CAD package for OS X

[Alec Clews]

I want to "design" a custom clip for my car so that I can 3D print it.

Does anyone have suggestion for a CAD program I can run on my Mac please?

Thanks
--
Alec Clews <alec....@gmail.com>
http://about.me/alecthegeek

[Scott Penrose]

Hi Alec

Quite a lot is designed with sketchup, and then a few process to generate the STL.

But I would recommend spending the time learning OpenSCAD - and of course it runs anywhere.

I think... free form stuff sketchup, or lots of other choices (most cost though) for better; but technical stuff, with accuracy then code.

Scooter

On 09/04/2013, at 8:55 PM, Alec Clews <alec...@gmail.com> wrote:

I want to "design" a custom clip for my car so that I can 3D print it.

Does anyone have suggestion for a CAD program I can run on my Mac please?

Thanks
-- 

-- 

Scott Penrose

sco...@dd.com.au

http://scott.dd.com.au/

[Zac Faragher]

As someone who has used commercial CAD software, I find Sketchup to be a bit of a nightmare for doing anything super serious/technical/high detail.

If you wanna do this long term, use a real CAD package.

Zac F

[Scott Penrose]

On 09/04/2013, at 9:03 PM, Zac Faragher <elvis...@gmail.com> wrote:

As someone who has used commercial CAD software, I find Sketchup to be a bit of a nightmare for doing anything super serious/technical/high detail.

If you wanna do this long term, use a real CAD package.

Zac F

Totally agree. Very hard to be accurate.

Can you recommend a "real CAD" of reasonable price for mac os x?

Ta

Scooter

[Zac Faragher]

I've only had experience with NX7, which as I said is commercial. I had to use it at uni, and can't guarantee it'll work on Mac.

That being said, there's FREE and "free", and it depends on how flexible your morals are.

Here would be a good place to start looking: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_CAD_editors_for_AEC

Zac F

[Stuart Young]

There's a huge amount of CAD programs out there that produce STL files, which is what you need to print a 3D object.

For Mac you can use Commercial apps like Rhino and Via Cad, Open source apps like FreeCAD or OpenSCAD (more of a language than a CAD program), and free stuff like Sketchup and (I believe) currently Inventor Fusion (via iTunes).

Note: I don't like Sketchup. It produces weird models, particularly things where circles aren't circular and the like.

--
Stuart Young (aka Cefiar)

[April Staines]

Conversely if you are not familiar with CAD packages, and find the idea of command line a bit daunting like me, Sketchup with SuSolid plugins is far more user friendly.

All the props I have published on thingiverse I have produced in Sketchup Pro

-------------------------------------------------------------------

April Staines - Melbourne AU

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[Russell Kennett]

If you want something commercial for free you could try the mac beta of Rhino3d: http://mac.rhino3d.com/

I haven't used it for 3d printing, but it worked pretty well for repairing large meshes of underground mine tunnels.

Russ K

[Dale Goddard]

Alec,

I cant think of any off the top of my head other than the ones provided, but with my experience in field CAD programs for Mac have been pretty much universally terrible for years now.  It may be easiest to dual boot a bootcamp installation depending on what you find.  Having said that you are probably best off with the language, command line CAD systems if you are going to do this a lot, as it gives you much more flexability in what you can do, and really helps you understand exactly how the item you are drawing up is laid out.

[Keith Franks]

Oh, hey, I just noticed that you want to make a clip for your car. I don't know what sort of clip, but remember that all mobile device holders installed in cars by law have to be "manufactured", not done yourself. 

Just saying.

In case.

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[Scott Penrose]

On 10/04/2013, at 3:37 PM, Keith Franks <keithd...@gmail.com> wrote:

Oh, hey, I just noticed that you want to make a clip for your car. I don't know what sort of clip, but remember that all mobile device holders installed in cars by law have to be "manufactured", not done yourself. 

Just saying.

In case.

Easy solution:

Victoria

Phones must either be operated entirely hands-free or placed in a commercially-manufactured cradle if you want to place a call or play music. If you want to use the phone as a GPS, it must be fixed in a commercially-manufactured cradle. Learners and P1 drivers can’t operate phones at all.

So pay me, and it is then commercially manufactured :-)

Dumbest dumb rule in the history of driving that would not stand up in court :)

Scott

[Keith Franks]

Exactly.

I guess it's to stop gaff tape on the steering wheel, but it does seem a little silly. 

The definition of "commercially manufactured" is so arbitrary.

[Alec Clews]

Thanks for the care Keith,

I actually need to replace an existing broken clip for the car's CD
case. Toshiba don't supply replacements for a 50c platic clip! Grrrrrrr

On 10/Apr/13 3:37 PM, Keith Franks wrote:
> Oh, hey, I just noticed that you want to make a clip for your car. I
> don't know what sort of clip, but remember that all mobile device
> holders installed in cars by law have to be "manufactured", not done
> yourself.
>
> Just saying.
>
> In case.
>
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 10, 2013 at 3:05 PM, Dale Goddard <plott...@gmail.com
> <mailto:plott...@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Alec,
>
> I cant think of any off the top of my head other than the ones
> provided, but with my experience in field CAD programs for Mac have
> been pretty much universally terrible for years now. It may be
> easiest to dual boot a bootcamp installation depending on what you
> find. Having said that you are probably best off with the language,
> command line CAD systems if you are going to do this a lot, as it
> gives you much more flexability in what you can do, and really helps
> you understand exactly how the item you are drawing up is laid out.
>
> On Tuesday, April 9, 2013 8:55:11 PM UTC+10, Alec Clews wrote:
>
> I want to "design" a custom clip for my car so that I can 3D
> print it.
>
> Does anyone have suggestion for a CAD program I can run on my
> Mac please?

[Gareth Pye]

Please excuse my rant but REALLY?

Using my phone to play music in my car is illegal with out a
commercial cradle even if I never touch the phone while the car is
turned on. That is ludicrous.

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--
Gareth Pye
Level 2 Judge, Melbourne, Australia
Australian MTG Forum: mtgau.com
gar...@cerberos.id.au - www.rockpaperdynamite.wordpress.com
"Dear God, I would like to file a bug report"

[Scott Penrose]

I have bluetooth handsfree built in.

I leave my phone in my pocket, don't touch it - steering wheel has the answer button

YET - illegal.

<not legal advice>

If it looks safe, e.g. well mounted, even velcro - for maps etc - you would be unlikely to be booked

</not legal advice>

:-)

-- 

[Luke Weston]

Yeah, I think the intention of that silly little bit of policy is to stop you duct taping the phone to the dash or something and continuously having to stuff around with it while you're driving to stop it falling apart, but also being able to claim you're using a cradle.

The idea that you can't machine or 3D print etc. a cradle design yourself is notoriously silly.

I design a dashboard phone cradle and fabricate it myself, and I'll also sell one to anyone else who asks for one (as an ABN-registered business operator), they can hardly say it's not commercial. :)
It's so unenforceable.

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[Zac Faragher]

Well, if you want to get _technical_

Velcro is _manufactured_ (although not with the intention of being a phone holder) so as long as you _only_ use velcro, you should be fine
HAHAHAHA

Zac

[Bogdan Bednarczyk]

and so is the duck tape, lol

Cheers
Bogdan

[Clifford Heath]

Not a lawyer, but to me, "commercially manufactured" means that
it's made for a purpose, and that purpose is communicated in the
process of sale, and if, while being used for the advertised purpose,
the product can be proved to have contributed to some loss, then
the company which manufactured it can be pursued in a court and
made to pay; the company is expected to have made sufficient legal
preparations for such an event.

That is, it's about liability. To manufacture something "commercially"
means taking all the statutory implied warrantees of merchantability
that go with that.

Do you back up your 3D-printed phone cradle to the point of insuring
yourself against such liability claims against you? Then go ahead, it's
probably ok to claim it was "commercially manufactured". If not, it's
not.

So please stop this silly chatter about "commercial" simply meaning
that you got paid for it. That's not what it means to a lawyer.

Clifford Heath.

[Scott Penrose]

Its only a lot of fun :-)

[Rob Gannon]

The quote about ‘commercially-manufactured’ is from the Vic Roads website, not directly from Victorian legislation and it is not Vic Roads that enforces the law. According to Victoria Police, Vic Roads is notorious for publishing incorrect interpretations of road law on their website. Victoria Police is not going to split hairs about whether it is commercially manufactured, their concern will be that it works properly, is safe and is properly affixed to the vehicle. A well designed 3D printed holder would be fine regardless of the ‘commercial’ aspect. The Vic Roads wording is supposed to point out that it shouldn’t be chucked together with sticky tape and rubber bands or just a phone jammed into a crack in the dash and called a holder.