I've got to say thanks for this vid. I'm a long time solidworks user and had previously used solidcam way back and more recently SprutCam. This vid pushed me to try HsmExpress. After about 15 mins, I had posted my first code. Air cut then committed to the real deal. First post cut beautifully! This plugin is going to save me so much time for my more simple flat plate or 2.5 cam. Thanks John! You rock!
I'm usually not a fan of "watch me do this on my computer" videos, but the stream of comments makes all of the difference. It was very educational to see not only what HSMXpress does, but also how it does it. The introductory narrative at the beginning of the video was excellent as an introduction to the topic that was very much from the perspective of the small shop owner-operator. Clearly you've walked several miles in those shoes. There are already open source adaptive clearing routines for simple pocketing. I look forward to more complex adaptive clearing, similar to the example you demonstrated, although there's a big hurdle to overcome. The CAM needs to have access to the entire part geometry. To date, the open source wizards are specific to common operations (drilling, pocketing, etc.) and can't be told to make a rounded corner rectangular pocket with an island. Hopefully, in a few years, FreeCAM will have that ability when integrated with FreeCAD. CAD and CAM are finally progressing very quickly, both for commercial software and open source software. Until then, if I had a production job similar to the one you demonstrated, I'd probably hand code it for semi high speed machining and live with the slightly less optimized cycle time and slightly greater tool wear. Or I might trade a favor with a friend with SolidWorks and CAM that generates these complex tool paths. :-) Thanks for taking the time to make another great video! I don't know how you do it. I can barely find time to WATCH these great videos, and I know how much more time they take to produce.
NYC CNC I find that to be an interesting approach! :-) I use robots... Arduino robots. They do the CAM programming as well if I feed them right... Sometimes they want 3V, other times, they want 9. Its tough keeping an eye on them. haha!
BTW love these video's. Stirs old memories and I think is a perfect way to get conversation among users and companies to start defining the NEXT direction in CAD/CAM. Keep them coming!
I agree with you Soliworks HSM simulation does lack flair. The inventor version got this right, the simulation is far better. You should show how you can use a sketch as tooling geometry, sometimes there are things that you need to cut that are beyond the control of the solid model. I just used that tool today to remove some scalp that was going to get in the way of clamping for a part flip. He is how I do it: Make a sketch, exit, then switch to CAM manger tab. Then make a new tool path, when selecting geometry click back to the solid manger and select the sketch. Then move on like you have before. Hope you like the trick!
Thanks for this video. My hackerspace has some SolidWorks licenses as well as a Tormach, but it rarely gets used because everybody is afraid of destroying it. I got HSMXpress and was able to get the Tormach to face an invisible surface with an empty tool holder. It was nice getting to see that thing move. I will keep on playing with the simulator, but I hope to move onto real stuff next week. Keep the videos coming.
There are a couple of things that make it less than intuitive, all based in the dilemma presented with these types of systems... there are SO MANY ways to work with this stuff. So much information available. WHAT gets presented to the user?? How much is simply overwhelming vs. useful. HOW big a nut does the product manager/system designer want to crack? That is before the automation vs. user control issues... SO to begin the discussion...... First is understanding that these systems have their roots in some solid modeler, many B-rep modelers such as were inspired By Romulus and Acis. Second is the interaction of part classification (Solid Models & attribute data) and how the different vendors use "classifications" and Booleans to build machinable models. ALSO know which algorithms use the solid models & attributes populated on the faces and edges vs. those that use essentially profiles, 2D geometry, and points (along with Coordinate Systems) to generate tool path. Key to many is the ability to have information "migrate" from parts defined in a Boolean operation to the resultant model of part or stock to be machined. Are you machining a part model?? or a Stock to be removed model?? NOT intuitive. (For example: Classify $solid part, classify $solid stock, Boolean creates geometry to be removed.... and during the "Boolean" faces and edges have information that defines things for the machining algorithm.) AND to make things confusing, some algorithms will use that capability and some won't. Last but not least understanding what "parameters are.. and their interaction with those base machining algorithms. The user interfaces.... bottom line? If you or those who train don't understand the guts at some level, using the user interface in a linear fashion is all you learn. Here's an example of what might happen underneath all that interface... and if you understand this... then find the other algorithms and / or syntax of the commands used to drive those algorithms and then SpurtCam and similar systems will make more sense: First... most of those algorithms are parameter driven. And they can be set though an interface or menu system directly, or indirectly by creating a text file with an interface/menu system then using that as a "macro" type interaction, or similarly if the system is command based running files such as tool or setup files which go and blast copious amounts of data to set base lines parameters. When the system is alive (depending on its architecture), a user interface can typically interact with and therefore grab all that parameter data to populate both default settings and do things like define the simple graphic images on the menues... or to even build models such as with tooling for simulation. Now those algorithm's use the "parameter" information in the definition of their toolpaths: For example, say you have a series of tooling files defined such that when you pick a 1/2 inch "end" mill all the parameters relative to that tool are now set from that tool's file. Parameters can be as simplistic as diameter and length. (Note with solid models, if material attributes are available, you can look to the model to be machined for information to set or modify tool path and tooling parameters that are now used vs. default....if its ACIS!) Parameters from that tool's file can also be algorithm or method dependent, things like depth of cut, numbers to tweak a circular interp plunge entry method into a pocket, sets / depth of cut in a pocketing routine, the finish or floor r depth of cut.. etc. ALL depends on the system's design & philosophy. AND anyway, now that all the Parameters are set... then comes the call to the toolpath algorithm either in command form if its a "command based architecture" or called directly from the interface if its a "menu driven" system or hopefully a hybrid where the menu creates and then executes a command AND build a trail of events in a command file THAT can later be re executed in a macro type form. For example. Going to profile a 2-d part and have it avoid clamps: A command MIGHT looks something like this: toolpath avoid $solid entity profile $profile entity... And what happens is the algorithm looks at the $profile entity, a curve to machine; ( Notice I mixed a "Solid" and a 2-D Profile....in this sample.. to confuse things, could have been simply toolpath avoid $solid1 $solid2 (Clamps) profile $solid3 where the faces of $solid3 are populated with data to front end the base algorithm...ie. the bottom edges are the profile to be used etc.) and tries to build a profile toolpath taking into account it must retract and avoid the $solid entity that might be a clamp or some other piece of geometry... AND things like type of entry, circular, ramp, etc. are set in the "parameters" and things like feed rates, retract distances etc. are also set in parameter files prior to execution of the algorithm. BUT what makes some of these systems special is the ability of the algorithms to look to the defined geometry for critical information. HOW these systems are implemented differs, I guess I've seen many during their design and implementation and they all reflect the way their designers/marketing/product management types view the world. But at the core..... LOL SOSDD. (And it would take a book to define what is the performance envelope of most of those automated routines... SO many special conditions and so many things the USER interface can allow that will simply push past what is possible with a particular algorithm... I could give you an over view of most I suspect, but if you understand the guts of those algorithms and the limitations of the slicing, offsetting, trimming, silhouetting, sorting all the mess created when these things calculate things, a good user learns to "feed" stuff to the algorithms they can handle and a good system designer releases products with user interfaces that help block situations those routines can't deal with.... another entire subject!) ( What I am seeing are systems that look remarkably like a "proof of concept" system I was very familiar with, designed to show case the algorithms vs. being a end user package. These companies didn't get it relative to using these new to them capabilities at the algorithm level to EASE vs. complicate things which is why they never progressed past systems like SpurtCAM with piles of menus over algorythms. SDRC had folks who did understand...all that stuff got sucked into oblivion and then reappeared as a Siemen Product. AND looks really familiar too. Much more so than they will ever admit. Any way these style systems are why I was interested in designing (actually with another smarter fellow did) a "process modeling" interface concept to manage the more complex parts. Basically a interactive menu driven command structure & data structure to front end these type of systems to both make things intuitive & consistent but also to radically speed the iterative process as more process complex parts go through their design phase and tool paths have to be modified geometrically....ALL inspired by a conversation I had over a few days with a very smart man in charge of defining things for a vary large Machine tool builder in Japan. Menu's/User interface is a filter.... LOL BUT that was.. leme see 25 years ago! Hence my original comment on being somewhat disappointed in how little progression there has been and now with some of these entries into the market place what we envisioned and even prototyped way back then is just hitting the market in a usable form now. But back to the farm and driving trucks for me :) )
Bobcad v27 now does parametric cad, and has a feature tree. It's still not as powerful as solidworks, but it's a huge improvement over what they had before. I used to make every design change I needed in solidworks, and redoing my paths. Now I can do most of my basic design work in bobcad. I use v4 at work, which runs inside of solidworks. And being able to suppress features for 3d paths is great, along with making design changes and quickly updating the features. It does crash solidworks occasionally, mainly when I go to edit a work origin. I learned to save often. I also like how easy it is to modify their post processors, I have tweaked every processor that I use
Like Rob said adaptive clearing is a roughing strategy, you should use pocket or contour to finish. To make adaptive run smooth on your machine you need to use the smoothing and tolerance setting to your advantage, I found that setting 0.0004" for both worked well. You can set the default value for any field by right-clicking and selecting default. So I do that for tolerance and smoothing values, as well as stuff like finish overlap. I noticed you had feed optimization checked, not sure why, for adaptive clearing it's not needed it's really there for legacy pocketing. Also, to get the most bang for your buck make sure you set the linking feedrate to the max value for adaptive clearing. This is on the last tab, whatever max feedrate is for your machine.
I've just picked up watching this again. In response to your comments about purchasing Solidworks. I hear you! But for those listening, I just want to let them know, that for Inventor HSM Express, it will work with Inventor LT, which is entry level 3D CAD (Personally I would go for a Fusion 360 Ultimate subscription instead though). But importantly if you are looking at full 3D toolpaths, then yes you do need to purchase Solidworks to use HSMWorks... but you don't have to purchase Inventor on top of Inventor HSM (3D, 3+2 & soon, Turning) or HSM Pro (simulataneous 5-axis). So if you aren't committed to using Solidworks, you can go the Inventor route instead and save some $. Full disclosure though, I'm a tech guy for Autodesk CAM products :-)
Hi john, ive been a hmsxpress user for a few months now, However through college i was able to get a student copy of hsmworks, it is crazily intuitive and easy to use, after 5 minutes i was able to figure out full 3d machining, i would highly recommend trying it, would definitely be an upgrade on sprutcam!
Thanks for the video. This is a very common topic I am looking into. I have yet to pulled the trigger on a CAM software. I have only used the Mach3 add-ons which are still fun. As I continue learning I will be saving some bucks for a good CAM package. I like the Tormach Lathe videos you have. That would be a great machine to add to my garage. Take care.
I've been using HSMWorks for a few months now and I'm really liking it too! It's my third full-blown CAM package (after RhinoCAM and SolidCAM) and the modern, intuitive user interface truly is refreshing. I do have a couple gripes and you've hit on a couple of them (I'll only mention the ones that I saw in your vid)... 1. Yeah, if you can figure out how to make the option changes permanent in the simulation: please share! Sometimes I would go in there and change almost every single option. Every check box would be swapped, most of the default options (show tool, etc.) would be turned off, and I'd have to select to show the stock. Annoying. Then I might absentmindedly hit the green check mark thinking it would start "playing" the sim (like you did a couple times) and have to start all over again. 2. When you simulate a single operation it starts the simulation with the full block of stock shown. I believe I saw a button somewhere that said something like "update stock with previous operations" though, so that _might_ solve that lil' issue. I would prefer that was the default behavior though. After you _check_ the "Show Stock" check-box there is a quality option. It defaults to "Normal". Turning it up to "Best" will make the simulation much better looking (albeit it runs a little slower). HSMWorks (and I assume HSMXpress as well) has another, uh... _kind_ of simulation called "Stock Simulation" (which is two more options down on the right-click menu). If you use that mode it'll check for tool crashes (or tool holder crashes, optionally) as well. Of course, it also suffers from the problem of using the entire block of stock. In addition to the crash checking, it also gives a nice little printout that shows how much material you're removing with each tool. Way cool! Last thing I'd think other people might want to know: there is a full ~30-day trial of HSMWorks available (or, there used to be). What's extra cool about this trial is that it actually lets you post the code! And, regarding posting code, they told me that they do not mind people sharing the post processor files. Personally, I'm always a little weary about what I'm "allowed" to distribute and what they might consider against their EULA.
NYC CNC I did some digging, and it looks like people have been complaining about the lack of changeable defaults since 2010 (at least). Autodesk's response is basically "we think our customers are stupid and cannot handle the awesome power of _configurable settings_". OK, I embellished a little there, but the message isn't too far away from that. I looked through all the HSM folders I could think of (*Program Files* and *AppData* mostly). There are a couple files in there called "cimco.ini" which contains settings that _look_ a lot like they would control the simulation, but I nothing seemed to change when I messed with the values. :/ I think there were a couple XML files which I looked through as well, no luck though. I also searched through the registry as well as I could, but nothing looked worth changing.
The CAM integration in Fusion 360 is quickly becoming more powerful than HSMXpress. For the home user I would highly recommend Fusion especially for the price. The great thing about the HSM line of products is that they hardly need tutorials!
For single part machining jobs I have been designing straight in Fusion but for big multi part jobs solidworks still wins. The import capability of fusion means that you can do both if you want. It imports native solidworks files no problem. The CAM side of things is pretty much identical to HSM because it is HSM, but the way you select edges in fusion is massively powerful and flexible. You have probably figured it out already but with HSMworks in Solidworks and fusion 360 you can use sketch lines as part of your machining so you can artificially make machining boundaries and all sorts of things to extend the possibilities. The direction Autodesk is going with fusion is super impressive. Check out the Monkey Likes Shiny blog to see some cool stuff they are doing with Jeff Tiedeken
Hi John, i am using HSMXpress in SW and export to GRBL and work very fine on mu diy very low cost milling machine: I hope it will work as you espect with your very nice milling machine. There is a point you may have not seen yet, the Xpress version don´t come with turning features available :S. Would have be great some basics functions like for milling. Keep posting videos, it´s very nice !
Another great and timely video. I was looking at all the CAM options to support my 4th axis and was looking at SpruteCam. Glad you did this video when you did. I have been running HSMExpress and am hooked, everything I don't like about it I find I just wasn't operating it properly (lack of any formal training). As others have mentioned it sometimes just doesn't create a tool path and no reason why. Need more in depth video's on all the knobs. I see how the free version gets you hooked and now I want the full version. BTW there are a lot of HSM video's but yours was the first to address the Stock Contours use. To get some operations to work the way I want I have to suppress the Solid Works features then later protect the HSM entries to prevent them from wanting to pick them back up later in another process, In your video you could suppress the center hole in Solid Works then cut the notch without worrying bout the hole coming into play. The HSM drill operations generate the tool path inline, not just when you save it. I wish this was the case for the 2D and 3D processes.
NYC CNC Yes, in HSM when I am entering and changing the parameters for drilling holes the drawing screen are updated as I am adjusting the parameters, other more complex ones like Contour milling it only updates when I check the green arrow and apply the changes. Some video's of HSMWorks it updates all the screens real-time, probably a feature of a paid version? Maybe my PC environment?
Also, one of our recent customers, paid off their HSMWorks purcahse in 1 month based on time savings with generation time for toolpaths, post time & then most significantly with machine time... and they are being conversation with HSM feed rates. They were using a popular rival CAM product previously. I'm just pointing out that ROI, extends beyond the CAM process itself with HSMWorks.
Awesome video as usual. I also got solidworks/HSMxpress free as a veteran. It's only good for a year though. Not sure what I'll do when the year is up. 10K+ foe a cam package is just going to happen for me.
oh man thank you so much for this video, iv been looking for a cam software to get and we just started learning some solidworks at my cnc course so this is definitely going to help me with learning to evaluate different CAM softwares since wer going to be using solidcam at the course again thank you for the amazing video and its always a pleasure watching :)
Actually considering getting hsmworks for the shop I work at. Would be our first CAM software. I guess I just needed to show the boss posted code working on our Hurco machines. Everything we've done up till now has been right at the control either by programming free hand or importing a dxf at the control and building the program based on that (basically CAM built into the machine.)
Well...we bought it. Leased it on a yearly basis as that includes the maintenance...seemed like a better deal than a perpetual license. Now I have something new to learn...and a boss asking me if I'm actually doing something while sitting at a computer programming the machines vs free hand like I've been doing for so long. haha
One thing to remember on pricing is that there are some very aggressive pricing for Students and Educators. We homeschool and you can get a student edition of SolidWorks for about $130. Certainly this doesn't apply for professionals but I teach CAM and machining to homeschool students and so the state of the art software is not out of reach. SPRUT is the same. I applaud the vendors for making the tech available at very reasonable prices for students and educators. Yes, I know that they have an ulterior motive to teach skills. That said, there is an acknowledgement of the importance of education.
It looks like you're using adaptive clearing as a finishing strategy in a few places, and you'll probably be disappointed with those results. You'll want to go back in and use a 2D contour operation to finish all of those areas. Both 2D contour and 2D pocket are misleadingly powerful. Initially, they appear very simple strategies, but they'll surprise you. Let me know if you need a hand setting up those operations, i'd be glad to help.
If you have money and want industry standard CAD/CAM software you can always go for CATIA, it is software of choice in aerospace, automotive industries. Only downside of it is price (it is in range from 9000$ to 65000$ per seat, depending on the modules selected. SolidWorks is basically light version of CATIA (or child of it) and both are from same company. There is Pro/ENGINEER, which was popular, even Ferrari designed its F1 engines in it (cars was designed in CATIA).
***** Solidworks had only three realise before it was acquired by Dassault and they have little common with Dassault released (Solidworks technically is just one of many forms of parasolid but Dassault is putting features od CATIA in it) CATIA V5 is 17 year old software but latest version is 1 years old V5-6R2014 (or R24) CATIA V6 require enovia server, but that is not big requirement you can install enovia plm express which work quite happy with ms sql express server, and most most people have ms sql express server installed anyway (even some options in Solidworks require it). For function in CAD between Solidworks and CATIA are if you need only basic shape modeling are really close (I even think Solidworks do that better) but for sophisticated shape modeling CATIA is light years ahead (Generative Surface Design product, FreeStyle Shaper, class A surfaces) and in composite design. I used CATIA V5 CAM module last time in 2000 or so, and it was much better then HMS offer today (but that is my opinion, and I am not expert in CAM,and HMS I saw only in machine shop that do work for us, but what is simple in CATIA is big pain to do in HMS). I do agree that Solidworks is best all around solution for small businesses (my company use it for design enclosure for electronic, and we like that it have good simulation solutions especially fluid for its price)
Great video. I use HSMXpress for my hobby needs. I find that sometimes it can be super frustrating when it doesn't generate a tool path, and you have to just blindly adjust settings until it does. Otherwise it's pretty great software. I also like that you can completely adjust the post processing to suit your machine. I added a tool height sensor to my machine and was able to easily add a cycle to touch off the tool height sensor after each tool change (important to me because I can only afford so many tormach quick tool change collets).
NYC CNC I found that if I was pocketting a hole that was only a little bigger than the tool I was using, and if the lead-in or lead-out was too large, it didn't know how to generate a tool path. I think the better strategy in that case is to pre-drill for the pocket, but I was trying to do the whole shebang with no tool changes.
Mark Kotyk I like the fact that you can look at work log and see where you mistakes are, and there's a what's wrong selection also. I get to use these alot, being a newb to CnC.
Mark Kotyk If there is no space for the lead-in that you specifically chose, then no that is not the fault of HSMxpress. Uncheck the leads and do step down or spiral down. Maybe a warning popup would have been useful in your case though.
Hey, John. Glad you like HSM! I've been using HSMWorks for about a year and a half, and it's pretty much what I taught myself how to do CAM on. If you don't mind, I'll shoot you an email with some quick things I've learned in my experience and hopefully that'll help you out some?
I realy love that you shear how you think about softwear pricing and ,sho on it is interesting hearing how you think about its lik me i like too investigate try compear too !! CHEERZZ!!
Great video! If/when I upgrade my software my sort of dream ticket would probably be Solidworks/HSMWorks. I hear amazingly positive reviews of this combo. Since I'm not a job shop RhinoCAM is certainly adequate for what I do given Rhino is not parametric but I would never buy another CAD that wasn't parametric in the future. I would also never buy another CAM that didn't have high speed toolpaths.
Yeah really! BTW if you pin yours into a barrel using the Tormach DON'T USE the parameters from video 17! You will have a bad time. I've broken enough drills and reamers now to figure out it was way too aggressive for the 4150CMV ordnance grade machingun barrels. I'm editing a short updated video on CNC Pinning gasblocks into barrels right now with updated drilling and reaming parameters. It should be up soon and those will be good to go. I believe AR15 gasblock and barrel pinning is mainly done on a manual Bridgeport or even a drill press and I've never heard or seen anyone do them on a CNC so maybe I'm the first dumbass to try. So in some ways I'm in the future man, 22nd century! Once dialed in though it works great. In this situation VERY VERY slow is your friend, lots or air and oil too!
Not unless you want to pin the gasblock with a drill bit. More like 0.5ipm. I even tried 1ipm and even that made me a little uneasy about snapping the drill. The 0.5ipm was slow but seemed more foolproof.
yea and it is sho fricking frustrating that they only show when everyting works not what too do when somting goes wrong!! and the show only like 2 minuts not all the stepps !! more company should folow hsm sho we customers can try out a part off there produckt free ass long as we want then we can realy find out what softwear we like and then by what we want instead of baying then regreting spending alot off mony!!
FYI: NexGen CAM was the US distributor of HSM Works software before Autodesk acquired the company. After the acquisition, there was some concern about what would happen to the NexGen folks as they were a great VAR and really helped make HSM Works into one of the best CAM systems out there. As it turns out, most of the NexGen folks took up jobs at Autodesk. Anthony Graves was NexGen's director of marketing and became the Autodesk CAM Product Manager. He's leaving and is being replaced at Autodesk by Al Whatmough who was the president at NexGen. And the NexGen tutorials are a bit stale - with the Autodesk acquisition, HSM (they are in Denmark BTW) has been working to bring their core software to both Inventor and Fusion 360. All that work has sort of slowed down core CAM development a bunch.
NYC CNC Autodesk definitely has a lot of weight behind F360, but I don't think that's their main vision for HSM. From what they have said/done, the idea is to have a core HSM kernel, and different implementations across HSM Works (for SolidWork), HSM Inventor (integrated into Inventor) and Fusion 360 CAM. The vision is that the HSM team implements a new feature once, and it rapidly flows to the integrated products. Of course, there was a boatload of work getting HSM up and running in Inventor and Fusion, so both the SW implementation and core CAM features took a back seat for a while. It is shaping up to be a really extraordinary product though. Might even be the future of CAM (with some work - turning sucks)
Solidworks is $20, yes, $20 for veterans. I also know that there is deskproto CAM which does 5 axis for $400 hobbyist pricing. Commercial pricing was not bad either.
You mentioned tapping and the dwell time. My experience (from Fusion 360 not HSMXpress) is that the default post uses the G84 cycle which does not have a dwell time with Mach3. To get my tension/compression tapping head working well I had to make some post changes (solidworks HSM, inventor HSM, and Fusion 360 use the same posts.) More info on autodesk's CAM forum: camforum.autodesk.com/index.php?topic=6074.0
Is HSMworks really free for commercial use? Or is it only for start-ups/small companies? I do question if Autodesk will discontinue support for Solidworks users in the long-term (which is what I use at work).
I've been watching your channel for a while. Found it by accicdent, (very cool discovery, by the way...). I Had a lousy experience with BobCad (still makes me see red!): I bought 2 seats, then found a friend with 4 seats at less than a fourth the price I paid. Sent the unopened box back, and they kept 20% of my money.(Apologies for the rave). I noticed that you had Solidworks 14 version. Now have the 15 version. Did you get the upgrade with all the features, weldments, sheet metal, electrical, full-meal-deal etc? Where did you get your Solidworks training? I beleive Solidworks is the "go to" software for for cad. It does go on sale occasionally. I would very much appreciate your dialog, thoughts, & comments. You create really in depth informative vids! Thanks,
NYC CNC Hi John, Thanks for the great video! I downloaded HSM Express a few months ago but have not used it yet. You just gave the inspiration. I have SolidWorks 2012 Standard which does have sheet metal. If they discontinued it in the 2015 version, you can download any previous SolidWorks version at no expense. Also SolidWorks has always been able to open previous version files, just not future versions. It is my understanding that in 2013, SolidWorks was to begin allowing saving as a previous version which would allow file sharing with those with earlier versions. As a hobbyist, the yearly maintenance fee is a bit steep so I will stay with 2012 as long as it works for me. Bob
I too started with BobCAD. It was like driving a vw microbus in a Formula One race, it just doesn't seem to work very well in comparison to a real racecar.
Pro/E doesn't exist anymore it called CERO. What sucks now is you get Inventor along with HSMWorks for the same price as just Hsmworks for Solidworks. 10K for Inventor + HSM 2.5,3, 3+2 and SIM 5 and Machine Simulation+ Lathe when it comes out (which will be resigned)
you mist one hole fusion 360 cam is very close to hsm almost the same, I think its a little bit easier to use than hsm but its still not finished need some fixes done but for indexing and 3D cutting and 2.5D cutting its fine. the 2D drawing needs some fix`s too, some things you cant just do yet
you could get Jared to get fusion 360 on a 1 year free licences so he can learn how to do the tool paths and that sort of thing as fusion cam is simaller to hsm he just cant make parts with it to sale
I've got to say thanks for this vid. I'm a long time solidworks user and had previously used solidcam way back and more recently SprutCam. This vid pushed me to try HsmExpress. After about 15 mins, I had posted my first code. Air cut then committed to the real deal. First post cut beautifully! This plugin is going to save me so much time for my more simple flat plate or 2.5 cam. Thanks John! You rock!
I'm usually not a fan of "watch me do this on my computer" videos, but the stream of comments makes all of the difference. It was very educational to see not only what HSMXpress does, but also how it does it. The introductory narrative at the beginning of the video was excellent as an introduction to the topic that was very much from the perspective of the small shop owner-operator. Clearly you've walked several miles in those shoes.
There are already open source adaptive clearing routines for simple pocketing. I look forward to more complex adaptive clearing, similar to the example you demonstrated, although there's a big hurdle to overcome. The CAM needs to have access to the entire part geometry. To date, the open source wizards are specific to common operations (drilling, pocketing, etc.) and can't be told to make a rounded corner rectangular pocket with an island. Hopefully, in a few years, FreeCAM will have that ability when integrated with FreeCAD. CAD and CAM are finally progressing very quickly, both for commercial software and open source software. Until then, if I had a production job similar to the one you demonstrated, I'd probably hand code it for semi high speed machining and live with the slightly less optimized cycle time and slightly greater tool wear. Or I might trade a favor with a friend with SolidWorks and CAM that generates these complex tool paths. :-)
Thanks for taking the time to make another great video! I don't know how you do it. I can barely find time to WATCH these great videos, and I know how much more time they take to produce.
NYC CNC I find that to be an interesting approach! :-)
I use robots... Arduino robots. They do the CAM programming as well if I feed them right... Sometimes they want 3V, other times, they want 9. Its tough keeping an eye on them. haha!
Love all your videos John. You're just so real - something I really appreciate.
BTW love these video's. Stirs old memories and I think is a perfect way to get conversation among users and companies to start defining the NEXT direction in CAD/CAM. Keep them coming!
I agree with you Soliworks HSM simulation does lack flair. The inventor version got this right, the simulation is far better. You should show how you can use a sketch as tooling geometry, sometimes there are things that you need to cut that are beyond the control of the solid model. I just used that tool today to remove some scalp that was going to get in the way of clamping for a part flip. He is how I do it: Make a sketch, exit, then switch to CAM manger tab. Then make a new tool path, when selecting geometry click back to the solid manger and select the sketch. Then move on like you have before. Hope you like the trick!
Thanks for this video. My hackerspace has some SolidWorks licenses as well as a Tormach, but it rarely gets used because everybody is afraid of destroying it. I got HSMXpress and was able to get the Tormach to face an invisible surface with an empty tool holder. It was nice getting to see that thing move. I will keep on playing with the simulator, but I hope to move onto real stuff next week. Keep the videos coming.
There are a couple of things that make it less than intuitive, all based in the dilemma presented with these types of systems... there are SO MANY ways to work with this stuff. So much information available. WHAT gets presented to the user?? How much is simply overwhelming vs. useful. HOW big a nut does the product manager/system designer want to crack? That is before the automation vs. user control issues... SO to begin the discussion......
First is understanding that these systems have their roots in some solid modeler, many B-rep modelers such as were inspired By Romulus and Acis. Second is the interaction of part classification (Solid Models & attribute data) and how the different vendors use "classifications" and Booleans to build machinable models. ALSO know which algorithms use the solid models & attributes populated on the faces and edges vs. those that use essentially profiles, 2D geometry, and points (along with Coordinate Systems) to generate tool path. Key to many is the ability to have information "migrate" from parts defined in a Boolean operation to the resultant model of part or stock to be machined. Are you machining a part model?? or a Stock to be removed model?? NOT intuitive. (For example: Classify $solid part, classify $solid stock, Boolean creates geometry to be removed.... and during the "Boolean" faces and edges have information that defines things for the machining algorithm.) AND to make things confusing, some algorithms will use that capability and some won't. Last but not least understanding what "parameters are.. and their interaction with those base machining algorithms. The user interfaces.... bottom line? If you or those who train don't understand the guts at some level, using the user interface in a linear fashion is all you learn.
Here's an example of what might happen underneath all that interface... and if you understand this... then find the other algorithms and / or syntax of the commands used to drive those algorithms and then SpurtCam and similar systems will make more sense:
First... most of those algorithms are parameter driven. And they can be set though an interface or menu system directly, or indirectly by creating a text file with an interface/menu system then using that as a "macro" type interaction, or similarly if the system is command based running files such as tool or setup files which go and blast copious amounts of data to set base lines parameters.
When the system is alive (depending on its architecture), a user interface can typically interact with and therefore grab all that parameter data to populate both default settings and do things like define the simple graphic images on the menues... or to even build models such as with tooling for simulation.
Now those algorithm's use the "parameter" information in the definition of their toolpaths:
For example, say you have a series of tooling files defined such that when you pick a 1/2 inch "end" mill all the parameters relative to that tool are now set from that tool's file. Parameters can be as simplistic as diameter and length. (Note with solid models, if material attributes are available, you can look to the model to be machined for information to set or modify tool path and tooling parameters that are now used vs. default....if its ACIS!) Parameters from that tool's file can also be algorithm or method dependent, things like depth of cut, numbers to tweak a circular interp plunge entry method into a pocket, sets / depth of cut in a pocketing routine, the finish or floor r depth of cut.. etc. ALL depends on the system's design & philosophy.
AND anyway, now that all the Parameters are set... then comes the call to the toolpath algorithm either in command form if its a "command based architecture" or called directly from the interface if its a "menu driven" system or hopefully a hybrid where the menu creates and then executes a command AND build a trail of events in a command file THAT can later be re executed in a macro type form.
For example. Going to profile a 2-d part and have it avoid clamps:
A command MIGHT looks something like this:
toolpath avoid $solid entity profile $profile entity...
And what happens is the algorithm looks at the $profile entity, a curve to machine; ( Notice I mixed a "Solid" and a 2-D Profile....in this sample.. to confuse things, could have been simply toolpath avoid $solid1 $solid2 (Clamps) profile $solid3 where the faces of $solid3 are populated with data to front end the base algorithm...ie. the bottom edges are the profile to be used etc.) and tries to build a profile toolpath taking into account it must retract and avoid the $solid entity that might be a clamp or some other piece of geometry...
AND things like type of entry, circular, ramp, etc. are set in the "parameters" and things like feed rates, retract distances etc. are also set in parameter files prior to execution of the algorithm. BUT what makes some of these systems special is the ability of the algorithms to look to the defined geometry for critical information.
HOW these systems are implemented differs, I guess I've seen many during their design and implementation and they all reflect the way their designers/marketing/product management types view the world. But at the core..... LOL SOSDD.
(And it would take a book to define what is the performance envelope of most of those automated routines... SO many special conditions and so many things the USER interface can allow that will simply push past what is possible with a particular algorithm... I could give you an over view of most I suspect, but if you understand the guts of those algorithms and the limitations of the slicing, offsetting, trimming, silhouetting, sorting all the mess created when these things calculate things, a good user learns to "feed" stuff to the algorithms they can handle and a good system designer releases products with user interfaces that help block situations those routines can't deal with.... another entire subject!)
( What I am seeing are systems that look remarkably like a "proof of concept" system I was very familiar with, designed to show case the algorithms vs. being a end user package. These companies didn't get it relative to using these new to them capabilities at the algorithm level to EASE vs. complicate things which is why they never progressed past systems like SpurtCAM with piles of menus over algorythms. SDRC had folks who did understand...all that stuff got sucked into oblivion and then reappeared as a Siemen Product. AND looks really familiar too. Much more so than they will ever admit. Any way these style systems are why I was interested in designing (actually with another smarter fellow did) a "process modeling" interface concept to manage the more complex parts. Basically a interactive menu driven command structure & data structure to front end these type of systems to both make things intuitive & consistent but also to radically speed the iterative process as more process complex parts go through their design phase and tool paths have to be modified geometrically....ALL inspired by a conversation I had over a few days with a very smart man in charge of defining things for a vary large Machine tool builder in Japan. Menu's/User interface is a filter.... LOL BUT that was.. leme see 25 years ago! Hence my original comment on being somewhat disappointed in how little progression there has been and now with some of these entries into the market place what we envisioned and even prototyped way back then is just hitting the market in a usable form now. But back to the farm and driving trucks for me :) )
Bobcad v27 now does parametric cad, and has a feature tree. It's still not as powerful as solidworks, but it's a huge improvement over what they had before. I used to make every design change I needed in solidworks, and redoing my paths. Now I can do most of my basic design work in bobcad.
I use v4 at work, which runs inside of solidworks. And being able to suppress features for 3d paths is great, along with making design changes and quickly updating the features. It does crash solidworks occasionally, mainly when I go to edit a work origin. I learned to save often.
I also like how easy it is to modify their post processors, I have tweaked every processor that I use
Like Rob said adaptive clearing is a roughing strategy, you should use pocket or contour to finish.
To make adaptive run smooth on your machine you need to use the smoothing and tolerance setting to your advantage, I found that setting 0.0004" for both worked well. You can set the default value for any field by right-clicking and selecting default. So I do that for tolerance and smoothing values, as well as stuff like finish overlap.
I noticed you had feed optimization checked, not sure why, for adaptive clearing it's not needed it's really there for legacy pocketing.
Also, to get the most bang for your buck make sure you set the linking feedrate to the max value for adaptive clearing. This is on the last tab, whatever max feedrate is for your machine.
Thanks for this video. I'm very interested in more on HSM CAM. Your videos are very easy to understand for the beginner.
I've just picked up watching this again. In response to your comments about purchasing Solidworks. I hear you! But for those listening, I just want to let them know, that for Inventor HSM Express, it will work with Inventor LT, which is entry level 3D CAD (Personally I would go for a Fusion 360 Ultimate subscription instead though). But importantly if you are looking at full 3D toolpaths, then yes you do need to purchase Solidworks to use HSMWorks... but you don't have to purchase Inventor on top of Inventor HSM (3D, 3+2 & soon, Turning) or HSM Pro (simulataneous 5-axis). So if you aren't committed to using Solidworks, you can go the Inventor route instead and save some $. Full disclosure though, I'm a tech guy for Autodesk CAM products :-)
Hi john, ive been a hmsxpress user for a few months now, However through college i was able to get a student copy of hsmworks, it is crazily intuitive and easy to use, after 5 minutes i was able to figure out full 3d machining, i would highly recommend trying it, would definitely be an upgrade on sprutcam!
Thanks for the video. This is a very common topic I am looking into. I have yet to pulled the trigger on a CAM software. I have only used the Mach3 add-ons which are still fun. As I continue learning I will be saving some bucks for a good CAM package. I like the Tormach Lathe videos you have. That would be a great machine to add to my garage. Take care.
I've been using HSMWorks for a few months now and I'm really liking it too! It's my third full-blown CAM package (after RhinoCAM and SolidCAM) and the modern, intuitive user interface truly is refreshing. I do have a couple gripes and you've hit on a couple of them (I'll only mention the ones that I saw in your vid)...
1. Yeah, if you can figure out how to make the option changes permanent in the simulation: please share! Sometimes I would go in there and change almost every single option. Every check box would be swapped, most of the default options (show tool, etc.) would be turned off, and I'd have to select to show the stock. Annoying. Then I might absentmindedly hit the green check mark thinking it would start "playing" the sim (like you did a couple times) and have to start all over again.
2. When you simulate a single operation it starts the simulation with the full block of stock shown. I believe I saw a button somewhere that said something like "update stock with previous operations" though, so that _might_ solve that lil' issue. I would prefer that was the default behavior though.
After you _check_ the "Show Stock" check-box there is a quality option. It defaults to "Normal". Turning it up to "Best" will make the simulation much better looking (albeit it runs a little slower).
HSMWorks (and I assume HSMXpress as well) has another, uh... _kind_ of simulation called "Stock Simulation" (which is two more options down on the right-click menu). If you use that mode it'll check for tool crashes (or tool holder crashes, optionally) as well. Of course, it also suffers from the problem of using the entire block of stock. In addition to the crash checking, it also gives a nice little printout that shows how much material you're removing with each tool. Way cool!
Last thing I'd think other people might want to know: there is a full ~30-day trial of HSMWorks available (or, there used to be). What's extra cool about this trial is that it actually lets you post the code! And, regarding posting code, they told me that they do not mind people sharing the post processor files. Personally, I'm always a little weary about what I'm "allowed" to distribute and what they might consider against their EULA.
NYC CNC
I did some digging, and it looks like people have been complaining about the lack of changeable defaults since 2010 (at least). Autodesk's response is basically "we think our customers are stupid and cannot handle the awesome power of _configurable settings_". OK, I embellished a little there, but the message isn't too far away from that.
I looked through all the HSM folders I could think of (*Program Files* and *AppData* mostly). There are a couple files in there called "cimco.ini" which contains settings that _look_ a lot like they would control the simulation, but I nothing seemed to change when I messed with the values. :/ I think there were a couple XML files which I looked through as well, no luck though. I also searched through the registry as well as I could, but nothing looked worth changing.
The CAM integration in Fusion 360 is quickly becoming more powerful than HSMXpress. For the home user I would highly recommend Fusion especially for the price.
The great thing about the HSM line of products is that they hardly need tutorials!
For single part machining jobs I have been designing straight in Fusion but for big multi part jobs solidworks still wins. The import capability of fusion means that you can do both if you want. It imports native solidworks files no problem.
The CAM side of things is pretty much identical to HSM because it is HSM, but the way you select edges in fusion is massively powerful and flexible. You have probably figured it out already but with HSMworks in Solidworks and fusion 360 you can use sketch lines as part of your machining so you can artificially make machining boundaries and all sorts of things to extend the possibilities.
The direction Autodesk is going with fusion is super impressive. Check out the Monkey Likes Shiny blog to see some cool stuff they are doing with Jeff Tiedeken
Hi John, i am using HSMXpress in SW and export to GRBL and work very fine on mu diy very low cost milling machine: I hope it will work as you espect with your very nice milling machine. There is a point you may have not seen yet, the Xpress version don´t come with turning features available :S. Would have be great some basics functions like for milling. Keep posting videos, it´s very nice !
Another great and timely video. I was looking at all the CAM options to support my 4th axis and was looking at SpruteCam. Glad you did this video when you did.
I have been running HSMExpress and am hooked, everything I don't like about it I find I just wasn't operating it properly (lack of any formal training). As others have mentioned it sometimes just doesn't create a tool path and no reason why. Need more in depth video's on all the knobs. I see how the free version gets you hooked and now I want the full version.
BTW there are a lot of HSM video's but yours was the first to address the Stock Contours use. To get some operations to work the way I want I have to suppress the Solid Works features then later protect the HSM entries to prevent them from wanting to pick them back up later in another process, In your video you could suppress the center hole in Solid Works then cut the notch without worrying bout the hole coming into play.
The HSM drill operations generate the tool path inline, not just when you save it. I wish this was the case for the 2D and 3D processes.
NYC CNC
Yes, in HSM when I am entering and changing the parameters for drilling holes the drawing screen are updated as I am adjusting the parameters, other more complex ones like Contour milling it only updates when I check the green arrow and apply the changes. Some video's of HSMWorks it updates all the screens real-time, probably a feature of a paid version? Maybe my PC environment?
Also, one of our recent customers, paid off their HSMWorks purcahse in 1 month based on time savings with generation time for toolpaths, post time & then most significantly with machine time... and they are being conversation with HSM feed rates. They were using a popular rival CAM product previously. I'm just pointing out that ROI, extends beyond the CAM process itself with HSMWorks.
Awesome video as usual. I also got solidworks/HSMxpress free as a veteran. It's only good for a year though. Not sure what I'll do when the year is up. 10K+ foe a cam package is just going to happen for me.
Nice timing, I just got the military/student version of solidworks and downloaded hmsexpress.
oh man thank you so much for this video, iv been looking for a cam software to get and we just started learning some solidworks at my cnc course so this is definitely going to help me with learning to evaluate different CAM softwares since wer going to be using solidcam at the course
again thank you for the amazing video and its always a pleasure watching :)
Actually considering getting hsmworks for the shop I work at. Would be our first CAM software. I guess I just needed to show the boss posted code working on our Hurco machines. Everything we've done up till now has been right at the control either by programming free hand or importing a dxf at the control and building the program based on that (basically CAM built into the machine.)
Well...we bought it. Leased it on a yearly basis as that includes the maintenance...seemed like a better deal than a perpetual license. Now I have something new to learn...and a boss asking me if I'm actually doing something while sitting at a computer programming the machines vs free hand like I've been doing for so long. haha
One thing to remember on pricing is that there are some very aggressive pricing for Students and Educators. We homeschool and you can get a student edition of SolidWorks for about $130. Certainly this doesn't apply for professionals but I teach CAM and machining to homeschool students and so the state of the art software is not out of reach. SPRUT is the same. I applaud the vendors for making the tech available at very reasonable prices for students and educators.
Yes, I know that they have an ulterior motive to teach skills. That said, there is an acknowledgement of the importance of education.
Hey John, Glad you finally stumbled upon HSMXpress! *****
It looks like you're using adaptive clearing as a finishing strategy in a few places, and you'll probably be disappointed with those results. You'll want to go back in and use a 2D contour operation to finish all of those areas. Both 2D contour and 2D pocket are misleadingly powerful. Initially, they appear very simple strategies, but they'll surprise you. Let me know if you need a hand setting up those operations, i'd be glad to help.
If you have money and want industry standard CAD/CAM software you can always go for CATIA, it is software of choice in aerospace, automotive industries. Only downside of it is price (it is in range from 9000$ to 65000$ per seat, depending on the modules selected. SolidWorks is basically light version of CATIA (or child of it) and both are from same company.
There is Pro/ENGINEER, which was popular, even Ferrari designed its F1 engines in it (cars was designed in CATIA).
***** Solidworks had only three realise before it was acquired by Dassault and they have little common with Dassault released (Solidworks technically is just one of many forms of parasolid but Dassault is putting features od CATIA in it)
CATIA V5 is 17 year old software but latest version is 1 years old V5-6R2014 (or R24)
CATIA V6 require enovia server, but that is not big requirement you can install enovia plm express which work quite happy with ms sql express server, and most most people have ms sql express server installed anyway (even some options in Solidworks require it).
For function in CAD between Solidworks and CATIA are if you need only basic shape modeling are really close (I even think Solidworks do that better) but for sophisticated shape modeling CATIA is light years ahead (Generative Surface Design product, FreeStyle Shaper, class A surfaces) and in composite design.
I used CATIA V5 CAM module last time in 2000 or so, and it was much better then HMS offer today (but that is my opinion, and I am not expert in CAM,and HMS I saw only in machine shop that do work for us, but what is simple in CATIA is big pain to do in HMS).
I do agree that Solidworks is best all around solution for small businesses (my company use it for design enclosure for electronic, and we like that it have good simulation solutions especially fluid for its price)
Great video. I use HSMXpress for my hobby needs. I find that sometimes it can be super frustrating when it doesn't generate a tool path, and you have to just blindly adjust settings until it does. Otherwise it's pretty great software. I also like that you can completely adjust the post processing to suit your machine. I added a tool height sensor to my machine and was able to easily add a cycle to touch off the tool height sensor after each tool change (important to me because I can only afford so many tormach quick tool change collets).
NYC CNC I found that if I was pocketting a hole that was only a little bigger than the tool I was using, and if the lead-in or lead-out was too large, it didn't know how to generate a tool path. I think the better strategy in that case is to pre-drill for the pocket, but I was trying to do the whole shebang with no tool changes.
Mark Kotyk I like the fact that you can look at work log and see where you mistakes are, and there's a what's wrong selection also. I get to use these alot, being a newb to
CnC.
Mark Kotyk If there is no space for the lead-in that you specifically chose, then no that is not the fault of HSMxpress. Uncheck the leads and do step down or spiral down. Maybe a warning popup would have been useful in your case though.
Hey, John. Glad you like HSM! I've been using HSMWorks for about a year and a half, and it's pretty much what I taught myself how to do CAM on. If you don't mind, I'll shoot you an email with some quick things I've learned in my experience and hopefully that'll help you out some?
I realy love that you shear how you think about softwear pricing and ,sho on it is interesting hearing how you think about its lik me i like too investigate try compear too !!
CHEERZZ!!
Great video! If/when I upgrade my software my sort of dream ticket would probably be Solidworks/HSMWorks. I hear amazingly positive reviews of this combo. Since I'm not a job shop RhinoCAM is certainly adequate for what I do given Rhino is not parametric but I would never buy another CAD that wasn't parametric in the future. I would also never buy another CAM that didn't have high speed toolpaths.
Yeah really! BTW if you pin yours into a barrel using the Tormach DON'T USE the parameters from video 17! You will have a bad time. I've broken enough drills and reamers now to figure out it was way too aggressive for the 4150CMV ordnance grade machingun barrels. I'm editing a short updated video on CNC Pinning gasblocks into barrels right now with updated drilling and reaming parameters. It should be up soon and those will be good to go. I believe AR15 gasblock and barrel pinning is mainly done on a manual Bridgeport or even a drill press and I've never heard or seen anyone do them on a CNC so maybe I'm the first dumbass to try. So in some ways I'm in the future man, 22nd century! Once dialed in though it works great. In this situation VERY VERY slow is your friend, lots or air and oil too!
Not unless you want to pin the gasblock with a drill bit. More like 0.5ipm. I even tried 1ipm and even that made me a little uneasy about snapping the drill. The 0.5ipm was slow but seemed more foolproof.
This walktrhou was better than hsm express tuturials cool!!
yea and it is sho fricking frustrating that they only show when everyting works not what too do when somting goes wrong!!
and the show only like 2 minuts not all the stepps !! more company should folow hsm sho we customers can try out a part off there produckt free ass long as we want then we can realy find out what softwear we like and then by what we want instead of baying then regreting spending alot off mony!!
I started with HMXPRESS from gencam and about two years ago auto desk bought them.
FYI: NexGen CAM was the US distributor of HSM Works software before Autodesk acquired the company. After the acquisition, there was some concern about what would happen to the NexGen folks as they were a great VAR and really helped make HSM Works into one of the best CAM systems out there. As it turns out, most of the NexGen folks took up jobs at Autodesk. Anthony Graves was NexGen's director of marketing and became the Autodesk CAM Product Manager. He's leaving and is being replaced at Autodesk by Al Whatmough who was the president at NexGen.
And the NexGen tutorials are a bit stale - with the Autodesk acquisition, HSM (they are in Denmark BTW) has been working to bring their core software to both Inventor and Fusion 360. All that work has sort of slowed down core CAM development a bunch.
NYC CNC Autodesk definitely has a lot of weight behind F360, but I don't think that's their main vision for HSM. From what they have said/done, the idea is to have a core HSM kernel, and different implementations across HSM Works (for SolidWork), HSM Inventor (integrated into Inventor) and Fusion 360 CAM. The vision is that the HSM team implements a new feature once, and it rapidly flows to the integrated products. Of course, there was a boatload of work getting HSM up and running in Inventor and Fusion, so both the SW implementation and core CAM features took a back seat for a while.
It is shaping up to be a really extraordinary product though. Might even be the future of CAM (with some work - turning sucks)
Nice work sir! (as usual :) )
Solidworks is $20, yes, $20 for veterans. I also know that there is deskproto CAM which does 5 axis for $400 hobbyist pricing. Commercial pricing was not bad either.
You mentioned tapping and the dwell time. My experience (from Fusion 360 not HSMXpress) is that the default post uses the G84 cycle which does not have a dwell time with Mach3. To get my tension/compression tapping head working well I had to make some post changes (solidworks HSM, inventor HSM, and Fusion 360 use the same posts.) More info on autodesk's CAM forum: camforum.autodesk.com/index.php?topic=6074.0
When you wants tool path other then a feature. Draw a sketch and exit. Then you want that tool path just select the sketch in the build tree.
Is HSMworks really free for commercial use? Or is it only for start-ups/small companies? I do question if Autodesk will discontinue support for Solidworks users in the long-term (which is what I use at work).
I've been watching your channel for a while.
Found it by accicdent, (very cool discovery, by the way...).
I Had a lousy experience with BobCad (still makes me see red!):
I bought 2 seats, then found a friend with 4 seats at less than a fourth the price I paid.
Sent the unopened box back, and they kept 20% of my money.(Apologies for the rave).
I noticed that you had Solidworks 14 version. Now have the 15 version.
Did you get the upgrade with all the features, weldments, sheet metal, electrical, full-meal-deal etc?
Where did you get your Solidworks training?
I beleive Solidworks is the "go to" software for for cad. It does go on sale occasionally.
I would very much appreciate your dialog, thoughts, & comments.
You create really in depth informative vids! Thanks,
NYC CNC Hi John, Thanks for the great video! I downloaded HSM Express a few months ago but have not used it yet. You just gave the inspiration.
I have SolidWorks 2012 Standard which does have sheet metal. If they discontinued it in the 2015 version, you can download any previous SolidWorks version at no expense.
Also SolidWorks has always been able to open previous version files, just not future versions. It is my understanding that in 2013, SolidWorks was to begin allowing saving as a previous version which would allow file sharing with those with earlier versions.
As a hobbyist, the yearly maintenance fee is a bit steep so I will stay with 2012 as long as it works for me.
Bob
I've been aggregating HSM videos on the CADPRO Systems TH-cam channel in a series of Playlists. We have some of our own on there as well....
I too started with BobCAD. It was like driving a vw microbus in a Formula One race, it just doesn't seem to work very well in comparison to a real racecar.
What are your thoughts on Blender CAM?
Although Fusion is lacking in the video tutorial department. There are a bunch out there but few good ones.
Congratulations for the great job. I would like to study a little more HSM , you could get your file?
What is the website I can Oder HSM
Please help me out
Am I the only one thats OCD and is being driven nuts because the spindle is running on the Tormach, but not cutting anything?
NYC CNC Oh... yeah, that would make sense.
Pro/E doesn't exist anymore it called CERO. What sucks now is you get Inventor along with HSMWorks for the same price as just Hsmworks for Solidworks. 10K for Inventor + HSM 2.5,3, 3+2 and SIM 5 and Machine Simulation+ Lathe when it comes out (which will be resigned)
Thinking you could throw that out in your next video. I have been looking at doing that for myself its a steal for the price honestly
I saw where you can get HSMworks free with Fusion360... all for about $40.00 a month if you're a hobbyist.
Barney Matthews fusion 360 isn't geared for what I do. It's decent software plus no 5 axis support
YOU GET 2 THUMBBZZUPP!!
you mist one hole
fusion 360 cam is very close to hsm almost the same, I think its a little bit easier to use than hsm but its still not finished need some fixes done but for indexing and 3D cutting and 2.5D cutting its fine. the 2D drawing needs some fix`s too, some things you cant just do yet
NYC CNC yep its getting there but I like it just do 2D drawings in a different program to they get it fixed
Fusion 360 ultimate from Autodesk is very affordable.
hsmXpress is avalible for autodesk Inventor
you could get Jared to get fusion 360 on a 1 year free licences so he can learn how to do the tool paths and that sort of thing as fusion cam is simaller to hsm he just cant make parts with it to sale
NYC CNC get jared into it the drawing is different to soild works cam not so different to HSM
wish I could justify solidworks.
NYC CNC What if you are current military?
Much Bla Bla Bla