My First Look at HSMXpress
Since HSMXpress was announced I decided I should give it a look and see how far I could get on my own. Jeff has been telling us all how easy HSM is to use and this is my chance to prove him right or wrong.
As a little background my last exposure to CNC was writing code in a text editor for a robotics class back at WPI. I believe we made simple puzzle piece out of wax and it was a pain in the butt. Since then I have never used a CAM system, nor operated a machine.
I started by registering for my free copy and was immediately set up with an account for the online forums. That would be where I would look for support if I didn't have Jeff and got stuck. I patiently waited for my registration code and download link. This was over a weekend and when I got back around to looking for it it was waiting for me in my SPAM filter. Just where they warned me it might end up.
Download and install was a snap. I won't go into that. I ran into no difficulties.
Once installed and the Add-In was loaded I was presented with a CAM tab on my SolidWorks Command Manager. As I said I've never used a CAM system so I wasn't sure where to start. In the CAM dropdown menu I found tutorials with a link to the help file. There are two tutorials specific to HSMXpress and all the tutorials for the products are also available with friendly reminders that they cover functionality not available in Xpress. At least you can see what is available in the nonfree tools.
I started in on the first tutorial. A simple part which covered, Facing, Countouring, Pocket Machining, Drilling, Tapping and Post Processing. It also leads you through the simple process of creating your own custom machine tools in the library. The tutorial was easy to follow and though I didn't time it I can't imagine it took me more than 20 minutes to complete.
Before starting on my own without the tutorials I figured I might as well do the other tutorial as well. Though the part this time was a bit more complex the tutorial was easy to follow and I completed it without any difficulty.
Next up is grabbing a part of my own and trying it out. When I've completed it I'll send it over to Jeff for his critique and we'll see for sure how easy this system is to use.
Overall I find HSMXpress very easy to use. As I have stated this is the only CAM system I have used, so I can't speak to how much easier it is to use than others. I have read critiques of other systems that say they are difficult to use.
More to follow
Gabe