Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Solid modeling/Cam

Hi, William

I tried out CadMax Solid Master (http://www.cadmax.com), and it's an
excellent solid modeller. It behaves a lot like SolidWorks, with a
parametric feature tree (that you can unwind or change feature ordering
with). The base package is $295 (+25 for printed docs), and there's an
IGES package that you should probably add on that costs $495, so $800
total. There is a full-featured 30-day demo that you can download.
(run through the tutorials, you'll find it much easier if you do :)

Unfortunately, it doesn't do CAM directly. Luckily, it has pretty good
import/export capability (Parasolid, DWG, DXF, STL, and optionally
IGES), so an external CAM processor should work. I haven't gotten that
far yet (since I'm manually machining the motor mounts to give me CNC
capability, I don't really need the CAM part yet :)

Hope this helps
- Steve


Will wrote:

>I am looking for a Cad/Cam program to use on a Shoptask machine, so I
>need both a mill and a lathe module. I was looking into Vector, but
>after using the demo for a couple days, its not quite what I was
>looking for. I've had several years of Autocad in college, and I find
>it faster to use when making wireframe 3d models, it just doesnt do
>cam. I also learned featurecam, so thats what I tend to compare
>software to, too bad I'll never be able to afford it.
>Are there any low priced (<$900) cad/cam programs that use
>solid models instead of wireframes? Or should I just look into
>getting a Cam program and using AutoCad to generate the surface
>models?
>William
>