[TheForge] CAD opinions, anyone?

[Ruuf]

I'm no draughtsman but like Powershape by Delcam. Their Powershape E is a 
free download that seems fully functional. I think skinning might be limited 
not too sure. Delcam have other Programmes too. Worth a look at. 
Downloading powerful programs by Dial up is frustrating, I'm on Broadband, 
so not sure how well it will download. Tutorials aren't bad either.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "A Vida" <osan at netlabs.net>
To: "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>; 
<knife-list at kepler-eng.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 4:15 PM
Subject: [TheForge] CAD opinions, anyone?


>I posted this over on artmetal  a couple of days ago and just realized
> that there are about a million geniuses over here, so why not ask.  Some
> of you are there as well, so you can ignore this repetition.  As for the
> rest, if you have any CAD experience you would like to share, please
> know they are welcome.
>
>
> To wit:
>
> I am about given up on IT as a means of paying bills.  I have decided
> to start making parts for reloading presses.  I need to model the
> designs.  I have used Rhino, AutoCAD, DesignCAD, and Alibre.  Neither
> of these floats my boat very well.  Rhino is not well suited to
> machine parts AFAICS  (please correct me if I am wrong) and is
> non-parametric.  AutoCAD is still very $$ when all is said and done
> and I really disliked the GUI, though that may be have changed in the
> years since I last used it - it was not parametric in those days.
> DesignCAD doesn't seem to have to hp needed and was non-parametric as
> well, but again my version is about 10 years old - much can change in
> a decade.  Alibre is a current version and while very good in many
> ways, drives me up the wall in others.  I will explain shortly.
>
> What I am looking for is a parametric system (unless anyone can give a
> good reason why a non-parametric system would be as good or better,
> which I doubt is the case) that is good for machine parts.
> Specifically, I need one that will parametrically model features such
> as gears, splines (as in shafts, not b-splines though I want those
> too), THREADS (!!!!), and seating routines for standard bearings.
> These are all very important because I am tired of tearing my hair out
> building constructs such as threads by helically revolving a
> hand-built profile.  It is a tremendous time consumer and there
> is no reason for such standard features not to be available as
> built-ins.
>
> Finally, and this is a nice-to-have - macro programming capability
> (preferably built-in rather than via an API, which is just such a
> PITA) so that if I need to design, say, a new thread form, I will be
> able to reuse the method of building in a manner identical (or close
> to it) to that for built-in functions.  IOW, I want an extensible
> system, if possible.
>
> And of course it must output formats (like DXF) from which a shop will
> be able to generate their g-code files.
>
> I have been over in comp.cad and a few other newsgroups and have
> asked this question.  For all the tremendous expertise in those
> forums, the folks seemed to be too busy to answer the question of
> which systems would fulfill my desires.
>
> As for Alibre - a pretty good parametric system in many ways, but of
> all things it does not provide male threads, splines, standard gears,
> etc.  You have to choose these from an ONLINE library (I'm on dialup
> out here :( ) and it is a royal PITA to use.  I would very much like
> to get away from all this add-on, twisted path nonsense and find a
> system where EVERYTHING you need is right there where you need it and
> is network independent.
>
> Anyone have any opinions on such systems?
>
> Know of any good fora for asking such questions?
>
> Thanks much.
>
>    -Andy
>
>
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