CAD for simple 3-D metal & wood projects?
 

On Monday, November 25, 2013 10:34:47 AM UTC-8, Leon wrote:
On 11/25/2013 11:49 AM, Lloyd E. Sponenburgh wrote:

Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet fired this volley in

:



I am a woodworker and routinely work with pieces that measure in 1/8"

resolution however the program is quite capable of accurately and quite

quickly drawing a box that is 4 1/16 x 5 3/64 x 9 19/32.



If I were using it for woodworking, I assume those accuracies would be

adequate, if a little gross for a CNC router...



Not in the slightest for a CNC. Why would one choose odd ball

tolerances, tiny fractions, when working with wood? Sketch up is being

used for CNC machines and 3D printers.



Metal working in some cases would be another matter.









But I work daily with sub-thousandth measurements. Do you really

understand how funny dealing with "thirty-secondths" sounds to a

metalworker? Today, I had to lay out a complex, multi-curved cam slot a

half-thousanth wider than a bearing, because the bearings that ride in it

work the plus side of their tolerances -- and the bearings are spec'd by

the customer. Even two thousanths of an inch would cause them to track

wrong.





And given the OP's original post to this thread do you realize how funny

it sounds to use a program that uses the resolutions that you are

speaking about when Sketchup is more than capable of satisfying his

needs for free?



I realize you work with high resolutions, that is the requirement of

metal working. But Sketchup is far more of a program than to simply

sketch out pencil type drawings.







I also am not belittling what you do. I've done it (in a prior life)

with very nice results on some 'fine' reproduction furniture. They're

just not the same games, that's all.



And Sketchup would be more than fine for reproduction furniture drawings.







I have -eh- maybe 250-300 hours building large-scale models in Sketchup;

100 meter scale. Maybe I could finesse it into doing 1/4" stuff to

tenths of a thou.; but why, when there are CAMs out there well-adapted to

what machinists do? Why use an axe where a scalpel is called for?





So with that kind of time put in with Sketchup you are just getting

started. I have many more drawings than you have in hours and most of

the drawings require 10~20 hours of design.



If you need that higher resolution use the program that works but your

descriptions of the capabilities of Sketchup makes one wonder if you

really know what it can do.



I think the biggest problem with this whole thread is that the OP posted

to wood working and metal working. His first item on his wish list was

for wood boards and followed by stuff you make at home. He had the

knowledge of 2D CAD programs so he was not totally ignorant of what to

use but IMHO he wanted to do 3D for, most likely, less than extreme

resolution drawings.


What part of SketchUp is the wrong CAD tool to use for mechanical design don't you understand?

Does SketchUp have a hole wizard?

Does SketchUp have an assembly mode and mating?

What tools does SkecthUp have for handling repair of non-native data?

Should I go on?