SmoggyTurnip said:
I thought Brians post was informative, intresting and on topic. - It's also nice to know how much Cad software costs - the thread was interesting.
I thought it was also very valid given that most web sites of high end programs don't give a price and definitely don't mention 'support'
It's nice to see quoted prices as they can fluctuate a lot depending on the salesman's pitch and what he can allow. A lot of these are like double glazing sales and the more you stick out the more you save.
I can see Brian's and Peters point of view in that they need this as a tool but when I read that XX has a copy of Mastercam at about $12,000 to run his little X1 mill on it makes you wonder about the price difference between machine and software.
Personally I'm sticking to 2D for as long as I can, I have a copy of Alibre, Turbocad v15 and small son has his works copy of Solid Edge he can legally use at home but to be honest I find it very hard to get my head round 3D.
I can accept that using constraints means you can go back and change something and it all changes but setting these up isn't easy for me and usually by the time I have done this in 3D I could have belted out a drawing suitable for me or the CNC in the same time.
I'm fortunate in that I can visualise parts easily in my mind and very often whilst working manually I don't need any drawings at all, working straight out my head.
One of my jobs up until the end of the year is to modify about 20 motors a month that have to fit hydraulic pumps that have already been made wrong, by next year the new batch will be right and fit a standard motor.
In the meanwhile it's cheaper to modify the shaft and flange on these motors.
The first was done out of my head taking measurements of the motor and pump. When that was done a phot was taken of the finished job and a list of operations was hand written on the back of the photo.
That photo is now in a plastic wallet ready for next months batch. The customers doesn't want a drawing, only 20 motors a month at the cheapest rate. I don't want to do a drawing in 2D or 3d as no one is paying me.
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