Hello All,

   I would like to know which CAD tool would be easier and more useful to
   use.   I've looked and played with solid works and found it fairly easy
   to use.  The only thing I don't care for is the licensing of the
   software (you don't own it, you rent it).   On the other hand there is
   Rhino, I have not used it, so does it have the same functionality as
   solid works?  Can I convert a 3-D image I created into a 2-D blueprint
   with dimensions and all the other things that are associated with a
   blueprint?   I like Rhino, because, once you buy it ? you own it.  But
   the thing that concerns me, when you look at Rhino's website in the
   gallery, all the compositions look like some kind of widget --- there is
   nothing showing you can actually create 2-D prints.

   Some advice would be greatly appreciated.

   I know this topic has come up in the past but I lost a lot of my
   postings due to a crash.

   Thanks to all who respond!

   Burck

   Rhino is not completely functional as Solid Works as far as things
   like fillets and shells are concerned. It is also probably more
   accurate for mechanical drawings. Rhino on the other hand does
   compound curved solids such as cowling's better than Solid Works
   IMHO. Also I suspect the rendering may be better but I am not
   sure about that.

   In most cases a Rhino dwg can be exported as an IGES and loaded
   into Solid Works for further processing. This works for NC machine shops
   that have Solid Works as a lot of the NC software imports Solid Works
   and not always Rhino. Some more recent NC software can import Rhino
   dwgs directly. Larry, I am sure, will fill you in on this. Plus
   there are
   other people on here that have used both. I personally find the user
   interface on Rhino more friendly than Solid Works.
   --
   Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.

   Solid Works is one of the best if you are going to do serious design
   work.
   It has many hidden capabilities than make is very powerful. There is
   the
   down side of it takes time to learn all the "tricks".
   If you want to do the type of modeling that Paul is doing, he does
   very well
   in Rhino.
   Larry


So can Rhino give you a schematic printout (with specs, etc), similar to
the SolidWorks or even to AutoCad?  I'm going to be a hack user, so high
level engineering is what I'm not going to do.  I'm just trying to find
an easy to use cad package, with a fairly short learning curve...

Cheers,

Burck

I don't think Rhino does schematics.

There are low cost dedicated schematic programs out there.