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Solidworks for Makers and SolidCAM

David

David

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I took a flier on the on-premise version of Solidworks for Makers annual sub for $60 CDN. Then discovered SolidCAM which provides a Maker version of the SolidCAM product.
So far I'm quite impressed. Solidworks feels much like Fusion and similar to Alibre so pretty minimal transition there. And SolidCAM looks quite intuitive to use.
 
I thought SWM pinched off any file formats that could be turned into common CAM formats that a CNC could typically understand. Mesh formats like .STL exports ok for 3DP, but that was about it?
Is Maker SolidCam kind of a sister product to Maker CAD? I would have thought that having it 'work' with SWM would defeat their whole restriction philosophy?

On Reddit I keep hearing SW 3D Experience rants where it failed to recognize or failed to update or not recognizing my account or site down.... nothing really pertaining to maker app itself, just the swamp of a website & really bad gatekeeper control. Obviously you navigated through it ok?

I hope you like SWM. If you have any questions along the way feel free to reach out. I'll help if I can.
 
There's two version of Solidworks for Makers. One is cloud-based and does not include CAM capability. The other is on-premise and does include the Delmia NC Shop Floor Programmer which is a fancy CAM program.

From the Solidworks for Makers site:
Files and data created with your Maker account are digitally watermarked and can only be opened with a SOLIDWORKS for Makers license. You cannot open files created with your Maker account within a commercial or academic platform. This digital watermark is added to native 3D file formats, such as .3dxml, .sldprt, .sldasm, and .slddrw. Neutral 3D file formats, such as .stp or .iges can be opened on any platform.

I wasn't interested in NC Shop Floor Programmer but I found SolidCAM which offers a Maker version of its CAM application.
SolidCAM is an add-on product from SolidCAM

CAM Software: Seamlessly Integrated with SOLIDWORKS

CAM Software: Seamlessly Integrated SolidCAM, Running Directly Inside SOLIDWORKS, Solid Edge, and Autodesk Inventor. Experience Full Tool Path Associativity for Enhanced Efficiency.
www.solidcam.com www.solidcam.com

It's tightly integrated into Solidworks. After I installed SolidCAM I opened Solidworks and there's a row of SolidCAM tabs so it basically feels the same as Fusion.
 
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Very interesting. I'm not into CAM but this looks like good capability. I still wonder though - what is the control mechanism? If you make a complex 3D part in SWM & can pass the CAD file to a CNC & presumably make a production run that is now outside the SW domain, why would they allow 2 apps costing $100 to perform like the full seat apps costing thousands?
 
PeterT said:
Very interesting. I'm not into CAM but this looks like good capability. I still wonder though - what is the control mechanism? If you make a complex 3D part in SWM & can pass the CAD file to a CNC & presumably make a production run that is now outside the SW domain, why would they allow 2 apps costing $100 to perform like the full seat apps costing thousands?
Click to expand...
It's a good question. I know one of the limits is that they only make three post-processors;
  • ISO Milling 3X post
  • Mach3 Milling post
  • ISO Turning 2X post
The North American Sales director emailed me this morning and when I asked if they were going to make more post-processors he pointed me at their post-processor development tool where I can tweak, tune, modify to suit my needs. I need to do more work with it to find out if it's going to work with my machine.

The personal use version of Fusion doesn't do rapid moves between operations. So if your feed rate is 100mm/min that's the rate used to move between milling locations. If you have a complex part with a lot of moves that time can really add up. The personal use version doesn't allow tool changes so if you have a facing operation, a pocketing operation and a drilling operation, that's three separate gcode files to be made and loaded up. Does a hobbyist care? I can tell you that the ease of one file that contains all the operations is very nice to use.
Now there is a workaround for both of these limitations in Fusion but I don't trust Fusion not to do something that break that workaround.
 
So maybe you are saying the CAM toolpath 'outputs' are more limited, maybe confined to a smaller/slower hobby CNC's as opposed to full blown commercial CNC's so that maybe that self regulates potential for anything like commercial production due to that? Example it takes you 30 min to kick out a part on a hobby CNC versus a big boy machine would do it in 5 min, but it does not allow a means to generate big boy code?

I read some other stipulation or obligatory consent that limits $/year from SWM or something along those lines but I'm just referring to the file export capabilities.
Anyways, cool. Keep us posted.
 
So far over the past 6 years Fusion has not done anything to prevent that Tim Paterson rapids bypass. He keeps on top of it so personally I have no desire to chase after a less capable solution. Autodesk must also be re-thinking things a bit, evidenced by their repeated offers of 50% off.

Everytime you switch CAD/CAM tools you lose what you have learned. And too often take a step backwards. I used to lover Grbl, but after using PathPilot I have zero desire to move back. Ditto with Fusion360, no desire to go back to Alibre or SW or .. all of which have less funtionality and less training/learning support..
 
gerritv said:
So far over the past 6 years Fusion has not done anything to prevent that Tim Paterson rapids bypass. He keeps on top of it so personally I have no desire to chase after a less capable solution. Autodesk must also be re-thinking things a bit, evidenced by their repeated offers of 50% off.

Everytime you switch CAD/CAM tools you lose what you have learned. And too often take a step backwards. I used to lover Grbl, but after using PathPilot I have zero desire to move back. Ditto with Fusion360, no desire to go back to Alibre or SW or .. all of which have less funtionality and less training/learning support..
Click to expand...
I’m so new to CAM that I have virtually nothing to relearn :D
One thing I don’t think SolidCAM has is adaptive tool paths.
 
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Spent a bit of time working in Solidworks today. The workflow is similar but Fusion is a bit easier to navigate. I suspect this is due to SW basically presenting much of its functionality upfront ready to use whereas Fusion seems to hide it a bit more.
SolidCAM workflow looked very similar in the tutorials but I'm clearly doing something wrong as I keep getting stuck in a loop. Need to rewatch the tutorials.
 
Standing offer to help with any SW CAD questions that arise. I have not run Fusion so can't bridge the equivalence/difference gap between them. Zero knowledge on the CAM side at present.

One thing you might check into. Our (Calgary) public library has full access to LinkedIn Learning through their digital services. I think current annual subscription is ~400USD so pretty good value for a $10 library card. Hopefully yours has something similar (or Udemy or one of those). LIL has a very complete suite of SW tutorial videos. Yes there is a lot of content on YouTube but its kind of scattered & variable quality IMO, not really ABC progression that builds on concepts. You are coming from another CAD environment which one hand is good (you know what you want to do & that a command should be there) but also bad (because your familiarity is rooted in how that package did things so could be some un-learning). And of course, just where the buttons are.
 
The Calgary Library Foundation - the funding arm of the library - is looking for donations to make up an inflation caused shortfall. I'm going to send them some money. I also use PressReader another library service to read periodicals (lots) after canceling my south of 49 subscriptions. And I use Libby, their online ebook service. The library is awesome. I forgot about their online course stuff.

Click here to learn more and make your donation to The Fifth Book campaign to the Calgary Library.
 
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