GoEngineer Blog

When updating CAMWorks, a few key steps can get overlooked when upgrading to a newer version. This article covers best practices and steps to upgrade your CAMWorks installation to a newer version without losing or leaving data behind.

You just received a new machine, and now you need to get your TechDB (Technology Database) from the old machine to the new one, but how is this done? Is there a difference between SOLIDWORKS CAM and CAMWorks? This article shows the process for backing up and restoring your CAMWorks and SOLIDWORKS CAM TechDB.

Introduced in SOLIDWORKS 2018, SOLIDWORKS CAM allows you to fully integrate design and manufacturing processes under one system by leveraging your 3D CAD model to generate programs for CNC machines. However, for users who already have CAMWorks installed, you will need to be intentional on what “Add-Ins” you want currently active.

Lots of great enhancements have been added to the latest version of SOLIDWORKS to simplify your CNC machining setup in SOLIDWORKS CAM 2024. Let’s get started with these sneaky additions.

Before we get started, it is critical to know that clearing your CAMWorks registry is generally a troubleshooting last resort. We take some caution in this article, but being informed is essential. It is possible to put yourself in an unfortunate situation by poking around in your registry, so please don’t experiment while doing this.

CAMWorks has four different licensing options: Dongle, Standalone, FlexLM Network, and FNO. These four license options are all used through the CW License Manager utility. To access this utility, go to the Start menu and search for the CW License Manager. 

If you start SOLIDWORKS and encounter the message Could not obtain a license for SOLIDWORSK CAM. Error: Invalid block name (-5,147,0), here are a few considerations. 

When creating stock in CAMWorks, there are several options to choose from, each having unique benefits. In this guide, we'll walk through each of the CAMWorks stock types. When editing stock, a dialogue on the left-hand side of SOLIDWORKS, called the Stock Manager, is available. Within the Stock Manager, users can choose Bounding Box, Sketch, STL, and Part file.

For years, both MasterCAM and GibbsCAM offered SOLIDWORKS users the ability to use their tools in a familiar environment via the SOLIDWORKS add-in. With these developers announcing a 2024 discontinuation date of the add-in, those who rely on these combined solutions are beginning to ask themselves...now what?