As we are looking in to adding CNC capabilities next year (probably a CNC router), we are going to need CAM software. So, what do people think the best CAM software is? Preferably it would integrate with SolidWorks, which is what we do all our CAD in. Also, how do teams structure CNC programming? Does the design team do all the CAM or do they hand it off to the fabrication team, or something else? Thanks in advance.
HSMWorks
For my internship this summer we will be using Solidworks and MasterCAM, which seems like a pretty industry-standard CAD/CAM pair that works really well. However, I am not familiar with the cost or if you could get sponsored software from MasterCAM. I have also had experience using Creo (I took a college-level class in it), and their CAM package (it’s actually built into the Creo CAD software), from my experience, is decent and fairly intuitive, plus I’m pretty sure Creo is free to teams. I’m sure there are many other worthy options as well, I wish I could be more helpful.
HSMexpress/HSMworks FTW. It’s free, it’s easy, It works with solidworks and it doesn’t suck.
If your fabrication team knows a bit of solidworks then I’d have them do the CAM. If your CAD team knows a bit of machining then they can do the CAM. I’n my experience these groups usually overlap.
Seconded, HSMxpress is the free version. I also HIGHLY suggest Vectric Cut2D Pro, I describe it as the MS Paint of CAM software, simple to learn, simple to use, but no high ceiling on ability. It’s a great start to lead into HSM easily.
EDIT: I use both for work.
Hsmworks. Free for all students! Best thing ever. Allows for intuitive operations and efficient machining.
If you’re willing to switch to Inventor, you can get Inventor HSM Professional for free if you’re a school, student, or educator. Long story short, it does just about everything. Also, since Autodesk owns HSM now, you’ll probably get updates sooner in Inventor than you will in SolidWorks.
HSMWorks, HSM Express, Fusion 360, etc all use the same CAM kernel and roughly the same user interface. It’s a harmony we call Autodesk CAM.
He can get HSMWorks for Solidworks for free too. But it definitely has fewer features.
We found this to be true… We found out that the solidworks version of hsmworks does not have autotab feature yet. Made some work holding a bit different when we were making gussets. Though I have been told this feature is in fusion 360. We were thinking of switching to mastercam provided the cost is not prohibitive.
MasterCAM is expensive, but they may give a pretty good educational discount. It is significantly harder to use than HSMWorks. I don’t think the learning curve for MasterCAM is worth it for just the tabs. You’ll lose the nice integration between CAD and CAM and you’ll have to redo all your CAM if you make a tiny change to your part most of the time.
It’s quite easy to add your own tabs in HSMWorks. I usually make a configuration of the part that contains the stock/tabs/fixtures to make sure everything fits. It’s better to spend the extra 20 minutes to draw up the part in the machine with the tools/tool holders than to spend hours designing something only to find that the tool/machine can’t reach.
HSMWorks is what we use.
The MOE mechanical c design/CAD team last season was also our CNC and 3D printing team since I was the only mentor that knew how to work everything. Since this was the first year we really used CNC, I hope that we can expand the capability next year and have mechanical fabrication team involved as well. Do what works for you.
I’ll second Inventor HSM, we used it for a variety of parts this year on our new X-Carve CNC Router. Fairly easy to pick up if you’re already familiar with inventor, and no issues with it so far (though it takes a little trial and error to get used to how some of the settings work). 
I second HSMWorks if you’re integrating into solidworks. This year the team used creo for CAD, and whenever we needed to route a part I imported it into fusion 360. No need to convert file types either, it works with a plethora of file types. Autodesk’s CAM package is excellent and easy to learn. I would have a posted file within minutes and be off to the machine. The CAM can be as simple as inputing tool data, clicking contours, and setting heights. The toolpaths it generates can be focused around keeping a constant width of cut on a tool, or it can be just conventional slotting. Autodesk’s support is amazing as well, and they’ll gladly edit any post to your liking. Fusion’s CAM is just a standalone extension of HSMWorks with a revamped UI. After getting a student license for Solid Works and a free copy of HSMWorks, I’ve been warming up to the integrated experience.
As for integrating CAM into the build process, whenever a part needed to be made the CAD file was handed off to someone who could use the software. They’d create the toolpaths then make the part, while whoever is designing continues working.
I’ve been using Fusion 360 to generate gcode for our Shapeoko. I like it, but I also haven’t used anything else.
I’m not sure if this is unique or not, but it also has a wonderful simulation for the toolpaths that includes showing you exactly what material is being removed (it starts with a solid block).
It also has CAM for waterjet, plasma, and turning.
Of course, its free for education use.
We use HSMpro with inventor, and we could not be able to go without it. It is intuitive, but still has a lot of details, and is also very easy to master. Honestly just playing around with it for a day with a few tutorials can give you a good understanding of the software. At least that was my experience.
It’s $600 for a seat of MasterCAM or MasterCAM for Solidworks. If you use the latter you don’t miss out on the associativity of HSMWorks. MasterCAM has a change recognition tool in the standalone version that will allow you to update geometry without redoing the entire CAM program, but it can be unwieldy at times.
I wanted to switch to HSMWorks but no tabs is a deal breaker. I’m not gonna waste the time to draw in tabs when I could have the part done already in MasterCAM.
Another vote for HSMWorks. Andy A and I use it drive a CNC router, two different mills, and a CNC plasma cutter.
What do you mean by ‘tabs’?
I’ve found this technique for tabs in HSMWorks to work alright.
Most CAM packages will by default add “tabs” to a contour toolpath. Basically little bridges of material that connect the part to the stock. You contour at full depth around the exterior of the part and the tool raises maybe .025"-.060" (depending on how many tabs you have and how large the part is) over a small length at various points around the perimeter such that the part is basically done, but doesn’t drop out of the stock.
Lets you cut the full depth contour and then you either hammer out the part with a deadblow and snap the tabs off, or you bandsaw them off if the part is delicate. Then you can remove the remainder of the tab with a belt sander, hit it with some scotchbrite, and if you’ve done a good job you can’t even tell the part wasn’t fully contoured with an end mill.
It’s a massive timesaver when it comes to doing 2D parts on the mill.
I do not like Sketchup. But, If you can deal with it, there is scketchucam add in for it. This gives you ramps that are configurable, helical bores, drills and very important tabs and v tabs. It works very well for a extrusion based router doing al. That said our team is going to learn hms express for solid works this summer. To do tabs with this path is less than desirable. For hobby type routers plunges should be avoided. Ramps, helicals, and v tabs are allot easier on the machine and allow higher precision.