833TV Received

Here's another.
ahazi said:
Definitely inspiring. I have an old rotary table that I will clean up and make ready for the job as soon as I get the other initial install work on the PM-833T. Expecting delivery on Tuesday.

David, what CAD software do you use for your drawings?

Ariel
Click to expand...
Visio Professional
 
You use Visio as your CAD software? Interesting.

One of the excellent options for CAD is Fusion 360. An excellent program with awesome support. The Fusion 360 team is very responsive to requests for improvements, etc. It is free for educational/ personal use.

If you are a Member of the EAA, you can download Solidworks for free. That is what I have been using lately.

If one is thinking about heading towards CNC for any of your machines down the road, I would recommend Fusion.
 
David, I'd seen the pics for your 935 install but not the PM25. Before I buy the front plate I'm going to do more investigation.

I wish there was an any place to contain the stop. As you can see in the pics, the left side has the electrical box. The thin, horizontal casting in the front is in the way if I use the BP type stop nut.
 
7milesup said:
You use Visio as your CAD software? Interesting.

One of the excellent options for CAD is Fusion 360. An excellent program with awesome support. The Fusion 360 team is very responsive to requests for improvements, etc. It is free for educational/ personal use.

If you are a Member of the EAA, you can download Solidworks for free. That is what I have been using lately.

If one is thinking about heading towards CNC for any of your machines down the road, I would recommend Fusion.
Click to expand...

I use Fusion 360 all the time for 3D modeling work, and I advise their development team on UI related enhancements monthly (I’m in Portland OR where their HQ for F360 is located). But it is a terrible substitute for 2D CAD because it’s drawing output capability is very limited. It is getting better, but may never get to a level that’s useful for many things I do. Try doing architectural drawings for a house remodel with it - which is what I do day in and day out. Visio Professional (not the basic version, but the Pro) is hands down the most efficient and productive 2D CAD package available, and I’ve tried them all. For the CNC stuff I send out, no question F360 is great. But not everything lends itself to 3D modeling as a starting point.
 
True about the 2D modeling. Sometimes my thinking goes directly to 3D.
Will visio (non pro version) do 2D drawings? I was using Draftsight but they have now gone to a pay to play model.
As far as architectural drawings go, both Fusion and Solidworks are very poor at doing that.
 
Visio basic is for org charts, office layouts, stuff like that. Think of it as PowerPoint with some drafting template objects. I was the VC backer of Visio when it started in 1993, but it was gobbled up by Microsoft and integrated into Office in the late 1990’s. The Pro version is fully featured for architectural, engineering, HVAC, piping and pneumatic design, etc. The Pro version of Visio is available for purchase (about $500) or through Microsoft’s cloud-based service for a monthly fee. In many respects it is a template-driven version of the original MacCAD or Claris CAD system, the long time high water mark for UI design and productivity. Within Microsoft, Visio is a backwater product and as such I don’t normally recommend it to new users. I have 20 years of legacy drawings corked up in Visio, so I’m hostage to it and still run the 2002 version under Windows 10 under Parallels on the Mac. Visio does not have parametric geometry capabilities like F360, but is object based with layers and most of the flexibility of Autocad but with a much better user interface. If I had to choose a package today for 2D drafting I would consider Ashlar’s Graphite (which is parametric) or Rhino 2D. The learning curve on all these CAD packages is steep if you want to be productive, and once you have a library of drawings, you are held hostage, so choose wisely.
 
I've been using Visio for network diagrams since the late 90's. I've done a couple drawings for machinable items but that's been mostly back of the napkin at this point.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the insight Dave!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top