Posting sketches and CAD drawings

[HomeBrew2]

This link is to a CAD program that may serve those, what I found to be, requirements of users of this forum: CAD Standard Lite

It's free: which fits my budget (if I didn't have AutoCAD) and it allows anyone to view/use anyone else's drawings.

It's fairly simple to use but may require reading the helpfile if you have no experience with CAD at all.

It's quite usable for 2d drawings and has the features necessary to produce an accurate drawing.

It's upgradable at a reasonable price: IF, someone needs to do more than the free version allows, the "Pro" version is only $25 and they take a credit card (as opposed to PayPal).

It exports to DXF file format which is pretty much the industry standard drawing interchange format, i.e., can be read by other programs.

For free, it's a great way to get familiar with CAD and is a decent trigonometry calculator.

Cheers!

 

[gsxr1100]

here is a basic valve model in UG

 

[jmc]

Very nice. I can almost taste those O-rings.

What kind of a file is it?

John

 

[gsxr1100]

I used printkey to capture the image (jpg) on the part/assy/model. I have some huge military and commercial engines and parts (with airframes). Most drawings go to PDF for our vendors.

 

[HomeBrew2]

That is so cool !!! As the subject of this thread is posting sketches/CAD drawings relative to our tractors, what are you building for your tractor that required your manufacture of that valve? Can you tell us something about how you made that valve? Can you supply us with a dxf file of the valve ... this could be the first such posting on this thread ... how exciting !!!

 

[WhiteRock]

I am designing some stuff for various projects. I wanted a place to store my work, notes, and ideas. I wanted to be able to print sheets that I could take to the shop, post or send .jpg or .dwg files etc., and be able to modify later for repeatability if desired.

So earlier this week I found TurboCad Designer 9.2 on Circuit City's website for $20. I decided for that much I would give it a try. I just can't do what I want with Word or Freelance. I don't know much about CAD software, but I am actually quite happy so far. I have had to read the book a lot (which I don't like to do), but it seems like pretty complicated stuff. It seems fairly capable. It is neat to be able to draw something, then rotate it in 3D. The thing I am most impressed with so far is that it hasn't crashed once! I know its coming.

Anyway, anyone have any opinions as to whether I am wasting my time with this software?

I would like to be able to drawings with folks and watch projects evolve and get refined.

 

[gsxr1100]

Home- This little valve is for something a little larger then a tractor. It is a part on an aircraft larger then a 757. That is all I can say.

Sorry but not for a tractor…yet /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif It could become a PRV on a hydo unit though.

 

[gsxr1100]

white - A nice cheap and powerful program is ProE Student version. It i sabout $300. I use Pro at work ($25K), Unigraphics at home and work ($10K) and autocad I had a home and dump in the trash...

 

[HomeBrew2]

gsxr:
I've heard some about ProEngineer. $300 student seems very doable. If you wouldn't mind elaborating a bit: Does it have full 3d drafting and rendering functionality as well as stress and motion analysis, etc? I understand they used to have a demo but was unable to find it on their site last week.
Cheers!

 

[HomeBrew2]

Whiterock:
I'm glad to hear about the TurboCAD product you found. For $20 it seems like a great buy to get CAD experience. It is a different world drafting on a pc. Keep up the diligence. There should never be a hesitation to learn a skill that people actually pay money for. If it will export or "save as" an AotoCAD DXF file, please post it and we can see if those of us with the capability to open dxf files can load it into our software. I'm going to check out Circus City to see about getting a copy it for myself. I used TurboCAD Pro some years ago and found it to be very capable.
Cheers!