CAD/CAM Buddies

[AndrewMawson]

Leadhead, - you'd be more than welcome to come and play :) Kettle's always on and it's nice to put faces to names. If you had Partsmasters you probably met Mike Coltron, the chap who used to look after them.

[charlieuk]

I'm over near brighton however I'm struggling to find a program that i can get my head around. I grew up using 2d auto cad as that is what my farther used for architecture. I have down loaded a few trial versions of software but have not had much luck at all. At the moment i only use my cnc for cutting surfboards which has its own program and you basically design it in the 3 views and it does the rest, i think if i could find a program more like that i would stand a lot better chance of picking something up. I have so many things i want to draw up but just can't seam to figure how to model them in 3d.

[AndrewMawson]

I started with Autocad 2.6 in the mid 1980's, and still only really do 2 1/2 D at best! I'm going to put my toe in the water with Fusion360 which will be quite a different kettle of fish being 'proper' 3D ! At the moment I'm using an old version of FeatureCAM but my CNC'ing is relatively simple stuff.

I suppose your surf boards are going to be the merging of various curved surfaces extruded from 2D ?

[charlieuk]

i tried fashion360 but couldn't get my head round it on my own so let me know if you have any luck!

the surfboard i do i draw a outline in the plan view then a side profile to get what we call the rocker and then insert slices down the board to give the shape of the top, bottom and rails. it then takes that and turns it into a 3d drawing and then even creates the g code to cut it out so its a all in one package.It is called Shape3d. I have used it to do various other things but its is a bit restricted to single sided symmetrical stuff. I wish i could find a similar program to do other things on.

[Leadhead]

I guess most 3D Cad/Cam programmes are a big learning curve. However using a fully integrated Cad, Cam and postprocessor really simplifies many of the stages. I am all Mach3 and F360 does this job admirably. Couple up to the support videos,forums and zero purchase price. It became a no brainer to me.
If you begin simply and resist the temptation to get ahead of yourself you will be fine. Cut some primitive shapes, then modify them. Perhaps engrave a little text etc. Jumping prematurely into "useful" work will probably burst a few blood vessels.
Take it slowly you will get there and still have some hair left.
You can always ask on here too!!

[charlieuk]

I guess most 3D Cad/Cam programmes are a big learning curve. However using a fully integrated Cad, Cam and postprocessor really simplifies many of the stages. I am all Mach3 and F360 does this job admirably. Couple up to the support videos,forums and zero purchase price. It became a no brainer to me.
If you begin simply and resist the temptation to get ahead of yourself you will be fine. Cut some primitive shapes, then modify them. Perhaps engrave a little text etc. Jumping prematurely into "useful" work will probably burst a few blood vessels.
Take it slowly you will get there and still have some hair left.
You can always ask on here too!!

i will have to give it another go i tried just using google sketch up the other day and that got me no were. I did down load f360 but the trial ran out even though i did as it said to get the free version so will have to try again. I don't mind paying for a program if it was as easy to use as my surfboard one which although was a lot it makes life so easy!

[komatias]

i will have to give it another go i tried just using google sketch up the other day and that got me no were. I did down load f360 but the trial ran out even though i did as it said to get the free version so will have to try again. I don't mind paying for a program if it was as easy to use as my surfboard one which although was a lot it makes life so easy!

Charlie,

I use fusion as a Second pass program. As I am very well versed in Creo/Pro-e and Inventor, it makes sense to work in those to build the 3D models.

Fusion allows the import of so many file types it is very easy to bring a model in and then just use the CAM side of it.

For your application, you may benefit from learning how to build free form surfaces in Fusion if you want to use it as cad. This is not as difficult as it sounds it just takes time and knowing what to look for. You can also use the flexible modeling elements where you create nodes on a primitive (eg, sphere, box, torus) and pull them into a known shape.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt7mD8ErvJY

With your existing CAD, can you export a 3d DXF file? If so, you may be one step ahead of the game.

There also is the option to create "loft" features between strategically placed sketches. You create sketching planes at known distances from each other and place a x-section sketch on each one. you then extrude between them. Not sure if it gives you full control over the final object but it can be a start.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJCtZ0-St_I

Then the cam stuff is simple in comparison.