"
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Hi Scott,
I was told our machinists are not going to use SW CAM because they have Mastercam.
I used to use CAM Works (Same as CAM), I loved it. It was easy to use. I plan on relearning it, been 9 years since I touched it.

Chris, CSWP
SolidWorks
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