Advice??

[davefoxx]

In all seriousness, @peteski, you hit the nail on the head.  I watch what others are doing with 3D printing and am absolutely amazed.  That said, I know nothing about CAD and, while I would like to learn, I don't even know where to start.

DFF

[Chris333]

I absolutely hate the way they list resolution. That upgraded 5K screen has less resolution than the first 2K Photon. It's just a bigger screen. When you buy a paper printer they don't list it as "4K".

[peteski]

In all seriousness, @peteski, you hit the nail on the head.  I watch what others are doing with 3D printing and am absolutely amazed.  That said, I know nothing about CAD and, while I would like to learn, I don't even know where to start.

DFF

But those "other" people (or at least great majority) did not just get a printer, then next day "magically" started whipping out amazing items.  They all went through a learning curve.  Even some members here who are professional CAD users, like @Lemosteam did not achieve success on the first try.

I'm also a CAD novice, and 3D-printing neophyte, but I try to follow most of the 3D printing threads here. There is a lot of 3D printing related information on TRW -  you just need the time to spend reading it all.  Plus, even if you don't actively do any 3D printing, you can ask questions and will receive useful answers from more experienced users.

One of the things I have learned (at least about the Photon and similar printer) is that even seasoned users still have to do a lot of experimentation to get the optimal results, and that the process is somewhat messy.  Dealing with liquid resin, cleaning FEP, calibration, washing the parts, then curing them.  It is not just  "print-n-play).

[dem34]

In all seriousness, @peteski, you hit the nail on the head.  I watch what others are doing with 3D printing and am absolutely amazed.  That said, I know nothing about CAD and, while I would like to learn, I don't even know where to start.

DFF

Not saying you'll fall in love with it, but there is Tinkcad here to mess around with. Even comes with a few tutorial projects.
https://www.tinkercad.com/

[GaryHinshaw]

^ Agreed.  I had zero experience with 3d printing and 3d CAD prior to last December.  But within a week of starting to draw with TinkerCAD, I was printing basic shapes.  Since then I have been slowly building up the complexity and pushing the printer's limits.  And it has been fun, not painful.  That said, I think it helps to have pretty good 3d visualization skills to make good designs, independent of any software knowledge.

I agree that printing can be a bit messy, but once you develop a work flow that suits you, it goes pretty smoothly.

Agreed, generally, @GaryHinshaw's posts read something like this to me, "Yes, [BLAH, BLAH, BLAH] works great.  I do that with [BLAH, BLAH, BLAH].  I can't imagine how it's related to [BLAH, BLAH, BLAH] though... more like [BLAH, BLAH, BLAH]."

Oh dear.  It sounds like I should work on my communications skills... 
-gfh

* Until this week, when I finally changed FEP films.  I suddenly got a rash of head-banging failures due to parts sticking to the film.  I think I've sorted that out now, but I almost felt like I was going through drug withdrawal for a while.   

[Chris333]

My first 3D prints on Shapeways were drawn in 2D by me and someone else 3Ded them for me. I eventually figured out how to do it myself. If I didn't figure it out I wouldn't have bought my own printer.

[IronPenguin]

It looks like the standard screen will suffice for most N Scale projects but may consider getting the 5K upgrade later.  Also waiting to see the EPAX wash station.

I have a couple of 3D files at hand to print and now have $ investments to prod me into getting going on 3D CAD!

Thanks,
Charlie Vlk

The standard screen is fine. I haven't updated nor plan to for the foreseeable future.
If you want to tinker with simple CAD, Tinkercad is easy to learn and free. I use it to do all my stuff. I just don't have the time to learn Fusion right now.

Welcome to your new addiction...

[peteski]

Does anybody know how Tinker CAD compares to SketchUp?

[davefoxx]

Does anybody know how Tinker CAD compares to SketchUp?

Yes, inquiring minds want to know.

DFF

[IronPenguin]

Does anybody know how Tinker CAD compares to SketchUp?

I've used both. Their methodology are completely different, so it's hard to compare. As a model railroader, I  found tinkercad to be similar to scaratchbuilding in that you basically visualize an object as a bunch of boxes, triangles,  rectangles, etc and construct and combine those elements.
It just seemed natural to me and once you learn the tricks to making shapes,  you can do a lot complicated objects.

Sketchup is a more traditional approach to CAD and is well done and powerful. The scratch building comparison is still valid for Sketchup, but not as straightforward,  in my opinion.

As an aside, I've found a lot of errors in posted Sketchbook files, usually because the objects don't automatically have 3 dimensions when drawn and converting to an STL file for 3d printing can cause problems requiring reworking.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Does anybody know how Tinker CAD compares to SketchUp?

So, Tinkercad is a bit more basic.

It allows you to do things like build my switch brackets:

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/lfeCPBSCCDi-kingsbury-slide-switch-mount-v-02/edit?sharecode=zKhiZVXkKD7j8DcigZvF_JUug5tYvGS5K2hY3ZXB6vs

But you can't parameterize designs, and I feel like getting super fine control is tough with it.

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[reinhardtjh]

FreeCAD claims to a parametric modeler.  It's free.  Has Mac, Linux and Windows versions.  I've downloaded it and looked around a bit but that's all I can say about it.

https://www.freecadweb.org

https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Getting_started

[rodsup9000]

FreeCAD claims to a parametric modeler.  It's free.  Has Mac, Linux and Windows versions.  I've downloaded it and looked around a bit but that's all I can say about it.

https://www.freecadweb.org

https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Getting_started

    I've had it on my computer for 7 or 8 years, but have never used it. I've been using sketchup since 2009.  A good friend uses it for all of his manufacturing work as well as for his Epilog laser. 

Sketchup is a more traditional approach to CAD and is well done and powerful. The scratch building comparison is still valid for Sketchup, but not as straightforward,  in my opinion.

As an aside, I've found a lot of errors in posted Sketchbook files, usually because the objects don't automatically have 3 dimensions when drawn and converting to an STL file for 3d printing can cause problems requiring reworking.

 I use "Solid Inspector" for all my 3D stuff and haven't had any errors since I started using it.   

[peteski]

Excellent info guys - thanks!

[samusi01]

I’ve been using Fusion 360 for some years now. It is free for hobbyists, parametric, and can output directly to a range of printers (I’ve output directly to Ultimaker printers) and other products such as some CNC routers.

I started knowing nothing at all about 3D design and began by creating containers of various types for the late 1960s… after all, a container is just a box, how hard can it be? Last major 3D design, done this year, was some tugboat models. I also use it to check laser designs. In May, I posted some images of a laser cut bridge. All design was done in Adobe illustrator and then ‘built’ in Fusion to check for errors.