Tony Bennett Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Well i have started trying to learn 3D design so i can print off my own bits and bobs. spent all day drawing this up in 3D and it is still not quite right. still once it is done i won't have to design it again as i can just scale it to what ever size i need. Tony B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Stainforth Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Looking good; Rhino I think, which I use. It takes a long time to learn, because there is a very large number of commands and parameters. It took me about a year to come up my learning curve. Like anything else, it is all about practice. I started by doing all the Rhino tutorials. I found it highly worthwhile experimenting with different commands to produce the same or similar objects, and testing all their variable parameters, was highly worthwhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon P Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Fellow hobby level CAD user here (CNC router). I also began and have done most of my work in Rhino but have also begun to experiment with fusion 360. It's a steep learning curve all over again but appears slightly more 'engineer' friendly than Rhino. Fusion 360 has elements of parametric modelling so, for example, you can scale things and make design alterations and other parts that are affected by the change will automatically adjust to compensate provided you've provided them with a basic set of rules to follow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Jones Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Looking really good Tony. The question of sharing our design files in .stl form has arisen (here): Posted by oldgit on 15/01/2017 13:04:12: thanks Ian, its amazing how you dream up things to make ! wouldn't it be good to have on this forum a library of stl files relating to our hobby that we could share Although they can be uploaded to the likes of Thingiverse the suggestion is that it should be tothis site, which seems like a good idea to me, though I don't think it's possible and perhaps is beyond the pupose of the modelflying site anyway. Won't do nay harm to ask though, so I will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Stainforth Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Posted by Simon P on 18/01/2017 19:06:12: Fellow hobby level CAD user here (CNC router). I also began and have done most of my work in Rhino but have also begun to experiment with fusion 360. It's a steep learning curve all over again but appears slightly more 'engineer' friendly than Rhino. Fusion 360 has elements of parametric modelling so, for example, you can scale things and make design alterations and other parts that are affected by the change will automatically adjust to compensate provided you've provided them with a basic set of rules to follow. Thanks for this: I will take a look a Fusion 360. Indeed, the main drawback of Rhino is that it is not parametric, so that if one makes changes to any part one has to edit all the contiguous parts individually. Solidworks is the parametric leader, I am told, but it is also the leader in cost! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted January 19, 2017 Author Share Posted January 19, 2017 I am using Blender. it is complicated, but the training videos do help. i have 4 vids that i swap between to help me design things. I have learnt through bitter experience to save after each step at least then you can go back to the last step if you muck it up. Tony B Edited By Tony Bennett on 19/01/2017 08:08:50 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 mk2 wheel. This is hard work, i am wondering if it is worth all the headaches. Tony B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Bernard Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 I am another convert to Fusion 360 and Slic3r. It's taken me about a month to get comfortable with Fusion. As has already been said it is parametric and it's great compared to other applications to simply go back to an earlier step and change something and have it rippled through to the final design. Not only that but you can easily add parameters so it can be one design fits all. For example my daughter was nagging for a bookcase, Now I have a design where I can define the wood thickness, number of shelves, height of each shelf etc ... It's quick as well - the following was pulled together during the ad break in tonight's Corrie... So now working on a replacement for a battered ABS cowl for my 50" Maule... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 far better than my feeble attempts. oh well i will keep plugging away at it. Tony B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Bernard Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Try Fusion Tony. I had a look at Blender and just could not understand it or find my way around. Fusion on the other hand took just an hour or so to get the basics. Plenty of videos on YouTube and if you look at some of the advanced stuff you will be amazed at the power of the program! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mannyroad Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Tony, not sure why it took so long to do that wheel. It's a simple two sweep operation, one for the hub and one for the tyre. At work (manufacturing) I began using AutoCAD Inventor just over a year ago, off and on. Find it a great package and when you modify a part it updates all assemblies where the part has been used and updates all 2D drawings too. Yes, very pricey, like Solidworks, if you buy it. But AutoCAD let you use it for free if you register with them as a student and you get the full blown package. Have it at home now (being a student of course) and I wouldn't be without it now. Pretty easy to pick up, much easier than Solidworks IMO. Worth a coat of looking at. If you get into the parametrics side fully, with iParts, it will do BOMs and work out the volume and weights of the parts and the whole assemblies if you like (not got that far yet). Good package though. Use it for all my custom motorcycle parts I make. Edited By Mannyroad on 20/01/2017 23:41:48 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles33 Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Hi Manny, You've been able to register Autocad Inventor for free as a student but I assume that only lasts for 2 or 3 years then stops ? What happens then ? Presumably you then have to pay full price for it - and I see Autocad has changed to a subscription model now so you have to keep paying again every year. If the software is too expensive now then why invest the time learning it if you have to change to a different, more affordable product later and learn it all over again ? . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted January 21, 2017 Author Share Posted January 21, 2017 Hi Manny, it is because i am thick and do not understand pc's at all. I find it really hard to retain any information and have to relearn virtually every time i try to design something. that wheel will have to be re done from scratch and i cant remember how i did it. so i will have to watch the tutorial again. or i might just give up altogether. Tony B Edited By Tony Bennett on 21/01/2017 09:09:49 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis Watkins Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 You are certainly not thick Tony, half the UK have no interest in computing and are not online either, and this is considered a highly developed nation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mannyroad Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Tony, No you're not thick at all, and don't give up. It's great to see new guys learning the 3D route. Took me ages to pluck up the courage to give it a go. Yeah, Biggles33, I hear what you're saying about the 3 year term. I'm not sure what happens after that. We'll see. In my case though, my employer uses Inventor and I needed to learn it. Know nothing about Rhino, so not sure how good a package it is, or wherther it's compatible with Autocad. I already have Autocad 2D so use it to draw certain part shapes and then copy and paste into Inventor before extruding, sort of cheats really, for speed, which works for me. Edited By Mannyroad on 21/01/2017 23:32:04 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mannyroad Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Well, just took a look at one of the SimplyRhino tutorials and, to be honest, to me at least it looks a less user friendly package than Inventor, which I personally think is fairly easy to become familair with. Didn't look too hard at what it costs. I'd be interested to know, though I can't think I'd be wanting to pay significant sums when I'd only be using it for my modelling stuff. Couldn't really justify the costs. Fusion 360 seems to be a new Autocad 3D modelling product, something I wasn't aware of. Not sure of the differences between it and Inventor. Not sure what the cost of it is or if its any cheaper than Inventor? I see it comes as a free student version too. Ok, I guess maybe only for 3 years, but being free its still a big saving over 3 years, even I'd have to move over to annual/monthly subscriptions afterwards, like most packages I guess. Anyway, each their own at the end of the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Bernard Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Fusion 360 is currently free to hobbyists. The licence runs for a year and you can then renew it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 Given up with the wheel, i just can't get it right. oh well. hey ho pip and dandy. did these instead. ok one hole did not print for some reason, but nowt a small drill won't cure. now to design the ones for the rudder and elevators. Tony B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 I'm in the same boat as Tony with a limited ability to grasp some of the I/T issues. What I actually need is the opportunity to sit down with somebody that knows their way through this and show me what to do. I struggle with the tutorials that I have seen so far. It's a language issue I think, those who prepare these things assume a basic level of competence that doesn't always exist. Dudley College offered some help through people I know there, but they have recently brought in a load of advanced residual layering manufacturing kit that runs off liquid feeds, nothing like what I'm doing now. Because of only having received the Wanhao Duplicator i3 V2 a few days ago I only had time to set it up and run the pre-programmed test piece in the SD card. When I downloaded models into Cura, I found that after slicing, they were all rejected at the download stage, despite coming from programmes recommended by Cura. I don't know why and can't look again until I get home in February. Somehow I'll get there, there's so much I want to do and I really need to master CAD and 3D printing techniques. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Bernard Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 It may help to re-iterate the basic steps here assuming a basic printer such as the Wanhao or Malyan M150 using SD cards to load data Set up the the printer correctly paying special attention to levelling the bed - this I have found to be the most critical step as adhesion of the first layer to the bed depends on this Ensure that the right parameters are set in your slicer software. I am talking about bed and nozzle temperatures, feed rate, nozzle diameter etc etc. If in doubt search the web - you should find that other people will have posted settings for your printer/slicer combination somewhere. If not using an existing design, e.g. from Thingiverse, then create your design in a CAD program that is capable of exporting the design as an STL file Open up the STL file in your slicer software and let it calculate the layers Output the results as a GCODE file and save onto the SD card Open the file from your printer and away you go! I think what confuses people, it certainly did me, are the myriad of different file types that are referred to when you start looking at CAD programs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 even being shown would not help me as i just can't retain the information. struggling with the simplest of things at the moment. i know what i want and i draw it up in cad to use as a back ground in 3D, but then it all goes wrong. so frustrating. Tony B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Which bit goes wrong Tony? Built-in help and tutorials work very well as a basis for most of these packages, and after a while I'm sure it'll start to stick. It's just down to repetition and familiarity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Fenton Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Have to agree with Andy Tony, but you will get there. I make videos to remind me how i did something. As it is always weeks if not months before you touch it again. But I couldn't crack 2D to 3D so you are doing better than me Cheers Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Stainforth Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Tony, Learning 3D drafting is very time consuming, because there are so many ways to do everything. It is very hard to remember what one does, so as Danny says it is very helpful to record what you do. I don't do videos, but I write down in a Word document everything that I do, recording the success and failures, do's and don't's. This becomes a sort of manual for oneself as to how to use the package for one's own applications. This is fantastically useful in retrospect and has stopped me from "reinventing my own square wheels" many times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 well i have spent about four hours trying to design an instrument panel. managed to cut all the holes for the dials and add the surrounds. looks perfect on the screen, looks fine in cura. trying to print it and all i am getting is a flat sheet with no holes. if i could swear on here i would. this is beyond frustrating now and heading towards smashing something up. Tony B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.