RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs.

RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs.
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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 1/28/2007 9:39 AM

vintageflyer

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Hey Ace...

How's the drawing comming along.
I have no experience in any Cad programs. I do own a couple but don't have the time to go through the learning curve. I have been designing model planes since I was eight and did my drawings on my Vemco drafting table. I'm starting to feel a little less, and I say "little", intimidated by it reading your thread. It is nice to have pros like Syd helping. That Yak drawing is inspiring to say the nery least. I guess beginers just have to remember, everyone has to start somewhere, and even the pros started out a beginer at one time.

DM

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 2/10/2007 9:50 PM

Skinny Bob

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Mike, I have AutoCAD, Solid Works etc, but find the learning curve a bit much. I have Corel Draw and can work with the vector .cdr format very well, but you don't have 3D. I have just purchased TurboCAD 11.2. I have tried their trial version and like the UI and think I can learn to use it much easer than the others. I would appreciate your as well as anyone else's opinion of TurboCAD.

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 2/10/2007 10:28 PM

dreadnaut

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Skinny Bob

Mike, I have AutoCAD, Solid Works etc, but find the learning curve a bit much. ...

SolidWorks has one of the best included tutorials I have seen. A lot of people swear at AutoCAD. I swear by it. The key to learning ACAD is to keep an eye on the command prompt at the bottom of the screen. Drag it up so that 3 lines are displayed above the command:

''OH NO!!! I have to learn COMMANDS!?!?!?!?!?''

Not a problem. If you want to draw a line, type ''LINE''. Want to draw a circle? Type ''CIRCLE''. I have heard it said, here in RCU, and elsewhere, that ACAD is not intuitive. I can only scratch my head at that.

Here is a key to understanding some command line notation. If ,for example, you type line, you will be prompted to enter points after you have done a couple of segments, you will get OPTIONS after the prompt; [Close/Undo]. The square brackets denote options. Pay attention to the capitalization. You can invoke the option by pressing the capitalized letter, then enter. Pay attention because some of the more advanced commands have lots of options, and the shortcut is often a letter (or letters) capitalized in the middle of a word.

Here is an example
Command: cs
UCS
Current ucs name: *WORLD*
Enter an option [New/Move/orthoGraphic/Prev/Restore/Save/Del/Apply/?/World]

Another convention is angle brackets <>. Some commands requre you to input a numerical value, like the radius of a circle. If you draw another circle you wil be shown a DEFAULT in angle brackets after you enter the center. In the case of a circle, the last value for radius that you entered will be displayed like this; <3.0000>. If you want to repeat this, simply press enter to accept the default. This can be very useful for drawing a set of motor mounting holes. You only need to type the radius once.

< Message edited by dreadnaut -- 2/10/2007 10:32 PM >

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 2/11/2007 12:01 AM

Skinny Bob

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dreadnaut, thanks for your input. A very good explanation of the commands. If you have time and would care to offer more, please do.

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 2/11/2007 6:04 AM

dreadnaut

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OK, now it gets better. To draw a line, you do not actualy have to type out ''LINE''. L will do it.

Go to C:/program files/ACAD 200x/support/ACAD.pgp. It is a text file were you can see all the command short cuts.

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 2/18/2007 10:03 AM

The Dodger

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Ok, I just had to put my two cents in here - haha - all in fun! I've used both AutoCAD and Solidworks and I think AutoCad is pretty archaic compared to Solidworks. I draw the entire airplane in Solidworks. Each componet is drawn separately - wing, fuse, tailfeathers, etc. I assemble them just for a visual check to see how they look together. What I do next might seem tedious but it actually works well.
I sketch the areas of the wing, lets say, where I want ribs and leading/ trailing edges on another plane (drawing plane) above the wing then just extrude cut away those spaces in between. Then I just do a cut-away view of each rib or just one if they are the same and save the view as a 2D drawing. Then I import that drawing into a parts drawing with other parts. Before it is imported, you can modify that part if unwanted views are included such as leading/ trailing edges and stringers. The entire extruded view can be saved as a 2D drawing and used as an assembly drawing.
I actually drew an OS engine to scale in Solidworks so I could see if it fit into the plane the way I wanted it . Ok, so I have too much time on my hands.
For those who have trouble lofting in Solidworks, just remember to have the same amout of points on one end as you have on the other and you shouldn't have any trouble. I've had to cut a radius into two parts in a sketch so I would have matching points from each end. It lofted perfectly!

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 3/14/2007 5:18 PM

catspaw

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Just read this thread. I use Mastercam X2 at work, and a little bit of solidworks. I've never designed a plane in either.
I have TurboCad 9.x at home, and have used modelcad 99 before that. Don't think I have MC anymore though.

Anyways, I wasn't happy with TC with my mastercam experience. I loved MC's convience of just typing in coordinates or moving the mouse the point I wanted and having MC automatically giving me the type of snap I needed.
With turbo cad, I had to click on a command, click on the X coordinate box, type in the numbers, click on the Y, etc.

I still receive offers for turbocad upgrades, they're up to like what? 13.5 now? has it really improved?

I also have the corel suite, and have been using it off and on to make vecotrs of scanned images.

John

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 3/27/2007 8:56 PM

dreadnaut

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This is an alert concerning polylines in ACAD

I work in flatland, and occasionaly have problems with drawings from third partys where the osnaps don't work right, or the line type scales seem to go crazy. The reason for these problems is due to the 2D drawings having 3D objects in them. I puzzled over this for a long time. When viewd from a lot of different angles, the drawings were obviously not intended to be 3D. Then it hit me.

There are a lot of people who set line weights by using polylines and altering the thickness. In AutoCAD, two properties of polylines are width and thickness. The Width setting lets you set plines to look ''thicker''. Thickness sets the ''height'' of the polyline in the z direction.

Confused?

If you are working strictly in 2D, I have a couple of suggestions. First learn to use object lineweights, or plot style tables, to set line weights, and don't use plines for this. Second, if the drawing is acting weird, use the ''properties'' bar to list the problem objects to see if any z's have crept in. The two lines in the illustration do not intersect. To make them intersect, select them both and set the z-values to 0.0000

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< Message edited by dreadnaut -- 3/27/2007 8:57 PM >

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 3/28/2007 1:44 AM

waross

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The only real trick is the more time you spend using the software the more profecient you become.....wait that's not a trick it's a fact

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 3/28/2007 2:33 AM

N1EDM

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Truer words were never spoken, waross..

Actually, once I start working in CAD, time just vaporizes. All of a sudden it's "two hours later"! Think of it as another toy!

Bob

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 5/3/2007 12:19 PM

longdan

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Saw this thread and thought I would throw in my 2 cents worth...
I use both ACAD and ACAD inventor, which is similar to solidworks. I find 3D useful for drawing complex assemblies, and producing 3- view workshop drawings, but I think ACAD is much better for drawing up and laying out a set of plans. With 2D ACAD, what you draw is what you get. This is not really the case with 3D, where the drawings that get printed are generated by the computer based on the 3d model you have drawn.
For people wanting to draw their own plans, rather than having to buy them, I think 2D CAD is a much better option.
Also, the majority of CNC work that someone would get done to produce parts for their model would be 2D cnc stuff like laser or waterjet cutting or hotwire foam cutting which only require 2D CAD files.

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 8/3/2007 12:50 PM

Yuu

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I've been using DeltaCad for three years or so.... all of a sudden it won't 'select' the part I want. I make the box around the part, and 'click'...but there is no 'outline' around that part, and when I click 'move'...the screen says, "No Item Selected". Did it just 'wear out', or did I press a button somewhere in EDIT or somewhere that removes 'select' from the machine??

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 8/4/2007 2:09 AM

N1EDM

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Yuu,

I haven't used DeltaCAD but I use AutoCAD. Whenever something like that happens, it's because I have somehow changed some obscure setting somewhere (perhaps typing a command badly).

Can you go back to some of your earlier drawings, where this function worked, and see if it still works?

You shouldn't be able to 'wear out' a program, but I suspect that either a setting has changed, or you imported something that doesn't allow itself to be selected.

Bob

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 8/4/2007 3:09 PM

Yuu

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The last four 'imports' were plans off the web...or here. The last TWO imports I've had trouble...so I'll go back and see if I can find out what changed. There was a little rubber band heli in FM that I wanted to make for the Grandchildren...they love experiments. Thanks for the reply.

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 8/5/2007 12:12 AM

Skinny Bob

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I am posting these screen shots to see how they look. These thin line drawings don't seem to show very good. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Looks JPEG is best.

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 8/5/2007 10:30 PM

dreadnaut

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Bob, Instead of CTL/PrintScreen, you can plot direct to JPG. This is my preferred way to plot drawings to post on RCU. If you have the ability to create PDF, like AcrobatPRO, ACAD will plot to PFD also.

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 8/6/2007 2:49 AM

Skinny Bob

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dreadnaut, these files where plotted using a screen capture program. It seems to work out quite well. I previously tried to convert my cdr files to jpg and then upload, but that didn't work to well. The third pic was a pdf file plotted using the screen capture program which worked ok also. I think the capture program I am using now will do the job.

Thanks for your input

Bob

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 10/26/2007 2:00 PM

cuoremia

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I have drawing with complete measurements im mm, and scale bar at bottom. when i print full size, the dimensions and scale shown don't match, so the drawing is not to scale. do drawings get distorted when printed, and is there any way to eliminate this.

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 10/26/2007 3:59 PM

dreadnaut

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quote:

ORIGINAL: cuoremia

I have drawing with complete measurements im mm, and scale bar at bottom. when i print full size, the dimensions and scale shown don't match, so the drawing is not to scale. do drawings get distorted when printed, and is there any way to eliminate this.

It would help if you could tell us which software you are using. I know that AutoCAD and TurboCAD have methods for producing accuratly scaled prints. If you are using ACAD, I can tell you how to do this.

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 10/26/2007 4:09 PM

cuoremia

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turbocad

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 10/26/2007 5:07 PM

dreadnaut

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I work proffesionaly with AutoCAD, so have no real incentive to learn TCAD, but have heard that they are simmilar. In ACAD, the print dialog allows you to set a print scale. You want to print it 1:1. The default in ACAD is "Scale to Fit" paper size. This will distort the drawing to fit the paper margins. If this gives you a GIANT scale drawing, you will want to scale the drawing (not a print function) * .03937 to convert from mm to inches, OR scale the print by 1:25.4

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 1/26/2008 3:12 PM

starcad

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Not to rain on you Kevin, but a better way is to import the image into a separate layer and then switch to a "Trace_Layer" where you can trace the image. You can then turnoff the image layer at will to check you construction lines on the Trace_Layer.

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 1/26/2008 11:48 PM

N1EDM

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I have done something similar... do you have the image as a .bmp file? You can put that down on it's own layer, then trace as you wish. I'm about to do that to trace the shape of a wing section for a fiberglass fuse. I hope that it works the way that I envision that it will.

Bob

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 2/26/2008 9:51 AM

crow

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hi

need some help!

Does anybody know is it possible to align the side with bottom. As you see on the pic, the front part is attached but rear part is not, because the rear has a little curve and i couldn´t figure out how to bend it. The whole thing is made with solids in autocad

thanks
Crow

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RE: Tips And Tricks for CAD Programs. - 2/26/2008 2:50 PM

Skinny Bob

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quote:

ORIGINAL: crow

hi

need some help!

Does anybody know is it possible to align the side with bottom. As you see on the pic, the front part is attached but rear part is not, because the rear has a little curve and i couldn´t figure out how to bend it. The whole thing is made with solids in autocad

thanks
Crow

I have the same problem working in SolidWorks. I have been told to draw the panel I want to bend as sheet metal and then cut the holes later. I have tried it and can't seem to make it work

. I have cut the fuse side into sections and then mated them to the top fuse panel that is curved. It works good enough to build an assembly to see the assembly parts fit together.

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