Nx + Hypermill or only Nx

Matt_W · Nov 21, 2022

empower said:
to me, the biggest problem isnt creating a frame, its keeping track of them. in hypermill, to see the actual orientation of the frame, you have to select/click edit to see the gnomon (unless thats been changed lately). which makes it a pain in the ass knowing if i'm using the correct frame/orientation.
in fusion/nx, you see it clearly on every toolpath (the gnomon)

Don't think this is new but when you select the frame you can clearly see the orientation and position of the frame. It is also possible rename them.

Al_Ma · Nov 21, 2022

empower said:
i have used geomagic. why do you dismiss everything i say about NX without ever trying it?

I'm just asking for constructive explanations LOL

empower · Nov 21, 2022

Al_Ma said:
I'm just asking for constructive explanations LOL

ask something specific. you asked a very broad question about surfacing, i gave you a broad answer, that in the industry, NX is considered to have the best/highest quality surfacing tools available.

Al_Ma · Nov 21, 2022

empower said:
ask something specific. you asked a very broad question about surfacing, i gave you a broad answer, that in the industry, NX is considered to have the best/highest quality surfacing tools available.

Geomagic is used for reverse and for hybrid and sculptural modeling and we are not just talking about class A surfaces. So I ask can I use NX to reverse engineer organic objects better than Geomagic? I've seen NX's advanced freeform modeling before.

empower · Nov 21, 2022

Al_Ma said:
Geomagic is used for reverse and for hybrid and sculptural modeling and we are not just talking about class A surfaces. So I ask can I use NX to reverse engineer organic objects better than Geomagic? I've seen NX's advanced freeform modeling before.

yes, NX has reverse engineering. wether its better or worse than geomagic is up to debate. it has all the tools to do it. matter of preference.

Marvel · Nov 21, 2022

empower said:
NX surfacing is the best in industry.
if you're thinking about buying both NX and hypermill to only use the NX CAD but hypermill for CAM... well you've just got more money than brains.

empower said:
yes, NX has reverse engineering. wether its better or worse than geomagic is up to debate. it has all the tools to do it. matter of preference.

To an extent, everything is up for debate, its all matter of opinion based on the user, experience and needs.

"NX surfacing is the best in industry" - This would be your opinion based on your experience with NX and whichever other CAM software you have used.

What makes NX surfacing the best in the industry? What makes NX in general the best?

My opinion, NX is superior in some ways, but not necessarily the best for all across the board. There's a lot of programmers out there that will say MasterCam is, my opinion of MasterCam is incredibly low, but I know there are a lot of MasterCam programmers that can do wonders with it, cause they are very experienced and I bet there's plenty of MasterCam users out there that could program the exact same part as one in NX just as efficient and the part side by side off the machine you couldn't tell the difference what software it was programmed in. Same goes for Fusion, I've come across some beautifully machines parts and ask what software was used and used to be shocked when they would say Fusion.

A lot of programmers that don't need the CAD power side of NX and it becomes a waste of money.

Individual experience and knowledge outweighs opinion of what is best everyday.

empower · Nov 21, 2022

Marvel said:
To an extent, everything is up for debate, its all matter of opinion based on the user, experience and needs.

"NX surfacing is the best in industry" - This would be your opinion based on your experience with NX and whichever other CAM software you have used.

What makes NX surfacing the best in the industry? What makes NX in general the best?

My opinion, NX is superior in some ways, but not necessarily the best for all across the board. There's a lot of programmers out there that will say MasterCam is, my opinion of MasterCam is incredibly low, but I know there are a lot of MasterCam programmers that can do wonders with it, cause they are very experienced and I bet there's plenty of MasterCam users out there that could program the exact same part as one in NX just as efficient and the part side by side off the machine you couldn't tell the difference what software it was programmed in. Same goes for Fusion, I've come across some beautifully machines parts and ask what software was used and used to be shocked when they would say Fusion.

A lot of programmers that don't need the CAD power side of NX and it becomes a waste of money.

Individual experience and knowledge outweighs opinion of what is best everyday.

fair enough. the surfacing bit is from talking to lots of people that use not only NX but also other packages and have said the same = that NX surfacing is the best in the biz. but ya pretty subjective

Marvel · Nov 21, 2022

empower said:
fair enough. the surfacing bit is from talking to lots of people that use not only NX but also other packages and have said the same = that NX surfacing is the best in the biz. but ya pretty subjective

I would agree, more times than not a programmer that has used a majority of CAM packages, extensively, including of course NX will more than likely say it is superior, in many aspects.

I’ve talked to quite a few people, that also have NX experience as well as others and say SurfCam has the best surfacing. If you want my opinion on SurfCam, I haven’t used it since 2016ish, but it’s down there with BobCad, it’s absolutely terrible!

It’s no different than those saying MasterCam is the #1 CAM software cause “they have the most users”. It doesn’t make them the #1 at all. To me it shows early on someone had great marketing ideas and made good business moves by getting into tech schools and flooding the market.

But like I said, to me it’s all opinionated. A good experienced programmer will create a good program efficiently in what they are experienced in. 9 times out of 10 if they can’t get a tool path to do what they want, it’s more than like not that software can’t do it, it’s a setting or two they overlooked, or haven’t ever used. One software may accomplish the same task easier, less clicks, but thats integration.

len_1962 · Nov 22, 2022

Marvel said:
I’ve talked to quite a few people, that also have NX experience as well as others and say SurfCam has the best surfacing. If you want my opinion on SurfCam, I haven’t used it since 2016ish, but it’s down there with BobCad, it’s absolutely terrible!

Yes I am one of those that swear by surfcam's surfacing toolpath best I have ever used, so many options to drive it the way you want. Yes it's AutoCAD 12 for creating but if you use it with SolidWorks easy peasy, I do all my part setup in SW and open the assembly in surfcam, have all my material boundries, tool containment boundries all ready to go then I don't have to do anything but set my CVIEWs and program away. Yes I mostly use HSMWorks now, but since my cut assembly is done all I have to do is open in surfcam and ready to put toolpath that say HSMWorks couldn't do as nice as surfcam.

Al_Ma · Nov 24, 2022

This is one of the things that interested me

Areo Defense · Nov 28, 2022

Hope this helps...I'm not sure what geomagic's target customer is but from an ex-colleague, who has been in automotive in recent years, it sounds like many of the major auto companies use a surfacing software to compliment their main design software.

Areo Defense · Nov 30, 2022

Areo Defense said:
Hope this helps...I'm not sure what geomagic's target customer is but from an ex-colleague, who has been in automotive in recent years, it sounds like many of the major auto companies use a surfacing software to compliment their main design software.

That being said...

@Al_Ma
GM has been NX (aka the old Unigraphics) for a long time, Chrysler dropped Catia for NX during the Daimler days, as well as a number of other auto companies. That doesn't account for the market share NX has in aerospace and defense sectors.

alanzie · Dec 1, 2022

empower said:
hypermill is a step down from NX, zero reason to get both. NX will do everything you want it to, and then some.

A step down??? Hardly.

alanzie · Dec 1, 2022

gkoenig said:
Best Fit, the dog-n-pony show trick where you probe in the machine and update the CAD model?
Or as I like to think of it - backwards dynamic work offsets. Yes, NX can do it:

It is a nice trick, but the real challenges are on the machine and probe side, not so much the CAM side. For simple parts in a centering vise, you just need 2 planes, feed that data back into the CAD side, and use that to orient the part. The demo above is far more complicated as the part has no orthogonal surfaces, so the Blum software is feeding point clouds back to NX, which is low-key using some of the reverse engineering tools (Best Fit surface) to match that scan data to the part model and re-orient it. In NX, all of what you see in that demo are existing tools; the work is integrating them all into one seamless package...

Which is why NX kinda blows everything out of the water on high-complexity applications. The CAD and CAM side can work together in ways that other systems simply can't. Now, how much of that messy integration work the fine folks at Siemens do and offer as turnkey solutions is another matter, but NX Open gives you the ability to solve basically any complex manufacturing issue.

Yes, NX has strategies for circle segment cutters.

Best Fit does not update the CAD model, it updates the posted toolpath to fit the part as it sits on the machine. Best Fit works after the toolpaths have been calculated, not before. It adjusts the toolpath to fit the part, not vice versa. It is neither a dog-n-pony show, nor is it a 'nice trick'. I don't believe NX or anyone else has this capability.

alanzie · Dec 1, 2022

Areo Defense said:
NX is considered top tier for cad and cam , not to mention seamlessly and completely integrated.

Hyper is none of the above.

You've used hyperMILL and can make this statement through your own experience?

empower · Dec 1, 2022

alanzie said:
A step down??? Hardly.

ok, random newbie that just joined today to make this post...

empower · Dec 1, 2022

alanzie said:
You've used hyperMILL and can make this statement through your own experience?

i have, and i can.

Areo Defense · Dec 1, 2022

alanzie said:
You've used hyperMILL and can make this statement through your own experience?

No, I never said I did. I can say that I have never heard of Hyper's cam used in aerospace/defense. Never. Not saying that it doesnt exist at all in that sector, because it might. I am not aware of it and I am certainly not the end-all to this discussion lol. As for cad end of things, the same applies. I have a lot of mold experience too and Hyper's cam is used there somewhat but nobody purchases anything in the MC or Hyper range for their cad platform. Just doesn't happen. I could ask the same questions but this isn't helping the OP with their inquiry.

OVodov · Dec 1, 2022

I've seen Die companies used MasterCam for CAD.
I've been used it for CAD for creating fixtures in Aerospace company because the boss of the company was greedy.
MC is a nightmare as a CAD, especially when you have experience with real CAD.

gkoenig · Dec 1, 2022

alanzie said:
Best Fit does not update the CAD model, it updates the posted toolpath to fit the part as it sits on the machine. Best Fit works after the toolpaths have been calculated, not before. It adjusts the toolpath to fit the part, not vice versa. It is neither a dog-n-pony show, nor is it a 'nice trick'. I don't believe NX or anyone else has this capability.

Bullshit. Go watch Hypermill's own Best Fit video:

They have a hugely complicated probing routine, send it to the machine via their UI straight outta 1992, it spits out a "Best Fit Report" that updates the CAM model, which updates their tool path, which they run. So they are taking a point set out of probing back into CAM and using it to align the part.

Or you could, you know, just use G68.2/Cycle 800 on the machine and accomplish all the same stuff without all the busywork.

Nx + Hypermill or only Nx

Cast Iron

Plastic

Titanium

Plastic

Titanium

Aluminum

Titanium

Aluminum

Stainless

Plastic

Aluminum

Aluminum

Plastic

Plastic

Plastic

Titanium

Titanium

Aluminum

Aluminum

Titanium

Similar threads