[ROB C]

Just curious on how many people used cad program to design there machine before they built it?

I use Solidworks, and have went through 4 designs to find the right one.

[Allyd1964]

+1 for SolidWorks, still trying for a design that I'm happy with and the wife will approve funding for. It's a hard mix

[bclark6716]

I used PRO/E

[millman52]

I used AutoCad for developing some prints to work from. I do not have a full set of plans by any standard. But it was a big help to keep from "painting myself into a corner."

[CARLOS DERAS]

I use NX5 for design and manufacturing .

[ImanCarrot]

AutoCAD for the drawing then import it into Dolphin CAM.

[cadman]

We use SolidWorks here. Soilidworks must be the Canadian version

[thkoutsidthebox]

I used Google Sketchup! Might not give nice renders at the end, but hey, its free.

[Smitty911]

Purchased Alibre, first drawings that I have ever done.

Smitty

[cadcamslawek]

solid works

[Bowman]

sketching ideas and designs in AutoCAD but since I am building a Frankenstein ebay special for the most part my parts themselves are sort of dictating my design in a lot of ways. Limited by the means to the end sort of helps with making it all work. Still have the long X to work out yet myself but I know I am going to use the whole 6' of screw so thats something I can work with.

I feel you can design a million things over and over especially looking at the gallery and commercial designs can give you ideas out the wazoo but you have to set a criteria and try your best to stay within it otherwise you will always be building and rebuilding, Once is enough ( or twice lol ) .

Unless your on an unlimited budget to spec out exactly what you design calls for in your dream world your going to be constrained to what you have to work with, go with it and then add on from there. ( says the guy without the X axis )

Bowman

[eman5oh]

I use Autodesk Inventor because that is what we use at work.

[OzarkCNC]

Tried to do it in Alibre. Failed miserably.

Then Sketchup. GOt a bit further, but get hung up on orientation of the drawn part in the XYZ plane. takes forever to correct, so I gave up.

I'll be designing it as I go. I kinda know what I want. So as long as it can get from my head to my hands, I am good to go.

[Mr_bossman]

I used Turbocad ver.11for all my work.

[bsharp]

Inventor was the first solid modeling that I learned back in 2000. And it is what I use currently at work also. I found Inventor at the time of learning it a lot more intuitive and a lot faster than old school Mechanical desktop. But over the years I have used a lot of systems. And would have to say that Inventor and Solid works are my two lower cost favorite's. Choosing one over the other is like comparing apples to oranges.

On the upper spectrum "$". ProE, Unigraphics, Catia are each quite a lot different.
Catia In my opinion is the grail of cad. I think It has been around longer than any of the rest "in one form or another". And is amazingly powerful and versatile in many aspects. For one instance in simplicity try making a rolled up sheet metal cylinder with cut outs or holes. In Catia all you need to do is draw an arc, click on rolled wall and unfold it. Make any holes or cut outs and you can roll it back up or vise versa seamlessly and completely parametrically instantaneously. It is such a simple task but Catia is the only system I know of that will do this without having to cut any corners on the implementation.

ProE and Unigraphics are in my opinion pretty darn close as far as ease of use and functionality. With these two as far as the ease of use goes I would suggest even a veteran cad professional to take a course in them first. They are both very powerful systems but I would have to say that the functionality of Inventor and Solid Works are catching up pretty quickly to these two.

And of course these are all just my opinion's based on the Short seven years of Engineering and Design with solid modeling.

[tobyaxis]

Currently using BobCAD/CAM and learning Alibre Design V10.

Honestly Alibre is a real bang for the buck for a 3D CAD Modeler IMPO. Not everyone can afford Solidworks, Catia, and Pro/E. They are nice though.

Trying to create a 5 Axis Gantry Style little by little.

Cheers!!!!

[bsharp]

Hey Toby I to have been working on a small 5 Axis gantry style machine. I had a working prototype built around three years ago. It initially ran well cutting wax and foam but had major problems with deflection and backlash on much anything else. I am currently retro fitting an older TREE Journeyman mill with a pc control. That will be used to make the more complex parts needed for the 5 Axis machine. The frame was built from 7ga laser cut mild steel "slot and tabbed" together and then mig welded. The X axis rack gears where also laser cut and key slot tabbed and then bolted to the frame in sections. I currently have the X axis running on fully supported RC60 shaft with Thomson ball bushings. The upgraded y axis carriage will have THK rails instead of the shaft. And the dual rotating head will have a completely new more ridged design. The envelope of the working area will be around two foot square. My ultimate goal is to be able to cut aluminum on it. But it will be used mainly for carving and rapid prototyping plastics. Hopefully if everything goes well I will have it updated this winter and I will share some photo's of the machine. It is pretty neat to watch it contour a sphere or a concave pocket.

[tobyaxis]

Hey that sounds pretty nice!! I am going for major RIGIDITY Boxed Ways XYZ and a Rotary Trunion B and C Axis. This could take at least 5 years just to design and another 2 years for assembly. It will be a long road, but well spent.:rainfro:

The Table is done but the Z axis needs a better design. It is X=15 inch by Y=15 inch. The Z will be at least 20 inch and the Rotary Axises I want Max Travel around 220 Tilt by 360 rotational.

This is going to take a while LOL:rainfro:

[Barry_ward]

Ironcad for solids, Autocad for quick 2D dxfs

It's been around for a long time and is super fast. The rendering is and has been good. Once you master positioning and arrays wth the triball positioning tool, you can whip. You can't roll and unroll sheetmetal yet though.

[Staverous]

I have used both Solid Edge and Solid Works