Geoff
Hi-poster
Posts: 170
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Post by Geoff on Mar 24, 2014 22:45:00 GMT
I've played around with sketchup quite a bit and have drawn a loco on it but it took me FOREVER. One of the biggest issues with it is the way it draws circles, as triangular wedges, so its really hard to get an accurate intersection point.It drove me mad trying to draw the running boards and wheel splashers. Now, I'm not a draftie, and perhaps there is another way to make this work and those boys with their 3D printer must know something that I don't. Sketchup is quite fun though.
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Post by GWR 101 on Mar 24, 2014 22:55:21 GMT
Thanks for all the comments, the one problem they mentioned was that when printing if there was an intersection line on the drawing they could end up with a void. I think that is what they were saying, unfortunately as it was two new areas to me it was a lot to take in as I had only gone to buy some rivets. If I go again I will do some pre visit preparation and perhaps I will understand a bit more, I must say although they are running a business they were most helpful, like a lot of people in this hobby. Paul
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uuu
Elder Statesman
your message here...
Posts: 2,815
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Post by uuu on Mar 25, 2014 6:27:06 GMT
On my CAM program, you can set a tolerance for joins, so it joins all the individual lines of a profile into a "polyline" before generating the toolpaths.
There's a whole world of extra fun in this stage of the process.
Wilf
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Post by Roger on Mar 25, 2014 8:14:39 GMT
Alibre Design can be very fickle about sketches when you create complex shapes. Things that look viable and have been created with care can still fail the software's checker when you come to complete a profile. These days I'm very defensive about how I go about drawing these things. I always use the constraints to bring lines to circles at a tangent because drawing them to the right position may seem to snap there but still fail later. Whether its the rounding errors in the maths or something else I don't know, but it can be a nightmare. Getting it to create the geometry using constraints and then trimming off the excess seems to be the most robust way of creating profiles that don't have overlaps or end points that don't quite meet. It can be very frustrating because you know it was created with care but it still doesn't like it. I'm wondering if your experiences have their root causes in similar issues.
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ennech
Active Member
Posts: 26
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Post by ennech on Mar 25, 2014 20:26:07 GMT
With most main line 3D Cad systems you can convert your model into a stl file which can then be directly used to run a 3D printer.
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Geoff
Hi-poster
Posts: 170
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Post by Geoff on Mar 26, 2014 22:44:07 GMT
I've just received an emmail from sketchup (y'know how you have to give them all sorts of details when you sign up) and apparently in the 2014 version they have re-designed the arc tools.
I may give this another go.
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Post by runner42 on Jul 13, 2014 7:40:09 GMT
Hi all,
I have resurrected this posts just in case someone can suggest a free CAD programme that is simple to use. I have struggled with DraftSite and having no previous exposure to CAD programmes found it beyond me, even the help I found difficult to understand. If it only had a tutorial I maybe able to come up to speed a lot quicker. I do not intend to be proficient in using CAD programmes I have a one off need to produce a drawing that is full size that I can print that can be reviewed by the boiler inspector that it conforms to AMBSC Code Part 1 requirements.
It maybe that the most expedient method is use pencil and paper.
Brian
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Post by 3405jimmy on Jul 13, 2014 8:26:19 GMT
They all are when you start off keep at it, in the days before YouTube AutoCAD for dummies finally got me able to draw lines.
Have you had a look at YouTube for tutorials? Once there if you select the author draftsite these are the Dassualt Systems tutorials and seem the easiest to get to grips with.
Jim
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Post by Roger on Jul 13, 2014 17:37:53 GMT
Ask dug007red what he uses, he seems to be getting along with what he uses.
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Post by runner42 on Jul 14, 2014 7:28:21 GMT
Thanks, You Tube is a great resource, why didn't I think of that before?
Ran the tutorial on setting up a template, had some diffulculty in seeing what menu was being used due to the small screen, but hey it's free, don't look a gift horse..... However could not set the drawing boundary to what was being proposed in the tutorial the command line just said invalid limits. Couldn't find what the valid limits are. But I could draw a line and circle and put the dimensions on. I am still someway from being able to draw a line exactly the length I require say 10.375". I have sussed that the grid in my setup is 0.5" spacing so whole numbers is OK.
Brian
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Post by Roger on Jul 14, 2014 8:33:00 GMT
I don't know the system you're using, but I always turn off any grid system, I think it makes life unnecessarily difficult. Usually I want thing to snap to existing end points or features on a drawing, not to some arbitrary nearby grid point. Maybe you could try turning off the grid and seeing how you get on?
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Post by Donald G on Jul 15, 2014 8:26:13 GMT
Brian I have been using Draftsight since it was released, used the tutorials on Youtube as you say. With regard to length of lines, I always place a horizontal line and a vertical line on the sheet first. From that I use the offset tool, type in 10.375, press return and then click cursor on vertical line and it will change pattern, then move the cursor to the side you want length to be. Click mouse button and it will put another line exactly 10.375 from the initial line, do this on the horizontal line, and you have a square.
From there you can click on cut tool, and holding down Control button, you can select all 4 lines of the box , press return, then click the ends of the lines outside the box, and you will end up with a neat accurate shape.
Hope this helps, if you need further help please pm me and I will assist you as much as I can
Donald
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2014 8:36:16 GMT
Brian I have been using Draftsight since it was released, used the tutorials on Youtube as you say. With regard to length of lines, I always place a horizontal line and a vertical line on the sheet first. From that I use the offset tool, type in 10.375, press return and then click cursor on vertical line and it will change pattern, then move the cursor to the side you want length to be. Click mouse button and it will put another line exactly 10.375 from the initial line, do this on the horizontal line, and you have a square. That's exactly how I do it in both Autocad and Alibre. John
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Post by Roger on Jul 15, 2014 9:44:05 GMT
Brian I have been using Draftsight since it was released, used the tutorials on Youtube as you say. With regard to length of lines, I always place a horizontal line and a vertical line on the sheet first. From that I use the offset tool, type in 10.375, press return and then click cursor on vertical line and it will change pattern, then move the cursor to the side you want length to be. Click mouse button and it will put another line exactly 10.375 from the initial line, do this on the horizontal line, and you have a square. That's exactly how I do it in both Autocad and Alibre. John Surely with Alibre, you'd just place a rectangle starting at the origin and dimension both sides? It's tempting to try to construct everything by dimensions, but I find that once you've got the basic things to size, you're better off drawing something like a circle off to one side, dimension its diameter and then use a constraint to make it a tangent to a line for example. If you use constraints, things retain those attributes when you move things or redimension them. Drawing one hole and then making others equal to the first one means you can change them all by changing one. Some of these things aren't that intuitive but they save a lot of time in the long run. A classic example of this is the polygon tool. When you select a 6 sided figure, it can be at any angle and any size, you just choose whether the fundamental dimension is across the flats or across the corners. That seems like a pain to start with, but you quickly realise that it then means you can place it randomly and tell it what size and angle it is. It's very quick and it relies on automatically generated constraints to do that.
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Post by 3405jimmy on Jul 15, 2014 10:15:30 GMT
Brian,
Reading the above is exactly why it took me years to crack CAD. There are loads of different ways to do the same thing and everyone has their own favourite.
It’s also why I believe YouTube is such a great resource it’s far easier to watch something than explain it. I understand what people are trying to tell you above but that’s because I know the programme it’s far harder if you’re a novice.
So just to complicate things further here’s my six pennith, select line click the start point if you have the ortho tab selected you will get either a vertical or horizontal line. Move the cursor in the direction you want to go and before you second click, type in the length 10.375 and hit return, job done. Use the measure tool just to confirm what a star you are.
Of course that’s assuming you have set the dimensions to engineering.
My advice ignore explanations keep watching the vids and choose the way you’re comfortable with. The only other thing I would point out is shift right mouse button click brings up all sorts of wonders that will make drawing easier.
jim
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Post by runner42 on Jul 16, 2014 23:25:39 GMT
Thanks for your helpful inputs. I have spent time in watching the you tube videos and I can say that I have been sucked in to using DraftSight. It is a very comprehensive programme that has more facilities/capabilities than I will ever need, it's a bit like my new car, all these sensors telling you things, how did we ever get by before. I have in parallel started with pencil and paper the drawing that will be used hopefully as the design approval process, because I have realised a fundamental thing that I only have a printer and not a plotter so A4 is all I can produce. I need A2, so I have to try to find a resource, say the public library that can print A2.
I suppose (I have to find out how) to print full size from the CAD file. I have set up the drawing boundary to A2 size so I am near to sorting that one out.
Brian
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peteh
Statesman
Still making mistakes!
Posts: 760
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Post by peteh on Jul 17, 2014 0:34:02 GMT
You should be able to produce the output as a PDF, which can then be printed by most copy shops. I am an Autocad drafty by profession so not to sure about draftsight. If all else fails you could always email me the plan as a dwg/dxf file and I can run it off for you.
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Post by runner42 on Jul 19, 2014 7:00:13 GMT
Thanks Pete for the offer, however I shall be able to resolve the printing issue locally.
I am not expecting that this should be a Q&A on DraftSight, however there is a annoying issue which I haven't had the opportunity to resolve by the tutorials that I have watched so far. When drawing lines that touch other lines there is a three types of snap to that I don't want. These are end point, mid point and perpendicular. How do I turn these off?
Brian
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Post by Roger on Jul 19, 2014 7:53:17 GMT
Thanks Pete for the offer, however I shall be able to resolve the printing issue locally. I am not expecting that this should be a Q&A on DraftSight, however there is a annoying issue which I haven't had the opportunity to resolve by the tutorials that I have watched so far. When drawing lines that touch other lines there is a three types of snap to that I don't want. These are end point, mid point and perpendicular. How do I turn these off? Brian I'm surprised that these are things that you want to turn off, they are the mainstay of most drawings. It may be something as simple as holding down a key while placing the line, try holding down Shift or Ctrl, that might work. I don't use a grid, and if something wanted to snap to something like and end point, I'd just drop the end far away so it can't snap. You can then move it to where you want with a dimension or a constraint. For pdf outputs I use a little program called doPDF which is very clever. Basically it's installed as if it were another printer, so anything you can print, you can also create as a pdf regardless of whether the program you're using generates them or not. When you go to print anything, you go to the dropdown box where it shows the printer and you'll be able to select it from there. You browse to where you want the file to be created and then click print. It's very useful and it's the way I save my Alibre Drawings if I need to email them. Personally I never print out anything any more, I've gradually weaned myself off paper drawings. Everything is on the home network, shared through Dropbox so it's all backed up and accessible from the workshop computer. That way I don't ever need paper copies of anything and every drawing or model I've ever created are available at the click of the mouse. I just find it more convenient.
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Post by Doug on Jul 19, 2014 16:57:11 GMT
Ask dug007red what he uses, he seems to be getting along with what he uses. I have been using Autocad 2011 and CamBam postprocessor both actually do drawings but I prefer Autocad as it has a lot more tools to do the drawing.
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