UG vs Mastercam

Well pretty simple part................. ok NX is faster on the screen, more efficient code but $2-$3X as much?

Want a VW or a Ferrari? Chevy or a Cadillac?

This is cool!

Oh BTW my next computer:

-- \|||/ (o o) ______.oOO-(_)-OOo.____________________ ~ Gil ~ the self proclaimed IT13=A9=AE king

That type of work was my bread and butter for 2 years. Not too bad if you have a 5ax highspeed trunnion as shown. But look at the table movements. Run that same program on older slower trunnion. One must control the tool axis in such a way to prevent excessive table motion (run time). The tougher ones yet? Doing them on 5ax head/table machines. The toughest of all?: Shrouded impellers. I came up with a pretty cool method using Streamline but it still requires a fair amount of drive geometry creation.

NX7.5 will have a new module specific to impeller/blisk work. You select the hub, shroud, and blade features and it fills in the blanks. Would have been sooo much easier. Currently the undisputed king of all things blisk and impeller machining is NREC. That full seat is >$100K. But, the program is done in an hour or two.

-- Bill

The Mastercam user in that video is either completely clueless (Read: Banquer level cluelessness), or was intentionally tanking the test.

The HST toolpaths in Mastercam would have looked very similar to the UG path (only without the complete burial there at the end), and using Dynamic Milling would have been a completely different league.

The Mastercam user in that video is either completely clueless (Read: Banquer level cluelessness), or was intentionally tanking the test.

The HST toolpaths in Mastercam would have looked very similar to the UG path (only without the complete burial there at the end), and using Dynamic Milling would have been a completely different league.

****** Yep, the average UG program would prolly look like the mastercam program. However... After the toolpath is done is where UG steps ahead of Mastercam. Changing and tweaking it is a zillion times easier and more powerful than mastercam. Again...the test had no common control data to compare...so it's nonsence.

I made that video and at the time it was completely valid. The only one who is clueless are the fools who haunt this forum.

And another thing NX does NOT cost 2-3 times more than Mastercrap. That is a bald face lie.

That propaganda has been spread for years now. Even more revealing, add the cost of MCX and Solidworks then compare it to NX.

-- Bill

Kinda of lame video, but ok for a 5min job. Most of the clueless here your referring too may not know much difference between the two. Maybe a few lines of text here pointing out the differences, of course just for those poor clueless haunting fools?

2-3 times cost? well ya that may be a bit exaggerated, but as BillT stated one will need a modeler like Solidworks to go with Mscam. So 2+X cost may not be that far off as I've said in my previous bald faced lie. Geeze I thought it was called X4 because its 4 times the cost of Bobscam & 4 times as cumbersome/ slower/inefficient as UG?

"Open the Pod Bay Doors please, Hal" "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.."

My Toyota is floored & the brakes don't seem to be working. Houston We Have a Problem!

Weew........ I gotta have a beer.

-- \|||/ (o o) ______.oOO-(_)-OOo.____________________ ~ Gil ~ the HOLDZEM=A9=AE king on E-bay

It's not a forum, it's a Usenet newsgroup. And us (tinu) fools who haunt this newsgroup recognize a shill when we (tinw) see one.

Feel free to not let the door hit you on the ass on your way out.

And by the way, Mastercam can smoke that NX toolpath with HST in X4.

No it's not. You can pick up mastercamx for 5-6 grand if you bargain.

So what's your best deal on UG?

So you made that video huh? Tell me, what cutting processor did you use on UG and on mastercam? What cutting routines? Since you made the video, feel free to be specific.

At the time it was also not unusual to be running Windows 98. Now if we look at the current version of Masterscam, your video is a joke.....or your programming is.

When did you make the video, and what version of Mastercam were you using?

I'll stand by my earlier statement:

The Mastercam user in that video is either completely clueless (Read: Banquer level cluelessness), or was intentionally tanking the test.

Even funnier is this OneCNC video posted two days after yours, demonstrating a SIGNIFICANTLY better toolpath than you did in UG.

And what's the annual maintenance cost for a single seat of UG?

I would be interest to see which level of MC you get for 5-6 grand... You can be assured the maintenance will not be based on that price.

If there is a glitch in software pricing, then the maintenance is it. Nobody using any software feels they should pay much for it. Regardless of the deal you work it's based on a percentage of full retail value. I think 15%. That said, I think Mastercam does the same structure (am I wrong?). But, for that cost you get ridiculous good support. They have real people and great support newsgroups - not a bunch of posers high fiving each other with beer mug emoticons.

Also, there are other ways to package NX. There is the CAM Express version of NX which is the cam (at various levels) minus the fancy modeling. Even with that package you get basic curves and simple surfaces (as required for toolpath creation of simple sketch geometry). You could do a CAM Xpress with Solidedge as the modeler which keeps the cost down.

A bit long winded (you asked a simple question) but the cost is based on full retail.

Btw, someone mentioned (the over used term) Highspeed machining... I define that as maintaining constant surface footage, constant chipload , arcing in corners along with some sort of axis smoothing when entering and exiting off a cut area. NX has always had those abilitys (as does Cimitron I'm sure). It's just a matter of selecting certain criteria.

-- Bill

Software is not much different than buying a car. You will pay as much or as little as you can haggel with the VAR. (value added reseller) key word: $added$ That being said, its all negotiable. When I buy a car I get the dealer invoice, ok here's X amount more for your profit/commission ect - deal? Hey whats this $400 cost? Ford advertising (commercials ect) that every new Ford has? BS! I'm driving around with your sticker on my trunk - its Free advertising for you? Needless to say I've got a few stickers on my mechanic box. They come off easy when their new. Good luck getting the invoice from a software reseller. Those guys are hungry & not much different than used car salesloosers.

..

It's 10% Bill. So $16K for level 3 + solids, and your maintenance is $1,600 bucks.

Unless it's changed drastically in the last two years, NX's high speed machining paths are kinda crappy. I'm sure the complex 5 axis paths are the shit, but for regular 2.5D stuff, it's quite a bit behind Mastercam's Dynamic Milling.

We have a seat of NX7 and X2. We stopped paying maintenance on MC when we got UG. I've switched back and forth between the two systems over the last twenty years. There=92s no question UGs strengths are with complex part programming. I can=92t imagine roughing a complex part without cavity mill or surface milling without streamline. As for 2.5D, MC requires a lot of curve creation and manipulation. That may have changed now that it finally has feature recognition. But NX also has things like manual face milling. It=92s one of those things that you have to use to fully appreciate. When it comes to high speed 2.5D milling, I=92ve always been satisfied (more or less) with NXs trochoidal motion. There have been some issues, pr#s logged etc., but it does the job. I do think Surfcams Truemill is superior to conventional trochoidal. And I wish Siemens would just swallow its pride and pay the licensing to incorporate it (or rip it off as Volumill and Mastercam did). But I=92m not holding my breadth.