I am interested in using catia for machining, but am worried that it doesn't have the functionality of things like mastercam and surfcam. what are your thoughts of using catia and which workbenches should I use?
I can't give you any details because I'm not in our NC department but I know it handles just about all of our machining needs. We do all 3-axis machining of steel and aluminum.
I have personally been using Catia for NC machining for the
last 5 years full time both for metallic parts and composite parts. I find it actually has more funtionality than Mastercam and Surfacam based on opinions from friends who use those systems in their jobs. I also drove UG for many years prior and find Catia to be comparable for flexibility and power.
I think you would be pleasantly surprised with Catia in comparison.