CAD software

[WobblyHand]

I was trying to stay brand-agnostic, but Alibre was the brand that checked the most boxes for me as well. I just (Black Friday / Cyber whateverday) got back on maintenance and upgraded from v23 to v27 (pro) and I've got to say it's an even more compelling option now. A lot of earlier shortcomings have been eliminated.

GsT

Some of our members have done really outstanding work with Alibre. It's been quite impressive - and humbling. Good software is enabling.

 

[verbotenwhisky]

WINE and the like are not that great. I used it for LTSpice and TINAspice. It sort of works, but some stuff just doesn't work right. That includes non functional printing, or program hangs for some operations. Not quite BSOD, but messy enough.

Emulator evaluation is not something that I wish to do as a hobby. My IT is me, myself and I, so I look for the easier path forward these days. Emulators can work if they are properly setup, but it's not always obvious what needs to be done. So they aren't painless. If you have access to decent IT, they can configure things. As a retired one man shop it's hard to get enthusiastic about taking on one more meta task just to get something else to work. Got to draw the line somewhere on task multiplication... Have enough round tuits at the moment to work on.

I can understand and appreciate your position...

 

[verbotenwhisky]

Some of our members have done really outstanding work with Alibre. It's been quite impressive - and humbling. Good software is enabling.

I discovered long ago that I can make most (not all) things work and get the out put I am looking for. For me the measuring stick of capabilities is effort and time vs. results. I sit behind a machine driving these software 8 and 10 hours a day 5 days a week; so, on my personal projects I am willing to spend some money to reduce my time and effort and improve my results. I bought Albre and find it satisfying to use...

 

[WobblyHand]

I discovered long ago that I can make most (not all) things work and get the out put I am looking for. For me the measuring stick of capabilities is effort and time vs. results. I sit behind a machine driving these software 8 and 10 hours a day 5 days a week; so, on my personal projects I am willing to spend some money to reduce my time and effort and improve my results. I bought Albre and find it satisfying to use...

Can't argue with that.

I had no previous (real) CAD experience, so there was no easy choice to make. Since I was retired and had to watch my expenditures, I picked something that was free and worked on my platform. Turned out to be a "good enough" choice. So far the limit on modeling things has been the operator, rather than the tool. Hope it stays that way, but if not, I may re-evaluate my choice, just not model that type of thing, or I'll work hard at it and figure out how to do it. Or look at the problem differently.

I don't have someone telling me to solve the problem a certain way, like when I was working, so there's additional flexibility. It's like machining stuff, with only the tooling and machines you have. Need to be adaptable, to get the work done.

 

[Just for fun]

I use FreeCAD. It's pretty powerful for a free tool. Like any CAD sw, the initial training is tough, but there's loads of videos to get you going. I just kept replaying them slowly to pick up points that I missed. After 10-12 videos I was good enough to do a lot of my own. Basically, once the concepts are in your head, you can do a whole lot.

Do you have any recommendations on videos to watch? I thought I would check it out, but the one guy talks so fast and moves around fast also. On top of that with his accent I just couldn't follow along.

Tim

 

[WobblyHand]

Do you have any recommendations on videos to watch? I thought I would check it out, but the one guy talks so fast and moves around fast also. On top of that with his accent I just couldn't follow along.

Tim

I used the videos from Joko Engineering. Give me a bit, and I'll find the link. Special tip, play the video at 3/4 speed, especially if you are missing something. Don't be afraid to keep repeating a section. The instructor won't know if we are a little slow! But do repeat until you get the same thing on the screen. Hold the screen and rearrange your icons the same way, so you don't have to hunt them down on the fly! It really slows you down to be searching for buttons while the instructor plows ahead.

Eventually, it gets easier. If you can get through the first dozen videos, you can get somewhat decent. There's loads more, but the first 12 are important. They form the foundation.

Here's a link for some https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7eiW2bt21YU6QEbly78kUgQCNEiDUwSH
Others can be found at https://wiki.freecad.org/Video_tutorials_for_product_design
MangoJelly on youtube has some as well.

Joko Engineering has some interesting compare and contrast videos, showing, for instance how to build a part in Solidworks and FreeCAD. Really talented person, he knows just about every CAD program and how to use them.

 

[piper184]

MangoJelly is usually my starting point. He is very detailed and usually shows at least a couple of ways to do the same thing. The videos can get a little long winded but at least I don't have any issues trying to understand an accent.
Pause and rewind are the best features of online tutorials. Just start with the intro lesson #1 and follow along and replicate the demo design. If you can get two monitors (or two computers side by side) it really makes it easier. At least for me, play the video full screen on one monitor and open the program up full screen on the other.

 

[Just for fun]

Thanks for the links, I watched the first Joko one. And already learned some stuff. Two things right off the bat was learning where the construction lines are located and setting the distance between two things.

I have been using Fusion360 for a couple years and have the basics down pretty good.

I also have two monitors so I can watch on one and draw on another.