3D CAD on the cheap...

[.RC.]

I just purchased this software today for AU$121 which would be similar to the US$99 deal plus AU taxes..

I have got the standard edition version 12.1..Just a quick look around and it looks to be a good value program for home/hobby use..

[datsun280zxt]

I downloaded the free CAD trial. I have absolutely no prior experience with CAD, but after a couple of frustrating evenings (2-3hours each), I worked my way through the tutorials in the program and then the on-line ones. I think the on-line ones help more by the way. I've done several parts now and really like the program and have very little trouble navigating through things. Occasionally I do something in the wrong order and have trouble getting my part to come out right, but it's usually a quick fix to make things right. I bought the program yesterday so I wouldn't miss out on the deal for $99. I talked to the sales people, and they won't release ow long it'll be on sale...I sure worked them over trying to find out though. If anyone has trouble with the program or trying to figure out how to do something, I also found their forum to be very helpful. For anyone interested in the program, I think its a pretty good deal and seems fairly easy to pick-up (at least for me). You just have to wrap your mind around the way they were thinking when they made the program.

[philbur]

I don't know if this has been mentioned but it looks like you can also download Alibre Cam Express for free. See Dowloads -> Alibre Cam -> Licensing Instructions - 3rd page.

Phil

[noah katz]

Bill,

Yes, I was asking about Alibre, thanks.

The mouse method sounds pretty slick.

Noah, assuming you are asking about Alibre, it is like many other CAD systems, several ways of zooming, Pan and Rotate. There are menus but I normally just use the mouse. With a 3 button roller mouse, Zoom is roller up or down, Pan is central button press then move around, Rotate is left and right buttons together and mouse movements rotate the part.

[John Stevenson]

Robert,
Just a heads up that Sheetcam is only 2 - 1/2D

BTW check your PM.

[lazlo]

If it's a simple 2 1/2D shape then...
Export from the 2D as DXF file , import dxf into Lazycam inside Mach and get this to generate code.

If we are talking about 3D then ... you will have to import into a third party program to generate the code which is then sent to Mach.

To add to John's answer, you need a CAM program to convert the Alibre model to "G-Code", which is the set of commands that Mach3 uses to position the cutting head.

Mach has a simple built-in CAM module: "LazyCAM", but for real 3D CNC, you'll need a third party CAM program like SheetCAM, CAMBam, MasterCAM, etc.

[willmac]

Noah, assuming you are asking about Alibre, it is like many other CAD systems, several ways of zooming, Pan and Rotate. There are menus but I normally just use the mouse. With a 3 button roller mouse, Zoom is roller up or down, Pan is central button press then move around, Rotate is left and right buttons together and mouse movements rotate the part.

[noah katz]

How do you pan, zoom, and rotate the part you're working on?

[willmac]

Allan -

Stick with it - Alibre is a good package for the money and it rewards an investment in its learning curve. The tutorials do help but I think the biggest hurdle is to understand the 'philosophy' that sit behind the package. Sketching is the key to starting work and the tools for this are simple and need to become second nature, so perhaps just start off by sketching simple shapes and then extruding or rotating them to create full 3D models. This will take you a surprisingly long way. I found it very useful to go on from here to model everything that I was working on even when I had good conventional drawings already. This will help you by working with parts that you are familiar with and you will begin to work out easy ways to model parts and equally important to avoid a sequence of steps that will require a lot of work. Nheng has it absolutely right, modelling a more complicated part requires planning in a very similiar way to planning machining steps - get it right and it is much easier. This will become instinctive after a while.

Once you have the basics of modelling working well you will find that you will want to start using some of the more complex tools but you don't need these for simple parts.

I started with the free Alibre and have now updated my license twice to get more features and capability. It has been one of the best investments I have made. I have no connection with Alibre in case you wondered.

If you are stuck on one of tutorials post some details, perhaps a screen shot and I am sure thatwe can sort out the problems very quickly.

[Allan Waterfall]

I'm just trying Alibre,but the tutorials don't look like what appears on my screen.I can only get a blue background and things appear in a different orientation to the tutorial.

I realise it's a steep learning curve but I'm lost with it at the moment.

Allan

[John Stevenson]

David. Post has been filed as we are about to resurrect the X3 CNC kit again.

We stopped it when the KX series came out and stock was gone thinking that the KX would take over.

Unless it's the greater travels or the fact that some already have the X3 but we are getting quite a few enquiries now about the kit again for some reason.

It's not a priority for me as I have other projects on the go both in the UK and China.

[saltytri]

Thank you, John. So, without using another, 3D third party program to which you refer, I can use Alibre Design in conjunction with Mach3 to design and cut a part in which X and Y can describe a complex two dimensional shape as seen in plan view, with Z used only to get a specified DOC.

I am just taking the initial steps toward CNC and it looks as if Design may be too good to pass up no matter what hardware I end up with.

By the way, I sent you an email a day or two age inquiring whether you are still making X3 conversion kits. That route seems attractive to me unless I can rationalize a Novakon machine at greater expense.


David

[John Stevenson]

If it's a simple 2 1/2D shape then the answer is yes.
You draw in Alibre, either 2D or 3D, if 3D you get the 2D drawings from that.

Export from the 2D as DXF file , import dxf into Lazycam inside Mach and get this to generate code.

If we are talking about 3D then save as STEP or STL and then you will have to import into a third party program to generate the code which is then sent to Mach.

.

[saltytri]

So, can the experts fill me on on a basic question: If I use this $99 Design package, can I use it to design a part that can then be exported to Mach 3 to make the part on a mill? The specs say that export is limited to 2D so there is an obvious limitation there but being able to design 2D and thengetting to a toolpath without any software between Design and Mach 3 is the question I don't know enough to answer.

[nheng]

I'm not familiar with LazyCAM but from Alibre 2D you can export .dxf and several Autocad .dwg formats directly. A quick export and import of an Alibre created 2D drawing was very clean as far as the part view goes, only minor font and dimension style changes. I think I tried to bring in a more complex .dxf (exported from SolidEdge) several weeks back and there were numerous font and dimension style and size issues. Don't recall if the part itself was correct or not. And, part of those problems could have been in the SolidEdge export to begin with.

Just checked the 3D export menu and it includes:
STEP
IGES
ACIS
STL
a variety of image formats (JPG, BMP, etc.)
SolidWorks Part
Parasolid Part

I always take import and export capabilities of ANY design package with a very large grain of salt. Many times, the companies that created the formats themselves do not always get it right.

Import of IGES solids seems to work ok as I have imported several fairly complex firearm parts without problem. Just a quick test, mind you, but they looked correct and a number of measurements pulled from them were correct (this is a statement on the abilities of the guy who drew it AND on the ability of the IGES to bring it in properly.