cad

[Justpunchit]

anyone have any good cad programs or anything i can download, trying to design a tire carrier but it has to be done on cad first before i can get it done right.

[ROCKREADYXJ]

whats wrong with paper and pencil it worked 50 years ago.

[ghettocruiser]

Unfortunetly I dont think you will find any GOOD cad programs that you can just download...legally anyway. While the newest and full version of AutoCAD costs over $5,000 usually... you can usually find the AutoCAD LT for fairly cheap... even cheaper if you find an older version. AutoCAD LT 2002 or even 2000 will do just fine. You wont be able to do any 3-D work...but it will still help you communicate your ideas.

Actually... since i work with autocad every day...I remember seeing a free trial download of autocad 2006.... I think it was a 30 day type thing. Go to www.autodesk.com and see what its about...

[DBenz]

we use auto CAD 2002 in high school and it works great. I'm designing a front bumper for my XJ curently.

[Lawn Cher']

SolidWorks rules! But it ain't cheap.

[Skullver]

SolidWorks rules! But it ain't cheap.
X2, I seem to remember Pro-E wildfire not being as expensive and still a nice package.

[Captain Ron]

...
Pro-E wildfire
...

I'd rather stick my finger down my throat and gag into to my trash can. :D

--ron

[Skullver]

I'd rather stick my finger down my throat and gag into to my trash can. :D

--ron
I was trained in college with Pro-E 2000 I^2, and felt the same way. I have since moved to solidworks 2005 and it is so much more user friendly, but some people like pro-E better.

[ghettocruiser]

solidworks does kick ass. i still feel like autocad is easier for doing 2-d work. i dont know how many fabricators will work off of a 3-d model. then again...ive been using autocad since "release 12"... and ive only used solid works for about a year. safe to say i feel more at home with autocad. pro-E never caught on with me. I know its powerful...but not user friendly.

justin

[boomhauer]

Solid Edge is pretty intuitive, SolidWorks and AutoCAD have the most support, but 3d modelling sucks for ALL AutoCAD products, great 2D Software though.
Solid Edge is probably the easiest for a beginner to the 3D modelling world. ProE is antiquated very non-user friendly and Wildfire is trash. Stress anaysis is nice to have depending what you are doing, but not really needed as you aren't building a Volvo.
Solid Edge is my 3D recommendation. I spent a year researching 3D modelling software with full vendor demos and "real world" applications and Engineer testing in manufacturing environments in various companies across North America.

[Justpunchit]

thanks guys for the help i used auto cad in highschool and cad lite on a millstar milling machine i was hoping just to get something cheap but i guess you get what you pay for in this case.

[raypla]

What about Autodesk Inventor? But I dont believe your going to be able to download any for free. I belive if you buy the book for a certain program It usually comes w/a 30 day free trial (70-90$). My feonse works at a book publishing company they sell the books w/the trial, Delmar Thompson, book publishers if your intrested google it.

[ZPD]

I use SolidWorks for all my 3D modeling and AutoCAD for all my 2D. I frequently will use Autocad for geometry problems rather than using my calculator and my hat rack ;)
You can get both free illegaly but I don't condone that.

[Lawn Cher']

Oh, and just for the record, I use UniGraphics at work (Boeing) and I hate it.

[Bent]

CAD? That would be fine if you already have a dimensioned drawing, or at least a sketch with OA parameters. My opinion anyway. I never found Auto Cad much help with conceptual drawing. That's with LT, full blown would fry what few brain cells still living. :D

[ROCKREADYXJ]

SolidWorks rules! But it ain't cheap.


Do you really think so I just switche from pro E to inventor 10 and am much happier.

[Captain Ron]

Do you really think so I just switche from pro E to inventor 10 and am much happier.

I would be happy switching to a paper napkin from Pro-E. You should be estatic. :D

--ron

[ROCKREADYXJ]

Ron you are so true I was told that pro E was to be the sh!t but I hated it I really like inventor 10 but it is taking some getting used to very different.

[Captain Ron]

Inventor is ok, but I remember some translation problems a few years ago with it. Odd scaling in IGES. Anyways, I gave up on the software of the month club long ago.

If a customer sketches on a paper napkin, I'll use it. If a customer has Solidworks I'll use it. If a customer has ACAD, I'll use it. If a customer has Pro-E or Solid Designer, and wants me to use native files, they can fawkin go somewhere else. :D

--ron

[Krawl]

I'm not a big fan of Auto Cad, but then again I use another program everyday, I'm a designer, not for 4x4 parts, but I do fab/design work on the side if anyone is interested.

[ROCKREADYXJ]

Inventor is ok, but I remember some translation problems a few years ago with it. Odd scaling in IGES. Anyways, I gave up on the software of the month club long ago.

If a customer sketches on a paper napkin, I'll use it. If a customer has Solidworks I'll use it. If a customer has ACAD, I'll use it. If a customer has Pro-E or Solid Designer, and wants me to use native files, they can fawkin go somewhere else. :D

--ron


I have not run into any problems with inventor 10 it seems to work great and I am able to send it to my subs for them to make my sheet metal parts and CNC from the same programs so it suites me fine right now.Since I started drawing everything in it everything has gone much smoother since. No more glitches

[McDonnie91]

I use Cadkey 97 works great and is fairly cheap

[xj=1]

I like esprit