[TheForge] CAD Software

[Ben Barrett]

I have feedback from the Tinkerer level (although I get exposed to a
few high-end tools too).
For free, I'd suggest Blender as a modeler (you can squish and sculpt
moreso with this, but it is full 3D just not cad-oriented),
and Wings3D for basic CAD stuff.  Wings3D, I've actually used
successfully to help me visualize the scale of projects -- I've not
done anything complex.
Wings3D is actually designed more for character modeleing, not
strictly CAD-like stuff... I had also played with AutoQ3D but don't
remember much.
a newer program called Google Sketchup is actually quite good, and you
can download lots of free models to start playing with for any of
these.

On the pro level, I've been exposed to Autodesk Inventor (works with
autocad) and SolidWorks, and on the top-end both have some very
impressive materials analysis -- I am hoping to model up both a 20T
hydraulic press and a treadle hammer... maybe an oliver if possible,
to try out the stress-analysis stuff and get a sense of how much I
should over-build these things given my less-than-code welding.

If your models are simple, you should be okay with an older computer,
if you are careful about the software you use.  Most of them will
require an OpenGL-capable graphics card but will run fine on sub-$1k
computers.

The pro softwares cost thousands, but there are student versions and
even some free trials you could play with -- the high-end software
requires a pretty modern computer though, so watch out.  :)

http://www.blender.org/
http://www.wings3d.com/
http://sketchup.google.com/

http://solidworks.com/
http://autodesk.com/inventor

I know I'm missing a number of good packages, both free and pay... but
this should get you started.
You might also want to read up on these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3d_modeling
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_modeling_software  (great list, free
ones at the bottom)

hope this helps!

~ben



On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 2:22 PM, Kevin Gallagher <anvil1999 at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>  Does anyone have recomendations/warnings about CAD software given the type of work blacksmiths do?  I can't draw stick men so forget a detailed railing or keeping anything in proportion.  thanks