CAD, CNC, 3d printing, etc - questions.

[canyoncarver]

I've been wanting to skill up and learn some sort of CAD. End goal, design parts for motorcycles, mock up via 3d printing and send to CNC folks. I'm very computer literate but no training in CAD stuff and it has a steep learning curve. I've been considering taking classes and haven't ruled it out but wanted to know if there are any others out there who took the learn by doing route.

Also looking for input on the free solutions I've started messing with: FreeCAD, LibreCAD, etc.

I've seen some pro work here on DTT and am looking for experienced advice. Many thanks in advance...

--
Kelly

 

[jeffw]

I took a couple of classes in high school and that really helped me, once you learn the basics its pretty straight forward to work with especially 2d since it is mainly working with lines. Most of what I know now it just working with it through the past few years. As I work with the program daily, since I am engineer that is drawing plans. I know you can get a free trail through autodesk for like 90 days. You could dink around with it and see if you like it.

 

[canyoncarver]

Jeffw, are you talking full-on Autocad?

 

[jeffw]

yes, i guess thats what I work with. Maybe somebody can chime in on the free versions, but I know there are ways that once you download autocad to make them more than a trial version.

 

[canyoncarver]

I might give it a look but I guess my questions are less about which software to use and more about the process of learning to draft on computer. What sort of pre-requisites are the most helpful?

 

[Bozz]

I suggest you start with 2D. Even working in 3D in SolidWorks or AutoCad (Or Maya or Max or Blender) you interface via a 2D display.


Most constructs start out a 2D objects that are "extruded" into the third dimension. Then the process of refinement really takes off.
Whatever software package you decide on, there is likely some good training videos around.
Lynda.com is also a great investment in training.


The learning curve is steep, so be patient with yourself!

 

[canyoncarver]

I suggest you start with 2D. Even working in 3D in SolidWorks or AutoCad (Or Maya or Max or Blender) you interface via a 2D display.
Most constructs start out a 2D objects that are "extruded" into the third dimension. Then the process of refinement really takes off.
Whatever software package you decide on, there is likely some good training videos around.
Lynda.com is also a great investment in training.
The learning curve is steep, so be patient with yourself!

patience is the hard part isn't it? I had not seen lynda.com will have to check it out.

 

[jeffw]

+1 on starting with 2D, once you have it down its matter of extrapolating that out to 3D, another helpful place to look believe or not is youtube. I have used it multiple times to learn new commands and may help a little bit.

 

[ToastyTofu]

-1 on starting with 2D. i recommend diving straight into solid works; i personally despise auto cad 2D. anyway, if your end goal is to "mock up via 3d printing" you need to export as a 3d .stl file; which autocad is not capable of. autocad and solidworks are entirely different beasts.

i work at a machine shop. you should listen to me
take a class. there are some things you cannot teach yourself; i thought i could pick up pretty much anything from books, boy was i wrong.

 

[Bert Jan]

-1 on starting with 2D. i recommend diving straight into solid works; i personally despise auto cad 2D. anyway, if your end goal is to "mock up via 3d printing" you need to export as a 3d .stl file; which autocad is not capable of. autocad and solidworks are entirely different beasts.

i work at a machine shop. you should listen to me
take a class. there are some things you cannot teach yourself; i thought i could pick up pretty much anything from books, boy was i wrong.

Solidworks is the sjizznizz! And all cnc-shops are capable reading the format.

 

[rockcitycafe]

most shops now use solidworks, if you know a college student, you can pick up a student version for not much money, don't use it if you're designing parts to sell though, they're pretty strict about licensing

 

[Rich Ard]

Check out your local community college - like as not, the drafting teacher will come from the' real world' and the learning curve won't be as steep.

 

[Flugtechnik]

I agree that you should jump right to 3D. To design in 3D you have to think in 3D. Yes, you have to do a little 2D work to setup the shapes you are going to extrude or cut, but that is usually relatively simple geometry. The hardest part is usually trying to figure out what function you need to use to do what you want to.

I am self taught and I manage pretty well, though I have had lots of time and lots of experts around to answer my questions. Perhaps if you did take a class, you could teach yourself as much as you can first, then go in there and just ask a bunch of question of the teacher. Most classes will be about basic stuff that you can figure out on your own.

I am lucky (and unlucky) that I use CATIA at work. It costs as much as a new car and is hard to learn, but is very powerful.

I have designed a few parts for my bike. I then sent the files to a member on here who then made them.

Battery Box

Name / Turn Signal Plate

 

[SONICJK]

Find a copy of solid works, through a college or *cough* torrent *cough* and start playing.

The problem with not learning from an expert isn't that it's too hard it's just that you learn to do things the wrong way. There's a right way to do things, but there's also a work around you will find if you're just pushing buttons till it works.

To do it right take a class, or at least pick up a book or find some good tutorials online and actually work through them even if they look simple you'll be surprised what you can learn.

And google sketchup is fun too, almost useless for any real application but fun to play with nonetheless. Back in college I was supposed to be studying for exams but I found sketchup instead ad got carried away haha so I built my jeep for no particular reason

 

[canyoncarver]

Lots of good advice and much appreciated. I've started checking out the local tech schools to see about continuing educations classes in CAD. They aren't expensive but do take a fair amount of time. Seems if I really want to do this right, I'd be best to start there. I do learn quickly but could really use a jump start. I've been doing computer and network security for about 20 years but this is different. There is also a local Maker-space that I'm going to check out next month, they have a 3d printer and another geek I know uses the space from time to time. Should be able to get more info there as well.

Flug: That's the kind of stuff I'm thinking of and more. Very cool.

Sonik: Damn! you did that with sketchup? bitchin...

Yeah, I'd love it if I could design a few things to sell but licensing with SolidWorks sounds stupid. (as is most software licensing....) I don't just download anything, being in the security field, I have to watch my ass on that kind of stuff. It's why I'm looking at the free stuff first.

Any specific books that were helpful?

 

[Flugtechnik]

Oh, I forgot about my tank and seat.

 

[SONICJK]

Yup that was all sketchup haha
I had too much time on my hands, I was in the library 8 hours per day "studying"
For some reason I thought it was okay to dick around in sketchup instead of studying oh well.
I also built my house and my shop for fun, but I lost those files

 

[Walms]

Just playing devils advocate here...
I've been using CAD since 1984...
Mainly 2d autocad until 1996, then I made the switch to Solidworks.
I ended up being self taught because the cost of the night school courses were ridiculously expensive for what I figured I'd get out of them...
You can get an educational version of Solidworks, it comes with all the bells and whistles for $100 per year. As far as I know, the only downside is there will be a watermark on anything outputted.

For me going the self taught method was the way to go because I was self motivated to learn... The tutorials within the software start from basic to fairly advanced and by the time you've completed them all, you should have a good basis for "best practices"

 

[mothgils]

Flug: That battery box looks great! Nice welds! And that Nixon plate...awesome!




As far as CAD goes, in my opinion AutoCAD is not really difficult to use. With that being said, I really only have experience in 2D using AutoCAD. For 3D, I learned Unigraphics in college. It's like most other 3D software in that you can draw in 2D and extrude to 3D but can also draw in 3D.


All in all, if you put in the time to learn and practice, you can pick it up. Good luck!

 

[Flugtechnik]

Flug: That battery box looks great! Nice welds! And that Nixon plate...awesome!

The guy that made those does mighty fine work!



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