jerusha

does any one know a link for a CAD program thats free?

DICKEYBIRD

http://www.al-ki.com/tcad/download.php#TurboCADLE

Great program plus you can download the manuals in .pdf format as well.

sharpshooter223

screw turbocad, when you click the link it doesnt download turbocad, it sends you to a link with a ton of other free cads, i have found the best to be deltacad, i was going through the same thing you were and it took me a year to find it, so save yourself the trouble and use it: http://www.deltacad.com/demo.html

besides, most the people on here send you links to cad sites that cost money even when you keep telling them you want FREE program, i mean seriously, how dumb can people get, if you dont want to pay you dont want to pay, but deltacad has worked great for me so far, so i suggest using it

dolanosa

Sharpshooter...

Get a life man. Really. You're just a n00b with nothing better to do. With all the crap you've been posting, I'm surprised you're not banned yet. Now that I've said a 4-letter word, I really hope the mods will look at your posts and ban you permanently.

rahtware

If you are doing so well with deltacad (when most CAD users say it is a nightmare to use) how about a picture of what you have done with it....

DICKEYBIRD

Hmmm, that link doesn't go straight to the download like it used to but it will get you through to FreeCAD. Then you just type TurboCAD LE in the search box and it goes straight to a link with the download.

CAD is kinda like Fords & Chevys....advocates of the different brands will yell & scream at each other about how stupid the other guy is but hey, it all boils down to what each individual is able to do meaningful work with.

lawsonaero

unigraphics released the 2d portion of solidedge for free.

http://www.solidedge.com/free2d/

check it out, its professional level software. advertises a higher level of autocad interoperability than turbocad and designcad.

used to cost ~$1000, but I think they figure if they give away the 2d for free, more people will buy their 3d package.

-b

CoosBayLumber

My Feedback: (1)

I get hit up for one or two free versions of some CAD software to try out each year. Last year there was an advocate of a cheap CAD around here. He provided links and other information regarding A-9 cad. The software does work, after what seemed to be a one month search for the missing DLLs that it requires before going further and properly loading.

The announcement proclaims to be 100% compatible with Autocad, however that is only to version 2002. None others. For it will not permit you to import/export any finished drawing except to another computer using that exact Autodesk software. You cannot do a simple SAVE-AS to revert to a different version, nor import more modern versions.

Biggest problem in the announcement, is that it may be compatible, it does not have several of the features so often used and readily available to Autocad users since the 1980's. Yes the buttons and commands are similar to the Autodesk product, but there are an equal number which were omitted. It may be 100% compatible but only had 60% of the standard functions. XREF, PaperSpace, (dream on for awhile) likewise the only import function is graphic based.

Best I can figure it that you are only expected to open up one drawing and then do EVERYTHING there. There is no system to take work done within one drawing and then transferr it to another. You are stuck. One project, one drawing.

I think at this time, if you want a more close to 100% compatible product, then look into the different versions of Intellicad. They offer free tryout versions, which have a period to run, but somehow there are numerous reports that the free period keeps getting extended and extended w/o pop-ups or reminders. Visit the Google Alt.cad groups and there are numerous discussion groups there, plus in margin links to free software. For finding such here or based upon a reccomendation here may not meet your needs. I also find that within these groups there are several ways to work around the short comings of certain named CAD software.




Wm.

lawsonaero

william,

I think it would help if you did name names rather than generalize all entry-level free/cheap cad apps with the drawbacks you saw on one or a few. I think you could be a little more positive and just warn people that cheap/free programs can come without features that the new user might not know are key. Then mention that they should watch out for "educational" crippleware (I like Bentley's the best ) and for the ability to draw in at least D size.

but to address your concern about interoperability... can we apply the probable use of the function rather than the marginal shortcomings? The only time you need total compatibility is if you are migrating old data to a new program that you are using. If someone has a cad program that they are comfortable using, the majority of the compatibility uses are for sending finished files to a cutter or to a printer. If you're arguing that by not using Acad, the user misses out on learning higher Acad functions, fine, but I think people realize that going in. Plenty of people who learn to fly RC on a 3 channel plane go on to learn to fly with 4 channels very easily.

-Barrett

lawsonaero

hehe, im looking at the solid edge 2d eula:

(emphasis mine)

The license *does* carry a one year term. I'll report back after I play with it.

-barrett

CoosBayLumber

My Feedback: (1)

barett....

Report back as to if you find any alterations to the boot sector on your hard drive also, would you? This seems to be one of the sneaky things within the agreement now that most folks do not understand when reading. But it is there once you indicate an OK and reboot.

Then too see if you can download and operate any competitor's software. Let us know.

Wm.

rahtware

Has any CAD people tried this product?

https://www.alibre.com/Xpress/Regist...uestInfoX.aspx

I messed around with it, but as I really didn't know what I was doing I didn't get very far. For a free program it seemed quite professional.

dolanosa

Me too. I was messing around with a bunch of different CAD apps but there is one out there that is actually pretty easy to use BUT they have a proprietary filetype and you have to pay them PER DRAWING to either print or something. Forgot the name. Might have been Alibre.

lawsonaero

there's no mention of anticompetition measures in the eula, and all my autodesk products work fine after a day and a couple of restarts. I think that's a bit of an extreme (and poorly thought out) measure by one company to manage licenses, and I really don't think it's widespread. one thing I am worried about, though, whenever I install any new viewer for any file format is whether it hijacks the default app for opening file extensions. for example, install windows media player after, say, winamp, and wmp will try to take over .mp3, .wav, etc. files as its own. SE 2d didnt do this.

so first impressions so far:

(a word on my qualifications: I'm employed as a draftsman, I've worked in Autodesk Inventor for a few years, with past work in Solidworks, Solid Edge and Pro/E. I have done some 2d drafting, mostly as support for 3d modeling, generally in Acad.)


I was able to open a number of different formats including r14 dxf, acad 2002 dxf, various 2d dwgs. It failed to open 3d microstation drawings (for obvious reasons: its a 2d program!). I found a dwg with some 3d solids in it, missing xrefs, and it opened it without complaining about the xrefs, and converted the model into 2d polylines.

on the existing drawings I opened, everything seemed to be in good shape with a few minor issues. On one drawing a revision cloud shrank and would need to be redrawn. That, to me, is the kind of thing that's typical.

They provide a number of templated drawing border/titleblock combos. A through E, with some architectural and metric ones thrown in. they didnt have an E size provided. I'll look into customizing this in a minute. They do offer about 40 standard sheet sizes from monarch (index card) all the way up to E. I didnt see a limit on custom sizes, so I made a 100'x100' sheet and it worked.

it works like most cad that I've used, with a workspace and a paper space. you sketch up the part and then annotate it on a sheet. the sketch commands are complete and intuitive. They call snaps "relationships". They also autodimension during sketching, which I like. Parametric commands are available, and fairly easy.

file export I havent tested, but I am looking at the options. dwg and dxf save as gives you options for acad version and several for mapping layers and translating borders/title blocks/dimensions. then there are options for linetypes, weights, colors, and sheet scale.
saving as microstation dgn also has options for most of these.

I was able to import a jpg (actually a side view of a knight twister from www.steenaerolab.com , I love their site) and resize it to an approximate scale and trace over it easily. curves are bezier splines.

it only came with 2 tutorials - a getting started for sketching and dimensioning and one for schematic diagrams. they were good, but I wish they had another that covered basics like setting up and managing titleblocks and templates, parametric sketching, etc.

Time to work. anyone have any questions about it? anything else modeling-specific that should be tested? I spose I should figure out how to get an airfoil into it.

-b

sharpshooter223

very well then, this is a park jet that i made just to get used to the program, it isnt my best work, but it is very damn good for my first work on the program, some of it may be a little hard to understand but i can understand it perfect, if anybody would like the .dxf version just tell me so

haikt

My Feedback: (11)

i can make that in paint lol

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

I've only been drawing in CAD since last Spring - although I've been using Photoshop professionally as a designer for the last seven years. Of all the programs I've tried, Deltacad is hands-down the easiest to learn, especially if everything you know is raster/pixel graphics.

It's a big jump from drawing with pixels to drawing vector lines. Not many skills and techniques carry over, so you are basically learning how to draw all over again. I still find myself trying to do things in cad that can only be done with pixels, it can be frustrating at times when you are so rooted in one way of thinking. I'm sure people who started out with vector drawing would encounter the same stumbling blocks if they decided to start using Photoshop. They are two totally different worlds with little overlap.

Deltacad makes this transition easier than the other programs I've tried. If you started out in cad - not raster - then I'm sure your opinion of Deltacad will be different. But, coming from my side of the fence - with a brain that is wired for pixels - it is the most intuitive program to use.

As for using Deltacad, here are four plans I've done with it. They are not finished products, but I can easily use them to build from.

BMatthews

OK, I'll make this public since so many of you are in on this. Let's keep the smak talk out of this. I've deleted some posts. If you found that one of your posts is missing please take this as a polite warning to avoid similar postings in the future.

Sharpshooter, you got a PM..

sharpshooter223

rainedave, i like the last drawing, is it ok to give me a copy?

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Sure. PM me your email address.

rahtware

Rainedave

I will be thrilled when I get to the level you have reached! Great drawings!

rahtware

Wait a second... Are we talking about the same DeltaCAD... The only one I can find on the internet is a 45 day free trial. After that it costs more then I paid for TourboCAD with three manuals (and house plans DVD).

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

rahtware, Thanks. All of those drawing would need to be massaged before they could ever be sent to a laser cutter.

Get the free Wintopo, scan a plan, vectorize it and open it in your cad program. Then just take a week or so to trace the plan on a new layer in a different color. That way you can turn off the plan layer to see your progress, or turn off your tracing to study the plan. (layers are about the only technique that crosses over from Photoshop to cad).

Instead of trying to make an exact tracing, focus on drawing standardized dimensions, even if it means changing the rib spacing a little. In other words, make a leading edge 3/8" (.375) for example, instead of trying to get your lines to perfectly overlap which might give you some weird dimension like .391 or something. The idea is to make a set of plans that uses real world balsa stock (unless you mill your own wood).

Here's an example of a three view that I started tracing a framework over. I'm more concerned with a practical structure and standard wood sizes than with scale fidelity.

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

rahtware, just save the .exe somewhere. You can keep re-installing it over and over and ove with no problems. It doesn't hide anything on your computer to prevent multiple trial periods.

sharpshooter223

all you have to do is get the deltaCAD demo, i have yet to find a deltaCAD trial