GibbsCam vs MasterCam

[Tesla77]

Has anybody worked in a place where they havetried GibbsCam and Mastercam for programming CNC machines. I would like to know which is better? All of the technical colleges in my area teach Mastercam. But it was mentioned to the company that GibbsCam is the way to go especially in mold making/tool room work.

 

[ToolDude]

I used to work in a shop where they used Gibbs and I was not Impressed with it at all but that was prior to Gibbs be bought by Cimatron. Back then It seemed to me that it was production machining oriented and not mold making friendly. I would think that mastercam would be more mold making friendly right after Pro Manufacturing.

 

[Tesla77]

Can anyone say what the price difference is between Pro/Manufacturing vs Mastercam? We have seats of standard ProEngineer software already within the company. But we are only a Tool Room and do not do full blown mold designs and mold builds only new component builds and repair work. It's hard to justify a cost when it comes to software.

 

[ToolDude]

IF your designs are done in Pro Engineer then the use of Pro Manufacturing would be to your benefit because of the parametric nature of the software. The cost of mastercam and Pro engineer can vary depending on the options you want or need to do the job. Usually some where between $5K to $8K for both mastercam and Pro Manufacturing(rough Guess probably a little high). Your engineering people should be able to get a Quote for you from your Reseller.


The big problem with Pro Manufacturing is the learning curve. So along with the software I would recommendpurchasing atraining class also to get started. Usually around $1500 for an insructor led class.


The same is true for mastercam but I don't think the learning curve is as long. but I would get training to get up to speed quicker for either one.


There is also a yearly maintenance fee for Pro engineer/manufacturing. Not sure for mastercam. But this fee allows you to update software and tech support for the year.(first year it comes with the purchase).


Hope this helps

 

[marker4x4]

Can anyone say what the price difference is between Pro/Manufacturing vs Mastercam? We have seats of standard ProEngineer software already within the company. But we are only a Tool Room and do not do full blown mold designs and mold builds only new component builds and repair work. It's hard to justify a cost when it comes to software.

Definitely ProNC all the way. Pricewise it's pretty much the same (ProE prices came down recently big time right down - if not below - the "generic" CAM software) with ten-fold more power that come with ProE, especially that your designs areProE already.

 

[Tesla77]

Thanks for the input!! Very helpful to me.


How hard is ProManufacture topickup if you are already familiar with Mastercam toolpathes?


I am a mold designer (ProEngineer) (ProMold) Do you guys have an idea of what Pro/Mold and ProManufacturing would add to a seat of ProEngineer?


I start my new job in a few weeks and I feel I am getting in at this company at the right time. They are in the process of getting software for the Tool Room. And like I said the part models that molds are designed from are ProEngineer. But the out-of house mold shops that end up building them send 2d dxf drawings back to us with the new molds. The only advantage I have is that the company has the original part file so I can add the shrink rate and make mold repairs and revisions as needed from that. Seems like discovering America all over again but this is how it's set-up right now with all the back log tooling they have. I hope I can put my two sense in to get everything ProEngineer to make life easier and have a better set=up for the future projects.


Thanks again,


Tesla77
Edited by: Tesla77

 

[colinlesnar]

Bobcad graduated from starting in the mid 1990's Mastercam with version 6 and since it was used. It was important for me to get a system, turn and wire EDM's. We did not jump to version 10 because we did not support needs and need not to look. Other than an occasional tweak on a new post, we do not need your help. Re-sellers who will give you training and support can be a big factor. I do not comment on other packages, but they can probably are all very capable. Master
CAM bullit proof for us has been great to work with the reseller in
your area have been for applications when we need them.

 

[magnusod]

I don't use ProMan or ProMold but we have one seat of ProMan at our company.

There has been a lot of improvements in the UI for Pro Man in the last releases and I know that our NC guy thought the new dashboard UI in WF 4.0 was much easier to use. WF 5.0 introduces a lot more of the dashboard UI so I believe that it should be easier to learn than previous releases. Be sure to check the latest release before deciding if you want to use Pro Man or not.

If you want to know more about Pro Man register at http://portal.ptcuser.org/p/us/in and choose Files - World Event 2010 Files from the top menu. There you can download a presentation about the new features and interface for Pro Man.