What 3D CAD program do you use? Why? Have you used others? Do you mate it with a CAM program?
Thanks!
Bob
What 3D CAD program do you use?
Moderator: Harold_V
What 3D CAD program do you use?
What 3D CAD program do you use? Why? Have you used others? Do you mate it with a CAM program?
Thanks!
Bob
Re: What 3D CAD program do you use?
I've been playing with this one:
http://www.ptc.com/products/creo-elemen ... g-express/
I've used Pro-Engineer which is nice however is very pricey.
Creo Elements Direct Modeling seems to be fairly easy to learn and comes with tutorials.
Best of all, it's a free download from PTC, the same folks that do Pro-Engineer.
I don't use a CAM program, my CNC is a two axis, I just write programs by hand.
It's hard to teach an old dog a new trick anyway...
http://www.ptc.com/products/creo-elemen ... g-express/
I've used Pro-Engineer which is nice however is very pricey.
Creo Elements Direct Modeling seems to be fairly easy to learn and comes with tutorials.
Best of all, it's a free download from PTC, the same folks that do Pro-Engineer.
I don't use a CAM program, my CNC is a two axis, I just write programs by hand.
It's hard to teach an old dog a new trick anyway...
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polaraligned
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Re: What 3D CAD program do you use?
AutoCAD has limited 3d capabilities. I have used it extensively. Not a good program for 3d.
AutoDesk Inventor is their 3D product, and I use that now for all my 3d work.
AutoDesk Inventor is their 3D product, and I use that now for all my 3d work.
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Harvey M Richards
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Re: What 3D CAD program do you use?
I've been using Inventor for 12 years, currently 2011. I also use AutoCAD, but very rarely for 3d. Some geometries are easier to figure out (for me) in AutoCAD. I don't use any CAM because the CNC is an antique and only conversational programming.polaraligned wrote:AutoCAD has limited 3d capabilities. I have used it extensively. Not a good program for 3d.
AutoDesk Inventor is their 3D product, and I use that now for all my 3d work.
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gwerhart0800
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- Location: Loveland, CO USA
Re: What 3D CAD program do you use?
I have used SketchUp (free) and ViaCAD 2D/3D, but I recently switched to Alibre after seeing a demo of what could be done by Dan Rowe. The ability to take designed parts and assemble them into a mechanism for testing is extremely cool. The $200 price tag for the Personal Edition makes it affordable. It appears to be a less featured version of SolidWorks with a reasonable price tag.
I wish I had had a chance to make something with the sheet metal designer while I had the demo of the full product to play with.
The only bummer is that I am a Mac guy and I have to run Alibre in a Virtual Machine that hosts Windows XP. It runs great, but it is annoying that they don't have a native version.
I wish I had had a chance to make something with the sheet metal designer while I had the demo of the full product to play with.
The only bummer is that I am a Mac guy and I have to run Alibre in a Virtual Machine that hosts Windows XP. It runs great, but it is annoying that they don't have a native version.
George Erhart
Loveland, CO
https://lovelandcreatorspace.com
Loveland, CO
https://lovelandcreatorspace.com
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Bill Shields
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Re: What 3D CAD program do you use?
Ignoring $$$, I like SolidWorks, but I work for Delcam, so I use PowerShape - which most of you have never heard of.
PowerShape can do things that others cannot - simply because it can work with Solids, Surfaces and STL data all combined, and make sense of them.
It isn't for everyone, but if you are in a world where machining is important, and properly trimmed / joined surfaces are more important than solid primitive assemblies (because you want to run a tool over them), it is impossible to beat.
All that being said, all my loco design work is done in SolidWorks, which I get for free because I am a developer (go figure).
PowerShape can do things that others cannot - simply because it can work with Solids, Surfaces and STL data all combined, and make sense of them.
It isn't for everyone, but if you are in a world where machining is important, and properly trimmed / joined surfaces are more important than solid primitive assemblies (because you want to run a tool over them), it is impossible to beat.
All that being said, all my loco design work is done in SolidWorks, which I get for free because I am a developer (go figure).
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
Re: What 3D CAD program do you use?
As a recent convert to CNC I am also a recent convert to CAM. I use Sprutcam as it’s supported and sold by the machine manufacturer Tormach.It also exports direct out of Solidworks which is my CAD software. I started with SC7 which has recently been upgraded to SC8. This turned out to be a disaster of omnishambles proportions. Now four month later it’s starting to get there.
Sprutcam has a perpendicular learning curve not helped by an almost incomprehensible manual. That you would think had been converted from Russian using Google translate. For example you’re machining a face at a speed and feed with say 50% tool engagement to suit your cut depth. If the path decides it’s going to mill a slot that would have a 100% tool engagement you need obviously to modify something to stop overloading the tool. The answer is a simple check the box in one of the strategy options; Sprutcam’s help file explains it thus
“Allows to reduce the NC data much in comparison with the trochoid and at the same time secure the tool.”
Obvious eh? Having said all that it’s very competitively priced and is probably very good bang for your buck. But like all things if you’re paying $1K instead of $5K something gives and in this case it’s the help files. But there are plenty of good training videos on U tube mostly by Tormach that can get you going pretty quickly. They also offer paid annual support packages that are indispensable for me at least, so although I am not ready to take the training wheels off yet I can see a time when I probably will.
Jim
Sprutcam has a perpendicular learning curve not helped by an almost incomprehensible manual. That you would think had been converted from Russian using Google translate. For example you’re machining a face at a speed and feed with say 50% tool engagement to suit your cut depth. If the path decides it’s going to mill a slot that would have a 100% tool engagement you need obviously to modify something to stop overloading the tool. The answer is a simple check the box in one of the strategy options; Sprutcam’s help file explains it thus
“Allows to reduce the NC data much in comparison with the trochoid and at the same time secure the tool.”
Obvious eh? Having said all that it’s very competitively priced and is probably very good bang for your buck. But like all things if you’re paying $1K instead of $5K something gives and in this case it’s the help files. But there are plenty of good training videos on U tube mostly by Tormach that can get you going pretty quickly. They also offer paid annual support packages that are indispensable for me at least, so although I am not ready to take the training wheels off yet I can see a time when I probably will.
Jim
www.northernsteam.com
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Bill Shields
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Re: What 3D CAD program do you use?
trochoidal machining REDUCING NC-DATA SIZE?
NO way....time yes, program size....no...
Unless you have a machine that does the trochoidal calculations IN the control (only very high end).
Japanese manuals used to be that way.
I became very fluent in Japlish in the late 1970's
NO way....time yes, program size....no...
Unless you have a machine that does the trochoidal calculations IN the control (only very high end).
Japanese manuals used to be that way.
I became very fluent in Japlish in the late 1970's
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
Re: What 3D CAD program do you use?
Solidworks for the 3D stuff and Autocad for the 2D stuff. I have Autocad and the company I work for has so many seats that they also get a number of home seats. I have a home seat which is the Standard version. 
Re: What 3D CAD program do you use?
I use KeyCreator ( formally Cadkey) at work and home. Been using it since early 90's (back in the dark DOS days). It handles Solids, sufaces, wireframe, 2d plus drafting etc all at the same time. I draw everything in solids. Keycreator has a CAM package (I have an older version of it) it is limited in some rerspect but handles solids and surfaces very well. I have a older Hurco CNC with both conversational and g-code programming so I use the conversational for simple 2d machining and keycreator to generate g code for my 3d machining. Anything really complicated I use Mastercam, which we have at work, to generate the g-code then just bring the file home and put it on my download / drip feed computor.
Rick
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965)
"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading". Unknown
Murphy's Law: " If it can go wrong it will"
O-Tool's Corollary: "Murphy was entirely too optimistic"
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965)
"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading". Unknown
Murphy's Law: " If it can go wrong it will"
O-Tool's Corollary: "Murphy was entirely too optimistic"
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hwboivin3
Re: What 3D CAD program do you use?
I use autocad 2007 for 3d. And BobCad for cam programming.
Autocad has It's flaws for 3d but it works just fine for me.
H
Autocad has It's flaws for 3d but it works just fine for me.
H
Re: What 3D CAD program do you use?
Thanks for your comments.
I've downloaded the Alibre trial version. DO NOT purchase Alibre without trying their trial version. Best I can tell, their Tutorials are worse than useless. Every time the tutorial says to click a tab or open a menu, the resulting list does NOT match what the tutorial says should be there. This has caused a great deal of comment on Alibre's own forum, which the company apparently studiously ignores. Perhaps they are trying to blackmail folks into signing up for one of their pricey workshops? One current user wrote that he believed that the company is so fixated on improving the drafting code that they do not care whether they recruit new customers or not. Or perhaps they are only interested in big, juicy corporate accounts?
I have no doubt Alibre is a great program, but, so what, if it is totally inaccessible. Alibre is bragging about a new release coming soon, but they do not say anything about improving their out-of-date, dead-end tutorials, which appear to the major way to learn the program. No books, apparently.
In any case, I am looking for alternatives.
Bill, I like the looks of Solidworks. But they have obviously written off most of us, since few mere mortals can afford $4.500 (and, mostly, UP) plus a heavy annual fee. [That's more than many folks spent for their lathe or mill!] I can't claim to be a developer--even if I could speak Japlish, which I cannot. Nor Chinglish, either. Spanglish I can handle.
Harvey, what does Inventor cost? Is is from the Autocad folks?
DeMaxx, I will look at Creo Elements. And Rick, I will also look at Key Creator. I hope everyone will share their experiences as they progress.
I ran across a program called Medusa. Their ads are not slick, and the software does not look promising, but the book may be better than the cover. I plan to look at it. Anyone had any experience with it?
I've downloaded the Alibre trial version. DO NOT purchase Alibre without trying their trial version. Best I can tell, their Tutorials are worse than useless. Every time the tutorial says to click a tab or open a menu, the resulting list does NOT match what the tutorial says should be there. This has caused a great deal of comment on Alibre's own forum, which the company apparently studiously ignores. Perhaps they are trying to blackmail folks into signing up for one of their pricey workshops? One current user wrote that he believed that the company is so fixated on improving the drafting code that they do not care whether they recruit new customers or not. Or perhaps they are only interested in big, juicy corporate accounts?
I have no doubt Alibre is a great program, but, so what, if it is totally inaccessible. Alibre is bragging about a new release coming soon, but they do not say anything about improving their out-of-date, dead-end tutorials, which appear to the major way to learn the program. No books, apparently.
In any case, I am looking for alternatives.
Bill, I like the looks of Solidworks. But they have obviously written off most of us, since few mere mortals can afford $4.500 (and, mostly, UP) plus a heavy annual fee. [That's more than many folks spent for their lathe or mill!] I can't claim to be a developer--even if I could speak Japlish, which I cannot. Nor Chinglish, either. Spanglish I can handle.
Harvey, what does Inventor cost? Is is from the Autocad folks?
DeMaxx, I will look at Creo Elements. And Rick, I will also look at Key Creator. I hope everyone will share their experiences as they progress.
I ran across a program called Medusa. Their ads are not slick, and the software does not look promising, but the book may be better than the cover. I plan to look at it. Anyone had any experience with it?
--Bob