Mastercam 2026 is Available to All Customers!

[SuperHoneyBadger]

I think the part of the story you got was the change in their plan after getting the lunches handed to them by AD...in some ways they never recovered in that sector.

Makes absolute sense, how do you beat free - against a multi-national who doesn't even need the money from the product line you compete against.

[gcode]

I heard it though the grapevine that Mastercam used to be practically given away, if not gratis, to colleges and schools to become the defacto first CAM experience in hopes of maintaining top-of-mind awareness.

There is a lot of truth to that
In the mid 90's I realized that CAD/CAM was going to be the future of manufacturing.
I was running a CAM program called Anicam which was already obsolete and I wanted to learn more.
The local community college offered Mastercam, AutoCad, SoldiWorks.
I wanted to take AutoCad, but the class was full so I took SolidWorks.
I had never heard of Mastercam but signed up anyway.
That turned our to be a pretty good decision.

[Newbeeee™]

Here just to say FukAutodicks.
Carry on....


Edit - Oh....perhaps Tolland shoulda accepted Autodesk's offer instead of letting them grab Delcam....

[gcode]

That might have become the case as things went along but earlier in the game, educational institutions were complaining the MCAM would cost ($$this) vs AD who was giving it away.

I recall a post on one of the forums by a community college Mastercam instructor
who said the costs had become so high the schools directors would no long approve them.
I referred him to someone at HQ but I don't think the problem got resolved.
That community college is probably training a new generation of Fusion programmers now.

[SuperHoneyBadger]

That community college is probably training a new generation of Fusion programmers now.

Some instructors from a local college came around our shop, and the bosses brought them over to my office to say Hi and ask a few questions about programming and procedures. They were super stoked about the new workshop they had setup for the students, "top of the line, high precision equipment" I was told. So I asked what they had built up, answer was: Haas machines and Fusion. I was unable to stop my initial reaction of laughing out loud, and said "that might be good enough for students, but good luck holding tolerances on actual parts". They were visibly disturbed by this and quickly went on their way.

I still feel a little badly about the exchange, it wasn't directed at them per-say. I'm in my little bastion of Matsuura spindles and Mastercam – you know, "top of the line, high precision equipment" and all, and they DID ask what I thought. I just didn't have time to turn the filtering on.

[Newbeeee™]

and they DID ask what I thought.

Rule #1, if you don't want to know, don't ask.

[riverhunter]

that might be good enough for students, but good luck holding tolerances on actual parts

What type of tolerances ae we talking about?  tenths or micros?

[SuperHoneyBadger]

What type of tolerances ae we talking about?  tenths or micros?

Dunno, will a current-year 18 year old kid be able to hold a few thou on equipment like that? The right ones will. Maybe the first year it's in the shop too, but then after crashing a few times, who knows. I never liked Haas, just feels cheap and flimsy. Like a regular cab, shortbox, 2WD F-150: "Sure looks like a truck", is about all you can say.

[TSmcam]

I recall being told by someone on the inside that originally, MC educational licenses were 5 or 10% of commercial list price. This was back in the late nineties.

As for losing market share to Fusion, that may have been the case a while back, but I can honestly say I am seeing a shift away from Fusion, as users are finding it running out of puff. I've personally had two customers shift away from Fusion in the past six months.

[gcode]

I never liked Haas, just feels cheap and flimsy. L

As long as you know and respect their limitations you can make a good living on them WITH the right work

A whole lot of shops got their foot in the door with Haas machines then moved up to the good stuff once they were
established and had the cash flow to buy first tier equipment

[CNCAppsJames]

IIRC... late 90's, early 2,000's the cost for a Mastercam educational seat was ~$250/seat (USD). So a class of 20-30... plus 20-30 workstations... for schools, that can be a formidable expense.

[CNCAppsJames]

A BIG difference between commodity machines and high-end machines is the commodity machine will make you work to hold tolerances. Production of tight tolerance parts (+/-.0025" or closer IMHO) requires a higher end staff to pull it off.

A high end machine will allow a lower skill machinist to pull off tighter tolerances with less effort and experience.

[CNCAppsJames]

Software today is ALL about shiny and new. Mastercam in the eyes of the next generation user is dull and old. Just like FANUC. Unless Mastercam does a ground up re-write on the UI their market share will continue to erode. That's DEFINITELY not a popular conversation in Tolland I'm sure. FANUC has had to do the same thing. Their newest Control... the 500i Series is a ground up rewrite. The only "old" screens exist on the PMC side...

The people using, devellping and driving Fusion are young, energetic, and not really interested in the old ways.

[Here's Johnny!]

I was doing some part time teaching at a local community college, they had Mastercam and older Haas machines. The multi-axis machines were quite old but had never been utilized. I attempted to raise the bar in terms of the level of curriculum that was being taught to the students. One of the full time faculty told me "we send them out to industry for real training"....I was shocked but after viewing everything that I witnessed it was obvious that the faculty were too inept to teach and or they had no desire to go above and beyond. The last couple of classes I taught learning to program a 3+2 Haas to make an impeller and how to fixture and setup the actual machine (Had each student learn and perform flattening the platen, measure the center of rotation and setup the work offsets). I did the same for a 3+1 axis Haas, programing a propeller and fixturing and setting up the actual machine. I put a ton of effort into these classes but I don't think anyone cared. As for the cost of the software, back in 2020 an educational seat was about $450.00

[JParis]

back in 2020 an educational seat was about $450.00

Well, that $ Canadian I am guessing, so that's about what $6.72 US