Cad program help

[FOMOGO]

Hi guys, I have been lurking for a long time and have learned a tremendous amount from all of you who so willingly share pics, links and facts. Thanks a bunch for that. I am still learning and I am interested in purchasing a CAD program. I have been doing all of my past work on a drafting table and it just takes to long. Can someone suggest a simple, easy to use program that would get me started??? I'll take all the help I can get... Thanks in advance. Doug

[96z28ss]

A good CAD program is going to cost you a lot of money.
Unigraphics, Solidworks, PRO E, CATIA are all cad software.
Do some searches and see which one would better fit your needs.

I have been using Unigraphics since 1992 so Im biased towards Unigraphics.
I think SolidWorks is just as good and a bit cheaper.

[ccracin]

X2 ^ You could also check this out. I don't know much about it, but it seems to have a following.

http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/

Also, if you are a student or teacher you can get educational versions of the above software at reduced cost.

Good luck.

[HWY Nova]

I was a Pro-E user for 8 years and then I switched to SolidWorks 10 years ago.

SolidWorks is an awesome choice! Decent price for what it can do. I've done simple brackets, as well as several car frames. I also use it professionally to design cooling systems for the aerospace and defense industries.


--Eric

[FOMOGO]

Thanks for the input guys. At least now I know what to look for. I think I will start looking for Solidworks first.

Doug

[Northeast Rod Run]

Solidworks is a good one, but where I use the CAM feature of the software as much as the CAD side, I have always been partial to Mastercam

[tukes23]

I taught myself Autocad about 8 years ago and when I decided to move into 3D design, my brother, who was an ME student, told me to try Pro-E. I tried it but I found that the learning curve for me was just too steep so I stuck with 2D design until a few years ago. When I started running the CNC machines at my current shop, I decided that I need to try 3D design again and after much searching I settled on a combination. I currently use Solidworks 2010 to do all of my 3D design and I use Mastercam X3 to do all of the CAM functions. The nice thing about Solidworks is that not only can you do 3D design, you can design sheetmetal parts in 3D space and then flatten them for cutting. Also, I find that being able to design and assemble parts to test their movements together is very handy when building one off, custom parts. Stress(FEA) and flow tests can also be done completely in the computer as well. Those are just few of the many features I use on a daily basis in the shop. I whole-heartdly recommend Solidworks.

[96z28ss]

The cool thing about Unigraphics NX series is that it does it all in one tool.
CAD,CAM,Sheet metal, Kinematics etc.. I have a Masters Certificate in Design from Unigraphics. I use the CAM very little but I will be using it more now and using the new 5 axis machine.

[DrewskiSS]

there are a bunch of cad programs out there, most of the major ones are already talked about here.
i cheaper route might be Gibbs cam. im not sure about the price though

[GaRys69]

Unigraphics NX will do everything
and is user friendly, but expensive.

[HWY Nova]

Bottomline...... all of the comments on the programs listed above are valid. You'll need to decide what you are going to use the program for.

Do you need CAD? Do you need CAM? Do you need "whatever"? Answer these and then decide.

Do you know anyone with any of the programs listed? If so, sit with them and see how they work.

The best thing that you have going for you is that you draw "on the board"...... which means that you can already think in 3D.



--Eric

[SBDave]

I learned Solidworks, Pro-E and MasterCam in college. Then when I started working we used Vectorworks (CAD for a Mac). I made them upgrade to Solidworks because Vectorworks couldn't accurately model in 3d. Once you learn one 3D cad program you'll be fine using any. They all do about the same thing, they just call each process something different and sometimes you have to do things in a slightly different order.

I would look into taking a class at a local college or jr college. It will help a lot! Or just compare costs and what each program offers and jump in head first. You can just get a book that will walk you through learning the program. I think Solidworks comes with "lessons" which are meant to teach you how to use just about everything starting at the basics.

Good luck!
-Dave

[srt8willys]

I've used Rhino 3D for years now. It's super cheap for a surface modeler, but that's about all it does. There are some plugins for CAM and hull design though. I'm also certified in SolidWorks. As a few have already stated it does it all and it does it well. Attached is a sample rendering of SBC that I modeled for fun in Solidworks. The rendering was done in Bunkspeed.