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C'ADventures

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DavidR8

DavidR8

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For anyone who's ever wanted to or is currently trying to learn CAD I urge you to stick with it.
I struggled for several years with Fusion360 and finally gave up. @jcdammeyer turned me onto Alibre Atom3D and it's been a game changer for me.
Admittedly I did not put in as much time with Fusion as I have with Alibre so I can't say one is easier than the other. Only that something has clicked and I'm actually enjoying the CAD experience now.

Yesterday I was trying to turn a 2D DXF of nine parts into 3D models. And getting frustrated fast.
This morning I persevered and figured out the problems, fixed them out and sucessfully modelled the nine parts.
That's a really good feeling.

Screenshot 2023-03-09 164243.pngScreenshot 2023-03-09 164418.webp
 
David_R8 said:
For anyone who's ever wanted to or is currently trying to learn CAD I urge you to stick with it.
I struggled for several years with Fusion360 and finally gave up. @jcdammeyer turned me onto Alibre Atom3D and it's been a game changer for me.
Admittedly I did not put in as much time with Fusion as I have with Alibre so I can't say one is easier than the other. Only that something has clicked and I'm actually enjoying the CAD experience now.

Yesterday I was trying to turn a 2D DXF of nine parts into 3D models. And getting frustrated fast.
This morning I persevered and figured out the problems, fixed them out and sucessfully modelled the nine parts.
That's a really good feeling.

View attachment 31943View attachment 31944
Click to expand...
Your brain probably works like mine. I don't know why I find Alibre easier than the others but it too was a game changer for me. To sit in the evenings in front of the TV with my wife, sipping a Scotch, and drawing 3D parts from all the 2D drawings for the AR3 Robot Arm wasn't so much as a challenge as it was just plain work.

And when I did have problems a quick trip to the forum supplying my trial drawing in package format allowed someone else to figure out how to do what I wanted and return the drawing back with an explanation. Often it's just a little thing...
 
David_R8 said:
For anyone who's ever wanted to or is currently trying to learn CAD I urge you to stick with it.
I struggled for several years with Fusion360 and finally gave up. @jcdammeyer turned me onto Alibre Atom3D and it's been a game changer for me.
Admittedly I did not put in as much time with Fusion as I have with Alibre so I can't say one is easier than the other. Only that something has clicked and I'm actually enjoying the CAD experience now.

Yesterday I was trying to turn a 2D DXF of nine parts into 3D models. And getting frustrated fast.
This morning I persevered and figured out the problems, fixed them out and sucessfully modelled the nine parts.
That's a really good feeling.

View attachment 31943View attachment 31944
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info and inspiration. I know not being able to use a CAD program greatly holds me back with my projects. I never did put alot of time into trying to learn Fusion360 (and some other) but it all seemed impossible for me to grasp so I gave up. Maybe someday I will try again based on your recommendation.
 
I started with pen and paper drafting (even had my own professional grade track machine during university). I learned ACAD self taught.

3D drawing in software is slowly getting there simply because I approach it like pen and paper, not like a 3D environment that it is. Once I started going that the 3D route and switch over to the newer thought pattern it started to make sense, now its just time in front of the machine which I don't have.
 
Janger said:
Maybe I should run a class on Fusion. I'm no expert but it works for me.
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There are tons of youtube educational videos out there for learning it. I don't think that's the issue. Works really well for a friend of mine.

I think it's that Autodesk has always had their own way of doing things and if they don't match the standard Windows User Interface they don't care. They do it their way.

And it's not like I haven't tried. Just don't like it. Others do.
1678422935398.webp
 
Degen said:
I started with pen and paper drafting (even had my own professional grade track machine during university). I learned ACAD self taught.

3D drawing in software is slowly getting there simply because I approach it like pen and paper, not like a 3D environment that it is. Once I started going that the 3D route and switch over to the newer thought pattern it started to make sense, now its just time in front of the machine which I don't have.
Click to expand...
I think the idea of working on 2D sketches in CAD which then are turned into 3D is what made the lightbulb come on for me.
 
I flew Catia like a fighter jet. I could do anything.

I find Fusion sooooo difficult it hurts my head.

I know I'll be ok if I can just figure out how it's authors thought. But so far it's very painful. Even just a simple sketch is painful.

The pain starts with: where do I start! My mind wants to plug in a few 3D coordinates and then start stretching, moving, splicing, cutting, drilling, etc all the faces.
 
Susquatch said:
You can start in 2d in fusion?? I have not managed to do that ye
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I start in 2D in Alibre, I expect it's the same in Fusion.
Pick your plane, XY for example, draw your basic shape, say a 1/2"diameter circle, switch to 3D, and extrude to the length you want say 1/2", click on the top surface of the resulting cylinder and make another sketch, say a 1/4" diametere circle, switch to 3D and extrude that through to the bottom. Voila you just drew a 1/2 diameter bushing with a 1/4" bore :)
 
David_R8 said:
I start in 2D in Alibre, I expect it's the same in Fusion.
Pick your plane, XY for example, draw your basic shape, say a 1/2"diameter circle, switch to 3D, and extrude to the length you want say 1/2", click on the top surface of the resulting cylinder and make another sketch, say a 1/4" diametere circle, switch to 3D and extrude that through to the bottom. Voila you just drew a 1/2 diameter bushing with a 1/4" bore :)
Click to expand...

Nope. No joy. Can't get past start with draw basic shape.

I've been doing it by copying another design and them modifying that to get to where I want to go.
 
David_R8 said:
For anyone who's ever wanted to or is currently trying to learn CAD I urge you to stick with it.
I struggled for several years with Fusion360 and finally gave up. @jcdammeyer turned me onto Alibre Atom3D and it's been a game changer for me.
Admittedly I did not put in as much time with Fusion as I have with Alibre so I can't say one is easier than the other. Only that something has clicked and I'm actually enjoying the CAD experience now.

Yesterday I was trying to turn a 2D DXF of nine parts into 3D models. And getting frustrated fast.
This morning I persevered and figured out the problems, fixed them out and sucessfully modelled the nine parts.
That's a really good feeling.

View attachment 31943View attachment 31944
Click to expand...
model model model...

just for practice. pick a new technique per week to work on too
 
David_R8 said:
I got it on sale for $100 USD
Click to expand...

It's on sale for 150US right now for hobbiests. That's a lot for a hobbiest, but at least it's a one time cost. I really like that about it. No annual subscription.

Does not seem to be any stress analysis, heat transfer, fluid flow or team design. But I accept that such tools would prolly cost much more.

They seem to offer several different tools - perhaps for different audiences. Any advice here?

I watched the first tutorial. You are correct. For me at least, starting with a 2D dimensioned drawing on a clean drawing space seems WAAAAY more intuitive.

I have this sense that Fusion can do that too, but it seems to be buried someplace unintuitive. I did my first part following the tutorial and it worked out just fine. But it didn't stick. I don't want to have to redo the tutorial every time I start a new design. Maybe that's my old age limiting my learning curve.

To be fair, I'll have to download Alibre and actually try it. But on first blush it seems to ring the bell.

I think we all think differently. And somethings are going to be both different and better or worse depending on how our individual minds work.

A great example is RPN Calculators. They are not for everyone. For some of us they are instinctive, powerful, and easy to use. But my wife and kids hate it.
 
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