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dkwolf said:
First thing that comes to mind is sketchup, but without knowing what you want to do with it...
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I have sketchup in mind, but really no specific purpose. Random projects. Stairs, blow molding machine parts, plumbing.. Just kind of whatever project I have going on at the time haha.
 
treacheroustexan said:
I have sketchup in mind, but really no specific purpose. Random projects. Stairs, blow molding machine parts, plumbing.. Just kind of whatever project I have going on at the time haha.
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Don't know if you can get a free version of it (maybe a trial) but for the machine parts solid works or rhino comes to mind. I don't know squat about solid works so couldn't tell you about the 2d capabilities. Sketchup actually now has a 2d layout program that is free and works with sketchup to create drawings (including a stair builder)
 
treacheroustexan said:
I have sketchup in mind, but really no specific purpose. Random projects. Stairs, blow molding machine parts, plumbing.. Just kind of whatever project I have going on at the time haha.
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I've loaded Draftsight just to be able to read some older CAD files. We design in 3D now, but have lots of old drawings from Autocad, and some customers use Autocad. Some of our design people wanted a free program to read those files without having to own a license for Autocad.

About the only thing I've done is hide layers and insert lines on plant layouts for wiring. One guy says it's pretty much like Autocad.
 
treacheroustexan said:
Can anyone recommend a good, absolutely free 2d cad program I can use for work?
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If it's just for figuring things out or communicating dimensions to other people, sketchup can handle it just fine. I use it for that a lot and I wish there was a way to dimension lock it (maybe there is and I'm lame), but it's intuitive 3d nature slows me down.

If you need the output file to be a DWG that can be loaded into a CNC machine, the best free one I've used is Solidedge. It's basically a crippled version of their 3D software that is used as a marketing tool but it's fully functional in 2D.
 
Thanks all. I'l check a coupe of them out! I had no idea you could do 2d in sketchup.

Edit: Just played around in sketchup making some random 2d drawings and I really really really like it. User friendly and can do what I need it to. Then it makes it super easy to create a 3d model of it.
 
Draftsight acts, looks, tastes and smells just like AutoCAD :D

i've tried to make the push to use it at work instead of AutoCAD (we're 3D anyways) but haven't won that battle . . . yet :)
 
BrewerBrad82 said:
Holy hell, mind blown!!! That is incredible. I really want to get one, but I cannot justify it as I already have a RepRap printer...
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Yeah mind blown but it seems to good to be true. The videos are absolutely incredible lol. I may end up canceling my pledge and waiting for the official release. I don't see it actually shipping in september like it is estimated. But then again, for $99 what is there to lose? (other than $99)

Which printer do you have? I'm looking to (not buy one yet) but learn more about it and maybe get one in a few years.
 
kev211 said:
That thing is pretty slick. If my friend (who constantly eats my food and drinks my beer) didnt have a 3D printer that I had access to (I make tap handles, he drinks my beer :D), I would buy one. But still pretty freaking cool
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Never thought about the tap handle idea. I might have some work to do...
 
treacheroustexan said:
Yeah mind blown but it seems to good to be true. The videos are absolutely incredible lol. I may end up canceling my pledge and waiting for the official release. I don't see it actually shipping in september like it is estimated. But then again, for $99 what is there to lose? (other than $99)

Which printer do you have? I'm looking to (not buy one yet) but learn more about it and maybe get one in a few years.
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I purchased a kit that I built myself. Its a Prusa I3.

http://www.geeetech.com/geeetech-aluminum-prusa-i3-3d-printer-kit-p-944.html

I opted for the aluminum frame for extra stability, but you can get kits that are made of acrylic for much cheaper (under $200). Once built, there is a bit of a learning curve with all the various slicer software and firmware edits needed to calibrate the printer for high quality and dimensionally accurate parts.
 
treacheroustexan said:
Never thought about the tap handle idea. I might have some work to do...
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I printed a ton of these for my brewing friends:

20160320_141649.jpg

Here is the Thingiverse page for the .STL file:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1286779
 
I'm far too obsessed with 3d printing already.

What in the world am I going to do with all of these cookie cutters?

On the brightside, last night I made a very very simple tap handle model with my "brewery name" and I'm printing it out now just because my mind is curious.
 
Has anyone here used any of the new cloud based CAD programs such as Fusion 360 (Autodesk), 3DExperience (Dessault/Solidworks) or OnShape? If so, what did you think of them? How do they compare to traditional 3D CAD programs such as Solidworks, Inventor, or Creo?
 
I've used OnShape, and it's pretty much Solidworks. Buttons are a little different, some features are a little harder to use, and I get a little lag rendering models sometimes. Pretty much what I expected from a cloud based program.
 
Need some advice from you all. I have an internal job interview in a few weeks for a design engineering position with the company I am with. I would be designing new bottles and machine tooling in Catia. I have little experience, but am well liked within my company and do a great job in my current role so I think my chances are pretty good. Since I have such little experience, does anyone have any tips I could use in my interview? Should I make a small portfolio of some of my personal drawings I have done? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
I'd say if you're well liked within the company, go and ask someone from that department to mentor you when time permits. You said the interview is in a couple weeks; that isn't a ton of time, but it gives you some time to learn the way the company prefers that type of design work to be done, the software and any other questions you might have.

Not only does this give you a good foundation for that specific field, it should look like a great deal of initiative to the company that you've sought a mentor to better yourself and definitely work more in your favor.

I have no direct experience in that specific field, just general knowledge on seeking promotions and the likes.

Good luck.
 
In addition to above, make sure during the interview that you make it clear that you want to learn. They probably don't expect you to be an expert. Just be upfront that you have a lot to learn - and you're passionate about learning.
 
I wouldn't worry about a portfolio. Being an internal interview, they likely already know what you're capable of unless you've done anything extraordinary on the side. If you're that well-liked, just go in and be yourself. Stress your excitement for the position and eagerness to learn and be challenged further within the company.
 
Ok gravedig here...

Our office recently upgraded to Acad 2016, love the new features but Im having one issue that none of us seem to be able to fix.

Im working on a roof plan and each plane of the roof has a solid gray hatch for different levels. The foot print of the buildings grew a bit so I went to stretch the hatch boundary, roof line and building outline to match the floor plan that is xref'd in. The hatch is sent to the back so all of the other lines show through as well. However, as soon as I select the hatch with polylines etc the hatch changes drawing order and comes to the top and completely obstructs all the lines below. So I cant see where Im stretching to or what line Im going to snap to. Anyone have any idea how to keep the hatch permanently forced to the background without having to lock the layer (cuz I still want the hatch to stretch)?

Right now its really annoying because the only way I can stretch everything is to delete the hatch, stretch the lines and then re-hatch. Adding more time to my process.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Edit: Turns out, its whenever the hatch is selected it moves to front. I have selection preview set to 2. The only way I can seem to "solve" the issue is by using fillmode at 0. But that also is a royal PITA
 
Been playing with OnShape for a little bit now, again, after SW changed their second license permissions, so I can no longer count on installing SW at home or work computer to fiddle with.

Anyway, for home use OnShape is pretty decent. They've been adding features all along and it's fairly user-friendly if you are familiar with SW. Assembly Mates are different, but actually mostly faster and easier. I find a small amount of lag in grabbing, selecting, etc., but nothing worse than you'd expect in a cloud-based design software. My only other issue is selecting things. You have to get pretty close for it to select just what you want, even though there is plenty of the feature you want to select residing under the cursor.

Been designing a single burner BIAB stand with removable mast for hoisting grain bag with, and small tables that can be added to the mast that stick out to the sides for putting small items. The stand and side tables can next inside another table for transport/storage, then quickly put together again when needed.

I learned a lot by watching tutorials, and the forum has been helpful in learning how to do things when I have gotten stuck. All-in-all, for a FREE home design software, it's been really nice, especially after having SW experience.

Notice that the "FREE" option requires your designs to be visible to others. Not at all a concern to me, since I am really only ever going to design for hobby use.

A 3D software really helps me to not create designs which don't actually fit together the way my brain envisions them.
 
I don't like the idea of "cloud" programs, but I may have to check that out.

I have a yearning desire to make a 3D model of my house, but I don't have time at my work PC. And some of the other programs **cough** sketchup **cough****cough** leave a lot to be desired for me.
 
NickTheGreat said:
I don't like the idea of "cloud" programs, but I may have to check that out.

I have a yearning desire to make a 3D model of my house, but I don't have time at my work PC. And some of the other programs **cough** sketchup **cough****cough** leave a lot to be desired for me.
Click to expand...

I use sketchup because it's free and was super easy to learn. I'm thinking about making a model of my "dream home/brewery" but I haven't had the motivation to actually do it yet.
 
NickTheGreat said:
I don't like the idea of "cloud" programs, but I may have to check that out.

I have a yearning desire to make a 3D model of my house, but I don't have time at my work PC. And some of the other programs **cough** sketchup **cough****cough** leave a lot to be desired for me.
Click to expand...

I feel the same way about cloud software in general, but for private, personal use, it's great. (Unless you care about privacy in some cases...)

If you are familiar with 3D design software, and especially Solidworks, I really recommend OnShape. It's basic "Create a sketch on a plane, draw a shape, extrude that shape, and voila!" Tutorials in OnShape are not GREAT IMO, but I didn't really follow the basic tutes since I already know the basics of SW. I was able to jump right into it and get frustrated with the tutes related to mating (which could be geared more toward those who don't know all of the terminology, and just better edited in general IMO.)

If I get a chance I'll post a pic or something of one of my models. I *really* want to build a small BIAB rig, but I have a few projects that need to be done up before I can start. I might just spend a little time here and there cutting steel and gathering the parts. I can cut the pieces out at work. My Harbor Fright Chop Saw sucks beyond belief, but we have band saws as work that are nearly automatic. (I really need to fix or toss that stupid HF POS...)
 
NickTheGreat said:
I don't like the idea of "cloud" programs, but I may have to check that out.

I have a yearning desire to make a 3D model of my house, but I don't have time at my work PC. And some of the other programs **cough** sketchup **cough****cough** leave a lot to be desired for me.
Click to expand...

You can get trial versions of a lot of the programs, but SketchUp is actually a great program. Once you start getting into it, it can be a great tool. This rendering was done with SketchUp and twilight render, but I have recently upgraded to lumion as a renderer

View attachment 1493219558712.jpg
 
Homercidal said:
I feel the same way about cloud software in general, but for private, personal use, it's great. (Unless you care about privacy in some cases...)

If you are familiar with 3D design software, and especially Solidworks, I really recommend OnShape. It's basic "Create a sketch on a plane, draw a shape, extrude that shape, and voila!" Tutorials in OnShape are not GREAT IMO, but I didn't really follow the basic tutes since I already know the basics of SW. I was able to jump right into it and get frustrated with the tutes related to mating (which could be geared more toward those who don't know all of the terminology, and just better edited in general IMO.)

If I get a chance I'll post a pic or something of one of my models. I *really* want to build a small BIAB rig, but I have a few projects that need to be done up before I can start. I might just spend a little time here and there cutting steel and gathering the parts. I can cut the pieces out at work. My Harbor Fright Chop Saw sucks beyond belief, but we have band saws as work that are nearly automatic. (I really need to fix or toss that stupid HF POS...)
Click to expand...

I messed with it a little bit this morning. It does behave similarly to Solidworks. Which is half the reason I couldn't use Sketchup; just too different.

It took me a LONG time to figure out how to rotate the model. RMB? Hmmmm :ban:
 
kev211 said:
You can get trial versions of a lot of the programs, but SketchUp is actually a great program. Once you start getting into it, it can be a great tool. This rendering was done with SketchUp and twilight render, but I have recently upgraded to lumion as a renderer
Click to expand...

Yeah I know lots of people do great things with Sketchup. I'm just too ingrained in other 3D modellers and Sketchup is just a enough different that I need to sit down and try to learn it. Rather than just messing with it for 10 or 15 minutes every year or so :tank:
 
NickTheGreat said:
Yeah I know lots of people do great things with Sketchup. I'm just too ingrained in other 3D modellers and Sketchup is just a enough different that I need to sit down and try to learn it. Rather than just messing with it for 10 or 15 minutes every year or so :tank:
Click to expand...

True true. It is very different from other 3D so thats a bummer. I dont know if you ave used lumion before, but that program is a trip. Works more like a video game then a 3D oriented program
 
Link to the BIAB rig I'm putting together. This is not the finished design yet. I'm just now working on getting real-life dimensions to fit requirements of the user (Kettle height, stand height for gravity needs, etc.) Also, I don't have the shelves modeled in this version, but they will be designed so that they hang on the mast and stick out to the sides of it. They will stack kind of like a spiral staircase so you can put a few on if you like. The side stand is also not modeled up in here. The whole rig can be broken down into component parts and nested inside the side table for transport or storage.


https://cad.onshape.com/documents/6...f58c2cb5163583793d/e/c6645055dac97330d7561030
 
Pics of a storage box idea I stole from somewhere over the rainbow a long time ago. Just got around to modeling so I can maybe implement this idea this summer. It pairs well with the Kreg Jig I bought last fall. Making the boxes should be pretty easy.

The design works well with open trusses too, but since I have an attic, I designed this one with an upper floor. The dimensions aren't perfect for my garage, as my trusses are 24" OC, and I didn't know this until I stopped home at lunch to grab a power cord. I took a quick measure and now have to go back and change the 16" OC dimensions to 24" OC, but that should be minimal work.

One of my implementations of this will be for LONG brewing items like hoses, mash paddles, etc., and maybe even a version for buckets and kettles, but of course those items will cause the box to sit below the truss, and I'll have to plan a latch device to account for that.

Link to Design: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/d...401bf79cd7660b2a00/e/36a6a22f576e7284dd9e438e

Truss Boxes Closed.jpg


Truss Boxes Open.jpg
 
I do hobby woodwork and have used SketchUp for long time. It's decent for most of that type design plus there are nice cut-sheet plug-ins for it that make taking the design to wood a bit easier to plan.

But, lately, I have been really interested in more organic shaped pieces. Sculptural benches and maker style assemblies. I fail at Sketchup in this regard. I need to be able to design a freeform blob, or bubble and then slice out voids layer by layer. Working from the outside in. Just can't bring myself to spend monies for premium software to do this.

I also want something that can translate over to a toolpath software for a CNC router. If I can get the designs right, it'll justify buying the machine.

Stuff like this;

Arch2o-Sculpture-Benches-dEEP-Architects-2.jpg


The overall freeform shape is what I struggle with. If I can sort out how to create the "bubble/blob" in 3D to start from. I can create the slices easily.
 
I'd look at fusion360 for that. (I have zero onshape experience). The scult tools in fusion are pretty good, and make freeform stuff like that really easy.


I've been using fusion for over a year now for anything personal outside work. Was very skeptical at first, but I hardly miss solidworks anymore. As long as you can get past the cloud aspect it's a fantastic bit of free software.
 

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