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  #51  
Old 09-04-2014, 09:39 PM
Kidpaint Kidpaint is offline
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well I know its not the hardest part out there, but I did manage to take a motorcycle brake caliper bracket from my brother in law, that originally had a license plate hold attached to it. I just wanted the brake bracket minus the license plate. I used his as a copy and designed it in Solidworks. I didnt do the machining, but after practicing on one now. I think I could have easily.

Heres mine cut out of 6061 x .5" aluminum. next to the one I copied.



Here is mine machined and on top of the original



also just some tig welds I did on some parts at my in laws shop when they needed help.



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  #52  
Old 09-08-2014, 05:01 PM
custommetal custommetal is offline
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Well apparently you welding doesn't need any practice! Being you have access to a shop and what looks like a water jet machine and most of your parts will be 2D machining.....save scrap pieces of sheet stock and test out your programs on them instead of thicker and more expensive stock. I myself actually run 3 axis machining samples in maple or mahogany before cutting more expensive steel many times to check dimensions, fits, machining speeds, etc. best thing about cnc....the machine does the work while you do something else.
George
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  #53  
Old 09-10-2014, 11:49 AM
Michael Moore Michael Moore is offline
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A few weeks ago I spent a couple hours playing with

http://freecadweb.org/

as some friends were looking for some low-cost 3D modeling software that could also be used with CAM software.

I've got Rhino and Alibre/Geomagic and after watching a couple of short tutorial videos I was able to do some simple things in FreeCAD. The terminology is somewhat different from R and A/G, and that is true also for some of the order of operation but to a large degree CAD is CAD so I had some basis for making an informed guess on many of the tools.

FreeCAD will output to DWG and STL. It is open source and has a user/developer forum.

I've tried doing a little basic programming for Rhino with Grasshopper and was very interested to see the buck generator. I've found the Grasshopper instructional materials to be a bit less comprehensive than I need. Maybe the info is hiding in a spot I've not thought to look in, but I have not always been able to find good explanations of all the parameters hiding in a program element. People who understand it are able to do some pretty amazing stuff with it.

cheers,
Michael
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  #54  
Old 09-23-2014, 05:05 AM
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Kent_323is Kent_323is is offline
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I use PTC's Creo Software at work, it used to be called Pro Engineer or Pro-E. I learned it in engineering school back in ~2001, and have been using it ever since.
I like to make a "napkin" sketch first, then put it into Creo to check for feasibility, then go to the shop and make some parts.
At work everything that we manufacture is fully designed in Creo, I have done everything from plastic molded parts to aluminum extrusion, flat and bent sheetmetal to welded steel structures.

Solidworks and Creo have gotten pretty similar over the years, so if you have access to either you can reap the benefits.

I started to give google sketchup a try a while ago, but it is a more cumbersome way of modeling than what I'm used to. If you don't have prior experience with a 3D Cad system, then for a freebie it's probably ok.

Some other mentioned a few free ones that might be worth a try.

Creo is quite expensive, at $5000+ per license, plus a bunch of other fees depending on the package.
The college versions are the same, but not for use with a commercial company. Every drawing has a watermark on it: "not for commercial use".
If you are a college student or have a relative that is, then you can get a copy for ~$100-200. Well worth it!!!

Any of the 3D CAD systems will be much more helpful if you take the time to learn them properly, as then you can be really fast at them. Best to chisel out some dedicated time, like a whole weekend and just immerse yourself in it.

However, the even the best model is no substitute for a good design, and good experience in the shop for how to design and build it. The model may show a perfect fit, but reality is quite different.
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Researching sheetmetal shaping and forming, starting to buy the tools and practice the techniques

My shop projects: www.kustomsbykent.com
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  #55  
Old 10-03-2014, 04:04 PM
Cadwiz Cadwiz is offline
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Love this thread! I use a multitude of cad software all by AutoDesk and usually use them together.Starting in one and finishing in another. Sketch Book to rough out my Ideas.






From there it is taken into Alias Automotive or Inventor
Alias Here i take my sketch to full scale and surface model it First pic is the wind tunnel, second is a continuity check and the third is just a generic surface.







AutoCAD to Inventor. Here i roughed a sketch off of full scale prints. then moved to Inventor to model it.









And usually finish things off in Showcase. This was a very quick example.

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  #56  
Old 11-26-2014, 10:37 PM
Kidpaint Kidpaint is offline
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Man thats some serious work there! Looks great though
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  #57  
Old 11-26-2014, 10:46 PM
Kidpaint Kidpaint is offline
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I know its hard to see here, but I did this radius gauge in solidworks. I have used it already a few times for random projects, some not even metal projects. Hopefully Ill use it more when I get an english wheel.

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  #58  
Old 11-26-2014, 11:28 PM
Michael Moore Michael Moore is offline
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I did mine using Alibre (now Geomagic) and Rhino/RhinoCAM



A pal pointed out that the flat surface on the right hand side really should be labeled with the infinity sign, as 0 radius is a point, while a straight line is closer to an infinite radius.

The extras made good holiday gifts to some metalhead friends.

cheers,
Michael
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