Re: Low Cost 3D CAD

Hi Dave,

I would take a different approach and work from the finished part
backwards to design.

I would research who was going to make the part for me at a cost that
I thought was reasonable and then match my design to their
manufacturing requirements. (ie cnc milling, injection moulding or
casting.

This would give you a better idea about how to proceed with you
cad/cam package requirements. No sense spending time and money only to
find out you have to redo everything.

Just my thoughts,
Bob Harvey

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "dave_at_cpr" <dnowery@y...>
wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I just joined the group and thought someone here could help me.
>
> I have an idea for a product that I believe I could sell in a decent
> quantity (100-200/month) made out of aluminum or hard plastic
> depending on costs, etc.
>
> I have the design in my head and want to prepare a 3D design using a
> rather inexpensise CAD program.
>
> I have a couple of questions:
> 1)What software should I use to generate a file that can later be
> read by a small manufacturer to produce these parts? (The design is
> fairly simple but not trivial. I have a background in engineering
> and have used a high-end package (Ideas) in a previous job about 10
> years ago so I'm sure I could learn the software fairly easily)
>
> 2)Would it be better to outsource the design services as well? (If
> this is a one-time development effort then I wouldn't want to invest
> a lot of money in a CAD package that would collect dust.)
>
> I have heard of some manufacturing outfits that do rapid prototyping
> that like to use STL files, but I also know that the AutoCAD DXF
> format is still very popular.
>
> Thanks for your help.
> Dave