CNC…. A Cry For Help!

[pdrexler]

CNC software

Just a quick note . . . Mastercam comes in several different flavors - that is to say there are different levels 1, 2, & 3 . . . the entry level is around $5,000. list price, and will do 90% of the things that most cuemakers will need . . . although I now use Level 3 and Mastercam Art; I started out with a plain vanilla Level 1 version about 10 years ago BUT had a very custom post processor written that incorporated many of the features of the higher levels.

The current version - "Mastercam X" - is now a Windows oriented/based format which should really appeal to most new users. More importantly Mastercam software has continued to evolve and is being routinely enhanced and supported.

PS. Mastercam DOES do 4th axis very nicely . . . in fact, there are 5th axis capabilities as well . . .

 

[skins]

Skins,

I started with Gibbs on a Mac.
Then I got Virtural Gibbs and used it for a while.
For 2 1/2 D work it is great. Easy to use.
I recomended it to both Cogno and Gina. They are still using it.

For real 4-axis(all moving at once) you need Edgecam.
I have looked at MastercamX and it looks like it may do 4-axis as well.

bill stroud

bill,
gibbcam has had full motion 4th axis machining for years now. it's intergrated right into the program if you purchase that module. it works just the same as any other including edgecam. the interface is very easy to use also.