The ubiquitous best hobby priced CAD program ..

[arvidj]

Any one have suggestions for a reasonably priced CAD program? Links to meaningful discussion on other sites gladly accepted.

The goals are two fold. The first is to record facts about my mill. I'm going to have to take parts off to get it into the basement. Eventually I will CNC it and would like to take the measurements while I have it apart so I can model the CNC additions virtually before committing it to real effort and metal.

The second use is the obvious 'you have a CNC machine and need CAD to use it effectively' so having it on hand makes sense.

It should be noted that the lower the price the better but it does not necessarily need to be free.

Thanks,
Arvid

[Tony Wells]

If your plan is to integrate this into your CNC work, you should be looking at CADCAM software.

[EdK]

Arvid,

I went through the process of searching for a decent free CAD program a few years ago and tried a bunch of them. I settled on Solid Edge 2D and just love it.

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

No CAD program is going to be easy to learn but I found Solid Edge easier than most. You probably know it already but you will need to dedicate a fair amount of time learning any CAD program.

Ed

[stevec]

I chose a free 2d product from Dassault Systemes <http://www.solidworks.com/sw/products/free-cad-software-downloads.htm>.
It's similar to AutoCad, which I had a very old version of.
Oh ya, I believe it's called Draftsight.

[Mayhem]

(03-13-2012, 07:53 AM)stevec Wrote: I chose a free 2d product from Dassault Systemes <http://www.solidworks.com/sw/products/free-cad-software-downloads.htm>.
It's similar to AutoCad, which I had a very old version of.
Oh ya, I believe it's called Draftsight.

[arvidj]

How well will either Draftsight or Solid Edge 2D fit with the desire to eventually use it what a CNC mill?

And is there anything out there that is reasonably prices [that would be a few hundred dollars] that would allow me to do 3D modeling? The desire is to have a 3D model of the mill and be able to create the components necessary to mount the CNC items on it virtually to explore possibilities before committing it to a metal reality.

Maybe my desire to have a virtual reality could be met by Google’s SketchUp but I would prefer something that would be better suited to creating a measured drawing of the specific CNC mounting item so I could then create it manually on the mill.

[Tony Wells]

That's where the CAM part kicks in. You can draw or model your project, but to generate the code that CNC machines use to create the actual part, you need CAM to import the model file so tool paths can be generated. The control of the CNC machine reads the code to move and cut according to the model file parameters. Otherwise, the old-school way was to use a piece of software and a drawing to create the code. It can still be done that way, but some feature are pretty awkward to program manually. I don't know of a economy version of CAM right off my head. I have gotten away from CNC machining, and don't use it in my shop.

[DaveH]

(03-14-2012, 09:33 AM)arvidj Wrote: And is there anything out there that is reasonably prices [that would be a few hundred dollars] that would allow me to do 3D modeling? The desire is to have a 3D model of the mill and be able to create the components necessary to mount the CNC items on it virtually to explore possibilities before committing it to a metal reality.

Hi Arvidj,

There is Alibre ..... https://www.alibre.com/

This does 3D modelling, and for home use it is a couple of hundred $. (it was $100)
It is quite a steep learning curve (they all are) but it does come with tutorials which are easy to understand and follow.

Worth having a look at.
Also there is this may be helpful http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/...ic=11072.0


DaveH

[EdK]

(03-14-2012, 09:33 AM)arvidj Wrote: How well will either Draftsight or Solid Edge 2D fit with the desire to eventually use it what a CNC mill?

And is there anything out there that is reasonably prices [that would be a few hundred dollars] that would allow me to do 3D modeling? The desire is to have a 3D model of the mill and be able to create the components necessary to mount the CNC items on it virtually to explore possibilities before committing it to a metal reality.

Maybe my desire to have a virtual reality could be met by Google’s SketchUp but I would prefer something that would be better suited to creating a measured drawing of the specific CNC mounting item so I could then create it manually on the mill.

Solid Edge 2D is strictly a 2D CAD package so will be of no benefit to CNC. As Tony said, you need CAM software that converts the 3D model to code the CNC driver understands. TurboCAD does offer a plug-in for their TurboCAD Pro package but that is going to cost a lot more than $200. I have the latest version of TurboCAD Pro but have only played around with it a bit. I want to learn the 3D aspect of it but have not been able to commit enough time to sit down and learn it.

Here are a couple of 3D CAD programs that are less than $200 but they still don't address your CAM needs. Just make sure whatever 3D CAD program you get will export in a format that your CAM software will accept.

http://www.turbocad.com/TurboCAD/TurboCA...fault.aspx
http://www.imsidesign.com/Products/Desig...fault.aspx

I tried Google SketchUp shortly after it first came out and hated it. Way too clumsy to use for my liking. It's at version 8 now so I assume it's gotten better. Besides, I really need to learn TurboCAD since I paid for the software.

Ed

[DaveH]

Ed,

I use Tubocad - just for 2D draughting.

DaveH