23 replies to this topic

[Dadorcp]

Anyone useing this program? Can SolidWork deliver quality cad file for cnc cutting?

much abliged.

[Scott]

Yes. It is more than capable of doing that. However, you will find several other programs that cost much less if you are only designing simple shapes - particularly if only 2D.

[ANV]

I use different CAD, but you are fine with any CAD that allows to save DXF files.
Most of CNC services accept DXF.

[Dadorcp]

thx for replays ANV, yeah im intrested in solidworks becouse of ability to analyz mechanics and stuff. but it might turn out way to expensive so for now im just asking around too see is it worth it.

as from what ive seen in official videos, there no better 3d software for designing pritty much anything, just briliant=)

[ANV]

Have you seen Autodesk Inventor?

[nick_a]

Last i checked the Autodesk Inventor had the lowest cost of entry for single user, and offers almost identical capabilities as solidworks. regardless you wont go wrong with any of the parametric modeling applications. Do consider that these applications, and associated analysis packages, are not cheap by any standard and unless you can secure a copy by way of an education license or some other nefarious means you will be spending a great deal of money.

Nick

[Caustic]

Dadorcp, on 27 January 2012 - 07:56 PM, said:

thx for replays ANV, yeah im intrested in solidworks becouse of ability to analyz mechanics and stuff. but it might turn out way to expensive so for now im just asking around too see is it worth it.

as from what ive seen in official videos, there no better 3d software for designing pritty much anything, just briliant=)

Solidworks has good and aggressive marketing. Their materials simulation stuff is interesting, but not useful in many cases as well as extremely expensive for a casual user (in the range of 14k for a single seat).

There are many other better cad programs out there. Also you should know that it is not solidworks that does the cnc, it is only a modeler. For the cnc, EMC Linux and KCam are two comonly used open source ones.

[comster]

I don't know anything about SolidWorks, but I recently played a bit with Google Sketchup and Dassault Systemes DraftSight. Both are free of charge but closed source. Here is my experience FWIW.

I found Google Sketchup is pretty easy to use, with the limitation that file format import/export is limited for the free version. However there is a free plugin that exports .dxf format. The other big limitation for me is you have to run it using Wine on Linux, which I really dislike -- not an issue for Windows/Mac users. It supports 1:1 or precisely scaled printing, but I was having print issues with it.

DraftSight runs natively and smoothly on my system, but I'm not used to the interface since I played with Sketchup first. It has better export ability to multiple formats.

Two laser cutting shops had issues with .dxf samples I generated. They asked to go back to the 2004 version of the format, which DraftSight can do. One loaded it into Rhino and still saw bizarre results but got good results when they switched to Adobe Illustrator. (I have neither myself.) In the end we determined .pdf was the best format.

[nick_a]

comster, on 28 January 2012 - 07:29 AM, said:

I don't know anything about SolidWorks, but I recently played a bit with Google Sketchup and Dassault Systemes DraftSight. Both are free of charge but closed source. Here is my experience FWIW.

I found Google Sketchup is pretty easy to use, with the limitation that file format import/export is limited for the free version. However there is a free plugin that exports .dxf format. The other big limitation for me is you have to run it using Wine on Linux, which I really dislike -- not an issue for Windows/Mac users. It supports 1:1 or precisely scaled printing, but I was having print issues with it.

DraftSight runs natively and smoothly on my system, but I'm not used to the interface since I played with Sketchup first. It has better export ability to multiple formats.

Two laser cutting shops had issues with .dxf samples I generated. They asked to go back to the 2004 version of the format, which DraftSight can do. One loaded it into Rhino and still saw bizarre results but got good results when they switched to Adobe Illustrator. (I have neither myself.) In the end we determined .pdf was the best format.

It is a good point to bring up free/cheap applications and Sketchup does have a very large support network with many plugins also for free or very cheap that can turn the application into a robust modelling tool. unfortunately it is also based on a mesh and although you can claim the new solids tools allow you to work around this issue it may still be a hindrance in some instances involving 3D CNC/printing.

This of course begs the question, what was the original intent of the 3d model, are you cutting sheet on a 2 axis CNC router/water jet/laser/etc, or are you milling out 3D shapes on a multi axis CNC?

In addition to the mesh limitation Sketchup also suffers from a lack of driving dimensions as well as any other sketch constraints. This in my opinion is the biggest limitation of the package; I do want to point out that even though I operate daily with many of the much more expensive modeling packages, and their associated simulation add-ons, yet sketchup is still in my "toolbox" and is used frequently when the job fits.

It is also interesting you pointed out the .pdf file as the best solution for your application. In my experience some simple jobs are simply re-drawn in the drawing package associated with the CNC machine as this avoids the headache of conversions that may or may not work. In this situation a hand drawing (properly dimensioned of course) could just as easily be submitted.

Caustic, on 28 January 2012 - 07:08 AM, said:

Solidworks has good and aggressive marketing. Their materials simulation stuff is interesting, but not useful in many cases as well as extremely expensive for a casual user (in the range of 14k for a single seat).

There are many other better cad programs out there. Also you should know that it is not solidworks that does the cnc, it is only a modeler. For the cnc, EMC Linux and KCam are two comonly used open source ones.

Regarding the simulation capabilities of the different packages, caustic points to the biggest barrier that keeps it out of the hands of the home engineer. I would also mention, even if you do get a copy, the proper use of the simulation requires a good understanding of mechanics and materials. This is not to say somebody cant learn simply it is not just a one touch button. You have to specify loads and fixed points and weld quality and bolt specifications etc., and composites (carbon fiberglass plywood) aren't even handled.

I really dont want to discourage anybody but i want to make sure they make an informed decision about what package to use. In the end it comes down to right tool for the right job and like any other tool these bits of software each have a specific purpose.

I have offered it before, i may not be great with code but I am more than happy to help anyone with drawings, models or conversions. Further if you truly want to run simulation i can help with that as well

[ANV]

nick_a, on 28 January 2012 - 01:28 PM, said:

I have offered it before, i may not be great with code but I am more than happy to help anyone with drawings, models or conversions. Further if you truly want to run simulation i can help with that as well

So if I send a drawings/sketches of a frame you can tell where the weak points are form mechanical point of view?

PS I guess Dadorcp was asking for a CAD that simulates mechanical stress, that is why SolidWorks and Inventor being mentioned here:

If he told that he needs something to cut GF/CF I would recommend some free or cheap CAD for home use, like the one I use at the moment: http://kompas.ru/ Sorry, it is in Russian, but they were giving a free year license for non-commertial use at the time I was looking for CAD

[Caustic]

If you are serious about learning 3d modeling and can not afford the the cost, Blender is a very real alternative. In the last couple of years they have oriented themselves towards animation and the opensource gaming community, but it still works extremely well for modeling (and you can animate your models for fun).

If you are hardcore, you can always program directly in povray!

Oh! If you are only interested in 2d layout for cnc, you may be able to get away with using Eagle and the extra plugins/scripts. I have modeled one pre-production, organically shaped pcb to fit a non-linear enclosure this way in the past.

Edited by Caustic, 28 January 2012 - 05:42 PM.

[captainsparky]

Have a look at http://www.123Dapp.com. This is a light weight version of Autodesk Inventor for free. It's currently in beta version 8, but is already full featured and stable. One of its features is the ability to produce die cutting drawings for flat parts that can be used for laser/waterjet cutting.

Edited by captainsparky, 28 January 2012 - 06:06 PM.

[Caustic]

captainsparky, on 28 January 2012 - 06:05 PM, said:

Have a look at http://www.123Dapp.com. This is a light weight version of Autodesk Inventor for free. It's currently in beta version 8, but is already full featured and stable. One of its features is the ability to produce die cutting drawings for flat parts that can be used for laser/waterjet cutting.

Will it take the autodesk EDA plugin?

[comster]

Caustic, on 28 January 2012 - 05:29 PM, said:

If you are serious about learning 3d modeling and can not afford the the cost, Blender is a very real alternative.

Good suggestion, think I want to learn Blender. I did try it out, but it wasn't as intuitive to start with as Sketchup, so I'll have to find some good intro to walk through.

It would be cool to have a programming-type interface. Eg, want to change all your screw holes from M3 to 1/8"? Just tweak one setting. Or move all holes from 7mm from an edge to 9mm -- another quick tweak. Maybe hacking postscript or TeX...

[Caustic]

Blender is as intuitive as solidworks or 3d studio max, it is really not an ease of use issue. It is understanding and learning how to manipulate and create in 3 dimensional space. One keyboard and one mouse is fairly difficult to use, even adding a simple 3rd controller really helps make things easier to manipulate.

[comster]

Caustic, on 28 January 2012 - 07:39 PM, said:

Blender is as intuitive as solidworks or 3d studio max, it is really not an ease of use issue. It is understanding and learning how to manipulate and create in 3 dimensional space. One keyboard and one mouse is fairly difficult to use, even adding a simple 3rd controller really helps make things easier to manipulate.

Yeah, I just didn't spend any time figuring out the Blender interface yet (since the other two were working). Didn't see the way to start creating, and when I opened a file saved from another system, either I couldn't find the right way to zoom to extents or something didn't work and so I quit it. I can figure it out if I just read docs. Probably will have to make do with normal keyboard+mouse for my simple dabbling though.

[captainsparky]

Caustic, on 28 January 2012 - 06:24 PM, said:

Will it take the autodesk EDA plugin?

I've had a quick look at the EDA plunging website. As far as I can see EDA is a parametric modelling addon for autocad. 123D being based on Inventor is already a parametric modelling system, so you can dynamically change dimensions on the fly and the effect will ripple through the whole model.

[nick_a]

ANV, on 28 January 2012 - 01:46 PM, said:

So if I send a drawings/sketches of a frame you can tell where the weak points are form mechanical point of view?

Yes but i need a great deal of info to make a legitimate analysis, assumptions being the mother of all F ups and all that...

comster, on 28 January 2012 - 06:25 PM, said:

Good suggestion, think I want to learn Blender. I did try it out, but it wasn't as intuitive to start with as Sketchup, so I'll have to find some good intro to walk through.

It would be cool to have a programming-type interface. Eg, want to change all your screw holes from M3 to 1/8"? Just tweak one setting. Or move all holes from 7mm from an edge to 9mm -- another quick tweak. Maybe hacking postscript or TeX...

I have used blender as well and although a very good graphic modeling program it suffers the same mesh and dimension/sketch constraint issues as sketchup. The capabilities you mention can be replicated with dimension driven models, ie. you can set a number or formula to length or diameter that will allow rapid changes to the whole model.

123D sounds very interesting, i was impressed with inventor fusion so this stripped down version may be exactly what we need for the beginner. i will certainly have a look.

[Caustic]

Curious about 123D myself now as well, most mech eng I know are trained with inventor.

[Bani Greyling]

also look at http://www.alibre.com/ ($199 for hobby edition)