Drawing Software

[Janderso]

Some of us find Solidworks and Fusion 360 extremely vast and complex, I can't even design a square, I've tried numerous times.
I'm afraid I may be just an old dog who can no longer learn a new trick.
I did enjoy drafting back in High School and I can still make some decent drawings.
My tools, a mechanical pencil, quality paper, a ruler, protractor, compass and a cup of coffee.

 

[middle.road]

Some of us find Solidworks and Fusion 360 extremely vast and complex, I can't even design a square, I've tried numerous times.
I'm afraid I may be just an old dog who can no longer learn a new trick.
I did enjoy drafting back in High School and I can still make some decent drawings.
My tools, a mechanical pencil, quality paper, a ruler, protractor, compass and a cup of coffee.

Nonsense Ol' Man, we can learn new tricks!
I can't seem to get the hang of Fusion either but then I'm old school CAD (if there is such a thing.)
It takes a complete re-think regarding the methods and techniques that we have learned over the years.

I keep doing up my designs in 2D then DXFing them over to Fusion and then the accuracy bug in DXF bites me in the arse.

Been working it since AutoTrol in '79. Cadam, Catia, Autocad 1.x on a Tandy XT (ugh!), and so on.
In '93 I did my first complex model in AutoCad 12 with AME 2.1. Managed to get featured in the Autodesk calendar that year.
Then I drifted out of CAD/CAM into systems admin which in hindsight was a big mistake.
Haven't kept up in earnest over the years.
Stepson was just stopped by for a couple of days and showed this Old Goat a couple of things. Got the SpacePilot working properly which embarrassed me all to heck. Needed to check on a few boxes in a buried sub-menu is all, and I missed that.

They just changed the licensing on Fusion for us hobbyists. They've chopped out the ability to exchange designs between other packages.
-=-=-=-
Meanwhile, Honey grabbed me this along with a Hamilton VR20 Table at an estate sale this past spring.
Classic Vemco V-Track. Going to have to find a home for it, it's right-handed and I'm left-handed.
And in truth I can't find the space in the house for the table - although I am trying.

Not mine, can't find the picts I took, but the same.

 

[Janderso]

Mr. Middle.road,
Imagine you never had any background or experience with any electronic drawing software, today at your age.
To me the concept is so daunting I don't know where to begin.
I have spent some time watching Paul McWhorter on Youtube. He knows his stuff!
I begin OK then get lost and have to start over making a square box. I'm not usually so dense but that program (Fusion 360) makes me feel like a complete idiot.
If I had some time and could take some classes, I may be able to begin, but I think that's the only way I would ever feel any success.

 

[middle.road]

Mr. Middle.road,
Imagine you never had any background or experience with any electronic drawing software, today at your age.
To me the concept is so daunting I don't know where to begin.
I have spent some time watching Paul McWhorter on Youtube. He knows his stuff!
I begin OK then get lost and have to start over making a square box. I'm not usually so dense but that program (Fusion 360) makes me feel like a complete idiot.
If I had some time and could take some classes, I may be able to begin, but I think that's the only way I would ever feel any success.

It is daunting and will get extremely frustrating at times. A lot of clicking this and selecting that and oh yeah, ya got to make this active first to construct on a certain plane.
I've gotten so PO'd with it I shut it down and walk away.
I have this fantasy of becoming proficient at it some day. Not betting on it though, but will keep plugging away.
Back in the '80s after Autotrol and Cadam I was exposed to Autocad. Had to learn that on my own and finally mastered it.
But I can remember the same level of frustration at the time even with having experience on the mainframe packages.
I watch Lars quite a bit, need to check out Paul's videos sometime. I do find myself having to re-watch videos just to be able to execute basic tasks.

There is still something extremely satisfying with using pencil, paper and a straightedge.
I dug into my old drafting tool chest last night for a piece of lead to use with the jewelry soldering, and found myself reminiscing and missing the vellum and graphite days.

 

[nnam]

Mr. Middle.road,
Imagine you never had any background or experience with any electronic drawing software, today at your age.
To me the concept is so daunting I don't know where to begin.
I have spent some time watching Paul McWhorter on Youtube. He knows his stuff!
I begin OK then get lost and have to start over making a square box. I'm not usually so dense but that program (Fusion 360) makes me feel like a complete idiot.
If I had some time and could take some classes, I may be able to begin, but I think that's the only way I would ever feel any success.

Don't give up. I used to try Blender out, and I failed. After awhile of doing it, I couldn't tell where is what and got so disoriented that I just wanted to give out.

But thanks to this thread, and to my familiar with other 3D packages, which I didn't know then, I am going to give it another shot. I think I got it this time.

 

[RobertB]

My tools, a mechanical pencil, quality paper, a ruler, protractor, compass and a cup of coffee.

Mine too Jeff. I have had Autodesk Inventor and Autocad for years, but don't use them often enough to stay proficient with them. I have to spend too much time re-learning the software every time I use it
So far I have never forgotten how to use a pencil and a ruler.

 

[Winegrower]

Nntam, thank you for putting that post together. I will review.
If the point is that the basic extrusion/cut process is the same, I agree. But to me it’s like a tune on guitar can be similar to the same tune on a violin, but just like software, the trouble is in exactly where you put your fingers.

 

[middle.road]

Mine too Jeff. I have had Autodesk Inventor and Autocad for years, but don't use them often enough to stay proficient with them. I have to spend too much time re-learning the software every time I use it
So far I have never forgotten how to use a pencil and a ruler.

Inventor was a package I never managed to get my teeth into. Spec'd out and setup the workstations for it but never got to use it properly when I had the chance.
I checked out a 30-day eval of AutoCadLT201x awhile back and it's interesting how closely it now resembles AutoCad from the turn of the century.

I'd like to find space in the house for the VR20, mount my left-handed drafting machine up to it and break out the pencil(s) and paper, and oh yeah, the electric eraser...

 

[Technical Ted]

Just like learning how to run a lathe, milling machine, surface grinder, etc., learning how to use a CAD program can take a lot of practice and patience to learn... I've found that learning it has paid huge benefits, especially when designing assemblies and more complex multi part assemblies.

My most recent was building a simple welding cart for my two new welders. Did I need to use CAD to design it? No. But, once you learn how to use a tool like CAD, it can really help on a project like this with cut lengths, end preps for tight fit ups, making sure you have the correct clearances, etc.. For this simple design I didn't draw every last detail, just the basic outline and finished the small things up after the basic structure build.

I learned it by watching YouTube videos and, at times, stopping the videos and drawing along... Then, it was trail, error and patience!

Ted

 

[mmcmdl]

My wife is a UG designer at a local defense contractor.

Yes Bruce , I also used this in DOD work . It was amazing back then , and I can only imagine what it can do nowadays .