CAD suggestion for seal killer

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GlennW
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Re: CAD suggestion for seal killer

Post by GlennW »

Punkinhead wrote:It sounds like you may have unrealistic expectations on the learning curve. I've probably learned a dozen CAD programs over the past 20 years and none of them came without a pretty steep learning curve. Everything you want to do "easily" I can do without a thought in Solidworks, but that's because I use it for hours every day. Any decent CAD program will come with tutorials. Spend a couple days working through them and what you want to do will become easy. It'll be a frustrating couple of days, but some things in this world require some effort.
Amen!
Glenn

Operating machines is perfectly safe......until you forget how dangerous it really is!
Mr Ron
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Re: CAD suggestion for seal killer

Post by Mr Ron »

I started using Autocad in 2002 as part of my job. I took a quicky 6 month course at the community college and learned as I went along on the job. I'm now retired, but use CAD all the time in my hobby work. I thought it would be hard to learn, but all it takes is perseverance. I probably only know about 20% of the commands in Autocad, but it's enough to get me where I want to go. I'm still discovering new things every day and that in itself gives me a lot of satisfaction. Autocad is a very expensive program, so you probably don't want to pick that one. I tried Sketch-up, but didn't care for it compared to Autocad and since I already have it, I will stick with it; but its free, so you have nothing to lose.
Mr.Ron from South Mississippi
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ken572
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Re: CAD suggestion for seal killer

Post by ken572 »

Mr Ron wrote:I probably only know about 20% of the commands in Autocad, but it's enough to get me where I want to go. I'm still discovering new things every day and that in itself gives me a lot of satisfaction.
hmmm.. (Modesty) :P That sounds like the old 80/20 RULE in AutoCad, which makes you pretty good at it. :wink:

Ken. :)
One must remember.
The best learning experiences come
from working with the older Masters.
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rustyh
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Re: CAD suggestion for seal killer

Post by rustyh »

I was a draftsman for a 7 years, and am a confirmed pencil/paper doodler, however, that said, I used Sketchup four years ago and had a lot of fun with it. Aside from the books, go to YouTube, type in Sketchup, and you'll probably get a pretty good idea of what it can accomplish, lot's of vids available.

As for my eight year old grandson, he's the only one that I can still understand when it comes to my own incompetence and his eagerness to impress me with his vast experience and intelligence. The other two, 16, and 14 can't be bothered with explanations, essentially push me out of the way and clickity-click-thump and it's done, with me wondering "What the heck did you do?". Sound familiar?
Dave Sohlstrom
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Re: CAD suggestion for seal killer

Post by Dave Sohlstrom »

Bill

Take a look at Alibre.com It will do what you are asking but it does have a bit of a learning curve just like all CAD programs have.

Dave
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ken572
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Re: CAD suggestion for seal killer

Post by ken572 »

Bill,

I would recommend that you checkout this web page, and
scroll down and read about all the FREE progeCAD products
you can get for the Home Hobbiest, as long as it's for none profit.
Many shops prefer it over AutoCAD. :wink:

http://www.progecad.us/index.pl?id=3936 ... ry;op=show

It never hurts to look and read about something new.

IMHO, No matter which cad program you use, you can get pretty
(skill rusty) if it is not at least used a little bit on a daily basis.

Ken. :)
One must remember.
The best learning experiences come
from working with the older Masters.
Ken.
EdK
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Re: CAD suggestion for seal killer

Post by EdK »

Here's a free 2D CAD program, Solid Edge 2D, that I've been using for years now. As do all of the other CAD programs, there's a learning curve to it.

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/e ... onse.shtml

Ed
Vectrax 14x40 lathe, Enco RF-45 clone mill, MillerMatic 180 MIG.
Mr Ron
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Re: CAD suggestion for seal killer

Post by Mr Ron »

rustyh wrote:I was a draftsman for a 7 years, and am a confirmed pencil/paper doodler, however, that said, I used Sketchup four years ago and had a lot of fun with it. Aside from the books, go to YouTube, type in Sketchup, and you'll probably get a pretty good idea of what it can accomplish, lot's of vids available.
Don't forget, age can make it difficult to draw with pencil and paper. Before CAD, I was a terrific drafter with pencil and paper, but At 78, I shake a lot when I write. Keyboards are more user friendly.
Mr.Ron from South Mississippi
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seal killer
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Re: CAD suggestion for seal killer

Post by seal killer »

All--

Thank you for the suggestions. I am going to try some of them.

--Bill
You are what you write.
Patio
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Re: CAD suggestion for seal killer

Post by Patio »

I have never fully learned any of the CAD programs, but have tried most. Solid Works is my favorite, bar none.

I just started using another free 3D CAD, called Creo. I do like it. It is the free part of a more expensive program and will only do 60 parts at a time. I has been pretty easy for me learn and there are tutorial on the net.

Here is a link to it.
http://www.ptc.com/products/creo-elemen ... g-express/

Here is a link to one of the tutorials.
http://usingcreo.com/?p=153

Hope that helps!
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boaterri
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Re: CAD suggestion for seal killer

Post by boaterri »

You might try Dolphin CadCam. I have been playing with the free trial version and it is very intuitive (at least for me). I have just a little exposure to Autocad LT and had a tough time with it.

Rick
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SteveR
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Re: CAD suggestion for seal killer

Post by SteveR »

Seal,
http://www.cubify.com has a cad program called Invent that you can get a 15 day free trial and it costs $50. The tutorials are pretty good for basic stuff. The learning curve is pretty easy too. They hope you will make 3D models.

SteveR
12x36 Enco Lathe, 9x42 Bridgeport, SMAW, O/A, Miller MIG w/gas, plasma
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1" FEF in progress
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Measure twice, cut once, wait - it was supposed to be brass! :)
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