Solidworks

[jimc]

This will only help a small few but if you are a military vet solidworks will give you the software for free. Just pay $20 for shipping. I went on their site and sent in my dd214 and email and my copy is on its way. Hell if a savings there.

[A. Elias]

That's pretty awesome!

SolidWorks has it's quirks, but managing multiple parts in an assembly it is a must.  

[jimc]

yeah i use rhino now and love that software but solidworks is a little more "industry standard" i guess. i would like to learn it as well. or atleast be familiar. 

[Rick Pollack]

thanks...we have a couple of vets who may be interested...

On Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 11:24 PM, jimc <xtremekr...@gmail.com> wrote:

yeah i use rhino now and love that software but solidworks is a little more "industry standard" i guess. i would like to learn it as well. or atleast be familiar. 

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[David Ras]

Awesome, thank you Jim!  I will request my copy.  I only know OpenSCAD so far, so I have a 5th grade education...

-dr

[Levi8than]

My school didn't teach trig in 5th grade. :)

[WayneN]

I'm fully comfortable in Autocad and Inventor but I can't do anything in SCAD. 

LIterally- I downloaded it and tried to change the filament diameter in a extruder I got from thingiverse... I couldn't even find the line of code.

[jimc]

haha wayne, i felt the same way. i downloaded it, looked at it and said to myself what the hell am i supposed to do with this lol!

[Levi8than]

Don't beat yourself up.  I'd blame the person who uploaded the scad file.  A good scad file should have parameterized constants near the top of the file to make adjustments such as these.

[A. Elias]

Click Sketch, select plane or face to sketch on, draw rectangle, click done sketching and then extrude it..  repeat..  :-)  Once you get the basics you can really knock some awesome things out.  

Took me a few hours and you tube videos to figure it out.  

[WayneN]

Me too... I'm thinking everyone is using this because its suposed to be so simple, but evidently my brain is still working on 8-bit. 

I need to find a good way to open a file in SCAD, and export to a more compatible file for Inventor. 

I can import STL files into Inventor to work with, but all the circles end up as polygons. 

On Tuesday, February 4, 2014 9:36:10 PM UTC-5, jimc wrote:

[David Ras]

A lot of schools are now teaching OpenSCAD as a "programming language".

I just started with the tutorials and played around.

Here's a freebie for ya:

$fn=60;

numofrings=12;

rotate(19, [0,1, 0])

union() {

difference() {

rotate(a=[0,90,0]) {

// the rings

for (i=[0:numofrings-1]) {

rotate(i*360/numofrings, [3, 0, 1])

translate([0,25,0])

rotate_extrude(convexity=3)

translate([25,0,0])

circle(5);

}

// supports for the top to bottom

rotate(20, [0, -1, 0])

rotate(90, [0, 1, 0])

sphere(12, center=true);

}

rotate(19, [0, -1, 0]) {

//windows for the ball in the middle

rotate(90, [1,0,0])

cylinder(h=24, r=5, center=true);

rotate(90, [0,1,0])

cylinder(h=24, r=5, center=true);

sphere(7);

cylinder(h=40, r=3.5, center=true); // leave space for axle

}

}

//ball in the middle

rotate(19, [0,-1,0])

cylinder(h=57, r=2, center=true);

sphere (4.5);

//hold disk on bottom

rotate(19, [0,-1,0])

rotate(13,[0,0,-1])

translate([0,0,-29])

for (i=[0:numofrings-1]) {

rotate(360/numofrings*i, [0,0,1])

hull() {

translate([27,0,0]) cylinder(h=1, r=2);

cylinder(h=1, r=2);

}

}

}

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[jimc]

yeah wayne, stl's are a paint to work with. my copy of solidwork just showed up. now the only problem is i dont have a pc. no mac version. i guess i will have to make room here in the office, set up another desk and go get a cheap pc or steal my kids computer.......uhhh i cant believe i have to go back on a microsoft machine.

dave....after looking at that i think ill stick with rhino and maybe this solidworks. :)  i could maybe see how someone could do simple objects using some basic primitive shapes but to do anything mid level or somewhat complex....forget it

[WayneN]

Yeah, I have been importing the STL just to get measurements to create a parametric model that I can easily change and export.  I don't know how well Solidworks and Inventor play together.  

[Levi8than]

I think I'll stick with openscad, just because I can't afford solidworks.

Have you looked at that price tag? It isn't even a flat price, but they keep charging more each year.

Not for me unless there's a better deal I'm missing.

[jimc]

well if your on a mac you can download and use rhino for mac for free while its in development. its been in development for about 7 years now lol. i cant recommend rhino enough. totally awesome modeling software. 

[Levi8than]

No mac. Well, no modern mac.  I've got a couple of PPCs in the closet. I prefer Linux. But am willing to work in windows when necessary.

[jimc]

well they do have a pc version. its around $1k unless you can qualify for an education discount. then its a little over $100. i think there is a trial as well.

[Erik Akia]

I am in school right now learning Solidworks and absolutely love the program.
I do not have a Windows box but have no problems running SW on my Parallels virtual machine that has windows 7, 64 bit installed.

Even my MacBook Air runs it well.
For my final project last year I had a assembly file with over 500 parts and even with some complicated mates the program was just a bit slow.

If you have the chance to get a cheap copy I would highly recommend it.

Erik

On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 7:35 PM, jimc <xtremekr...@gmail.com> wrote:

well they do have a pc version. its around $1k unless you can qualify for an education discount. then its a little over $100. i think there is a trial as well.

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[jimc]

Thats great to know. I have vmware on m mac but i was hesitant to install sw on it because i thought it would be slow and quirky. The virtual machines are great but the performace is a bit low. Ill try it out though....thanks

[Tony Shulthise]

Here's the link from Solidworks if anyone is interested... http://files.solidworks.com/pdf/EDU_MVP_2013.pdf

[Tony Shulthise]

Jim... I see this is a student version.  Are there any time limits on it or is the license good indefinitely?

[jimc]

Tony its good for a year. Each year i guess it costs you $20 to get a new one shipped to you. There are no restrictions on it.

[Duke Clark]

I'm new to the group.  Is there any licensing discount for military starting a small business (no longer a student)?

Cheers,

Duke

On Monday, February 3, 2014 10:32:06 AM UTC-8, jimc wrote:

[jimc]

Yes they will give you the education version for $20. I dont think its to use it commercially. Its just one education license and they send you the disc.