>> paul
>> I have a copy of A-Cad 2000 I could send you. I don't know
>> if that is going to help you though. What is wrong with Rhino
>> or Solid Works? they are far more intuitive than A-Cad. I have
>> all three on my computer. I really like Solid works, but I draw
>> much faster in A-Cad, Only because I haven't had alot of time to
>> play with Solid Works.
>> Tony
>> Tony please wrap your lines at 80 characters.
>> Jerry has a Mac. Do you have A-Cad 2000 for a Mac?
>> As I recall ACAD 2000 is not 3D.
>> --
>> Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.
>
> Actually it is Paul, but its kinda like trying to eat
> by shoving food in your ear.. doesn't really do to well...
>
> Jarrett
>
> A-Cad 2000 does 3D just fine.
>
> It is set at 80!!. I have been e-mailing you for over 2 years now
> and it's
> never been a problem, it must be on your end. I think the A-cad I
have
> gives you the option of uploading as a Mac or a PC. (I think). I'll
> have
> to look, I could be wrong. I may be thinking about Rhino.
>
> Tony
>
> Yes and for over two years I have been fixing your messages.
> I fixed this one. What email program are you using?
> Please hit Enter after typing 80 characters. We will try that.
>
> And please put your name at the end of the message. I also had to
> do that
> with this message. BTW Those of you with common names like John, Jim
> and Steve please use both your first name and last name. We have
> dozens of people each, with those first names. Luckily most are
> lurkers :)
>
> I used to use A-Cad starting with ver 5 or 6. When ACAD came out
> with the dog slow and clunky Windows version I refused to "upgrade".
> I kept a DOS computer around so I could still use version 9.
> Along came Rhino 3D and it was a revelation. I had no idea
> 3D could be so easy and fast to learn. I tried Solid Works before
> Rhino and the user interface was hostile to the user. It still is
> IMHO :) Years ago people came out with several "modal" word
> processing programs. You had to switch modes to use certain commands.
> They were immediately vilified has being too hard to learn and use.
> Most people that had been using WordStar recognized that immediately.
> As I recall Word Perfect (now history) was one of them. I still use
> WordStar in the form of Linux clone "joe" from time to time. The
> spelling
> checker and formating beats the heck out of the horrible "spelling
> checker" in ThunderBird. I digress.
>
> IMHO Solid Works is a "modal" 3D program :)
>
> Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.
Auto Cad is not ported to the Mac, neither is Solid Works. However,
when I visited the Turbo Cad web page, there was, low and behold,
Turbo Cad Pro for Mac. Only a couple of months ago I had done a
search for Mac CAD programs and did not find it. I downloaded the
free trial. Quite like Graphite for 2D. I will check out the 3D side
tomorrow. 3D is not so important to me as I want measured drawings
to take to my non cnc machines. Jerry
I think you are under a misunderstanding Jerry. 3D programs
ARE measured. They are drawn to scale so there is no need to
print the dimensions but the dimensions are still in there.
It is optional to print the dimensions when a 3D rendering is made.
Most people don't bother. In your case I can give you dimensions
if requested. All weldments are 3D. Rhino will also print old style 2D
3 view drawings with dimension at the press of a button.
Solid Works is the defacto low end standard for programs that interface
to machine tools. Actual what it does is interface with the
programs such as Surf Cam and others that actually generates the G
code programs
that the machine tool control computers understand. Formerly a human
G code
programmer would look at a 2D paper drawing with dimensions and
write the G code
program. That is way too labor intensive and not done anymore. Too
costly.
I know as I went to school to learn how to program machine tools in
G code.
It is possible to draw a part in a CAD program like Solid Works,
feed it into SurfCam, have SurfCam generate the G code, feed that into
the NC Machine tool controller computer and have the machine tool
make the part
without ever seeing any dimensions at all.
Fortunately certain 3D CAD programs like Rhino export IGES and DXF files
that will load into Solid Works. That is exactly what I did when I
designed
and had built the turbo compound gear box. I am sure there are some
machine
tool programs similar to SurfCAM that will interface with Rhino
directly. No
need to go through Solid Works.
The next industry step obviously is have a 3D drawing program like
Rhino or
Solid Works generate the G codes directly. Another possibility is
have the
machine tool control computer accept IGES or DXF files directly.
That reminds me I should be going to Westec March 26th in LA to see
the latest
stuff.
http://www.sme.org/cgi-bin/get-event.pl?--001658-000007-020163--SME-
My suggestion is get an Intel based computer for a few hundred
dollars and keep it around for CAD. That way people can send you
IGES files and you can print the dimensions.
Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.
Paul,
Hey man, I'm NOT a LURKER! Whatever the hell that means, but I do read
each and every post. I also save many of them that are applicable to my
upcoming project. I am familiar with ACAD but don't use any drawing
programs even though I'm an engineer. If I wanted to design a part or
wing rib etc and plot it full size to fabricate, what software would you
recommend? I know many draftsmen that can probably do it at work if
its not too intricate or large and do if for a 12 pack or so. I'm not a
mechanical or aeronautical type so is it worth my purchasing the
software??
Allen Slominski
Houston, TX
That is a very good question. Seems to me you want a spread
sheet such as XL or Open Office where you can import the wing
air foil coordinate points table in ASCII text file in comma delimited
form into the spread sheet and have the spread sheet print or
plot the shape on a large format printer or plotter. That could be
a problem. I am not sure what large printers or plotters XL or Open
Office support. The other idea is print or plot it in smaller size
and take it to Kinkos and have it scaled up to he proper size.
A less accurate way of doing it. Perhaps the printer or plotter
brand is controlled by Windows drivers come to think of it.
Rhino will print to a pdf printer.
The coordinate point file can be generated by using an OCR program
on a scan from Von Doenhoff's book or some NACA or NASA web site
somewhere.
Rhino will also import a comma delimited (csv) or ascii text
points file and plot the points although I have not tried it yet.
Things have changed since the old days when ACAD would support
all Houston Instrument plotters. However old ACAD version 9 would
not load in a set of coordinate numbers and plot the curve as
far as I know. We used to put the numbers in manually
and connect the dots as I recall. Perhaps there was another way
but I did know about it.
All drawing program files have a hidden table of object
descriptions consisting of 3D coordinates describing the object
such as the start of a line and the end of a line. Way back in time
some guy wrote a drawing program for the Atari computer (of all things)
that was both a spread sheet and a drawing program. You could
edit your drawing using either user interface (program type).
It was ideal for what you want to do.
Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.
Paul,
Thanks for the info. I don't really trust scanners that "scale" their
inputs unless I am privy to it's programming. 20 something years ago
the cad plotters were slow, maintenance nightmares but were exact. I'll
just have see what my best draftsman has to say when the time comes.
Allen Slominski
Houston, TX
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