CNC Post Software?

[lt1yj]

I finally have my mill installed and need advice on Post software. This is for personal use so initial cost and maintenance costs take away from wheeling dollars.

The mill is a '98 Milltronics with a Centurion control. Full 3 axis with a coversational control. It also has the RS 232 port to connect to my laptop to download and run programs. It does not have any way to import geometry at this time.

I have ProE, Unigraphics, and I-Deas 3-D modeling software. I can output most standard file types to be read into a Post program.

I've been contacted by PTC and Siemens (owns UG and Ideas) about their codes. I've also seen Bobcam and Mastercam. Anyone have experience with any of these or any others? What should I watch out for?

Thanks!

[jpmassey]

You want 3 axis programming? If you just need 2.5D, look at sheetcam.

[300sniper]

You want 3 axis programming? If you just need 2.5D, look at sheetcam.


i use sheetcam for 2.5d and it works pretty good for me. i only wish i could set the step over smaller than 10%. you can down load the trial version for free but you are limited on how long the program can be. the price of the licence was in pounds and i can't remember exactly what the dollar amount was but i think it was only around $120.

http://www.sheetcam.com/index.shtml

i made this using sheetcam. it missed one small step over on the entire part that ran non stop for probably 3 hours. there is also a screen shot of the cutter path in sheetcam. this was cut using an 1/8" ball mill.

[lt1yj]

I would like to have 3 axis.

For simple goemetry I can program in the conversational control.

[Tahcustomscout]

I used to have a milltronics in my shop. The thing was not the best in the world either. Anyway, BobCad worked on it. But with the static ram in the machine being so low you had to keep the laptop hooked up to the machine on large programs. BobCad is not the best program either, but it will get the job done.

[Rockrunner86]

I run MasterCam and love it. I have it for VMC HMC EDM

[Bassman]

Mastercam or Surfcam, but they are quite expensive. I prefer Surfcam over Mastercam, but that may just be what I was used to first.

[solarpower]

I've used surfcam, mastercam, and a few others.

The conversational program that came with it doesn't do 3 axis???

Will the RS232 allow you to DNC from a PC??? If it can it's then a matter of figuring out what kind of code it reads. Being a 98 milltronics it should easy enough to find a decent post-processor.

Are you looking for complex surface type programming like for making 3-D molds type stuff or more for sketch some geometry and then machine it, with some steps in the Z axis in different places.

The higher end software does a very efficient job at "highly detailed complex everything" relating to taking a model from many file types to creating a language that just about any machine can read. But it's also expensive and still require quite a bit of time to even get started if your a noob.

Did you get a manual that would tell you what type of code it will read?? I'm guessing it would be like a yasnac or fanuc or some other "language" that the control should be able to interpret. You can usually find a post-processor for just about any CAM software that will convert it to the machine. It's just a matter of finding out the machine language and you might have to manually "tweak" a program to get it to work once it's been posted.

[SirMrManGuy]

I haven't played with it but I know proE also has an NC function that writes gcode. If you already have it, it might be worth trying.

[ugpro]

If you have UG / ProE, both have manufacturing. ProE is slightly better than a calculator. UG is one of the best. You need a manufacturing software license to make it work. It has 2 posting products built in, GPM and UGpost. Your control will have to be able to use Gcode to make use of either.

Now that said if you own UG you should have known this....

[lt1yj]

I've heard horror stories about the ProE CAM package from the engineers that have used it in the past.

I knew Siemens sold a package for UG, I don't know anything about it. The rep was in here in December and I didn't even think about it.

Do you know ballpark $'s. Do you know if it has a post for the Milltronics?

I can ask the rep when I see him in April.

Thanks for the info!

[ugpro]

I've heard horror stories about the ProE CAM package from the engineers that have used it in the past.

I knew Siemens sold a package for UG, I don't know anything about it. The rep was in here in December and I didn't even think about it.

Do you know ballpark $'s. Do you know if it has a post for the Milltronics?

I can ask the rep when I see him in April.

Thanks for the info!

UG = Siemens, Siemens bought UG 6-9 months ago. The actual product for cadcam is NX, current version is 5, I prefer V4. I'm not sure on the price, I bought mine several years ago. I have a mfg bundle license, I paid a little under 20K. Maintenance is pricey also, around 5K a year for my package.

I have a friend that uses Pro/mfg, it is worse than bad by his account. It is a very good modeler however.

For the maintenance you'll get the best support in the industry. UG isn't supported by a local reseller, they have a tech support group. The tech's are grouped by the portion of the product in use, mfg group, modeling group etc.

As for the Milltronics post, show me a sample of the code.

[dave84cj7]

Try asking some of the guys over here:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=303