Need to learn to use a CAD program. Also, I need a cheap CAD program.

jamesra

And fairly quickly.

And without spending a fortune on something like AutoCad.

It is just about that simple; I need to create a drawing of a mechanical design and I haven't got any real clue how to go about it. Twenty years ago, when I was 18, I repeatedly failed at both my traditional drafting class and my CAD calls. Which is why I ended up a network engineer and not an aerospace engineer. But now I have crafted a machine, and while it will likely come to nothing, I'd rather like to patent it. For shits and grins if nothing else, and besides which being able to list a set of patents on my resume couldn't hurt, I wouldn't think.

Any thoughts? Going forward I'm going to find and take a community college class or something, but I couldn't find one that suited my needs during the Christmas break, and City Colleges of Chicago has already started classes in any case.

DevoutlyApathetic

There are free 2D cad programs out there.

Draftsight I believe is free and is essentially classic autoCAD.

Google has sketch up but the only time I played with it I hated it and it felt horrible. It may just be learning curve and that I'm accustomed to professional CAD packages.

Inventor, which is the modern descendant of AutoCAD also tends to give out trial copies if you're enrolled in a class. You'd have to look into if you can actually export things done in it, I think so but that is a favorite way of giving out "student" copies that are useless.

Be warned that AutoCAD is a jerk face, though less so if you're not using it to design as you go.

The patent applications that I have seen don't require formal engineering drawings but typically have nicely drawn illustrations. You might be aiming a bit high.

jamesra

I would have EVEN MORE trouble with an illustration. I have negative artistic talent. Negative artistic talent that works by astral projection. Just by interacting with me, you have become meaningfully less able to create visual art. My own attempts at creating drawings have been described using terms like "laughable", "faintly obscene" and "a possible war crime".

The 2D piece I can do, and have. But for a utility patent, you need a drawing that illustrates the functioning of the device, and I have no clue how to do that in 2D. What I have tried so far, I shipped to my cousin[1] (a patent attorney) and he indicated no. (He is the one who suggested the war crime appellation. I choose to believe he was being jocular, although that flies in the face of the available evidence).

And AutoCAD beat me into a smoking hole in the ground once already in my life. Somewhat atypically for me, I have no desire what-so-ever for a rematch.

[1]Is it still a cousin when it is an in-law? Technically, I mean; I stand by the description.

Usagi

Rhino 3d does a demo version that allows you 25 saves before you have to purchase the program

Honestly, if you're looking to demonstrate the function of the device in the drawing, you might want to pay a designer to do a thing for you. Something like this shouldn't take very long for a person well versed in CAD and you could probably get a student or young engineer to do it freelance pretty easily.

And uh, AutoCAD is pretty much the industry standard, so if that conquered you so thoroughly I doubly recommend finding someone to help you.

Abdhyius

AutoCAD, while a fucking mess of an interface - indeed the most challenging thing in my technical drawing class was WHY DOESN'T MY AUTOCAD LOOK LIKE THE PICTURES! I CAN'T PRESS THAT BUTTON! IT ISN'T HERE! - once you get past that it is super

something like sketchup is intensely frustrating after learning autocad, because while it is easy to make a box or whatever, shit is so... fiddly. AutoCAD let's you draw a curve exactly how you want it without having to dick about figuring out where you should make the center if you want it to go smoothly from this bit to this bit or whatever.

Anyway! That is beside the point.

Without knowing the barest thing about the shape of this item it's hard to tell what would be the best way to show its functions, but remember that your end product will be 2d - as in, it will be a flat sheet and a 3d projection will only be from that one angle.

making technical drawing requires no artistic skill, you only need to learn the simple language that is technical drawing standards, and the decidedly less simple language that is CAD programs.


As for cheap, basically, you can get cheap and shit or expensive good and complicated.

EDIT: But for someone who knows autoCAD it ain't no thang whipping up a drawing compared to what it's like learning everything and buying a program. Find someone you trust who knows.

Iruka

If you end up taking a class, AutoDesk offers free student software, you just need an edu email and the software is the full version, its good for 36 months. Autodesk ≠ Adobe, they know that the best way to get people using their extremely complex software is to give them time to train in it.

Prime

Also if you know c#/VB.net you can load your own DLLs into autoCAD and create your own tools. I do this for a living and its not too challenging once you get over the initial learning curve.

oldsak

There's a tutorial on Sketchup up on hackaday today that looks interesting.

DevoutlyApathetic

That link also has links to tutorials to other programs as well that might be helpful.

djmitchella

Inkscape relates to Adobe Illustrator the same way that GIMP does to Photoshop, so for making basic vector drawings it's free and it'll be just fine, but it's not "CAD" if you want measurements and angles and all that stuff.

japan

Draftsight is really good, and is so close to AutoCAD in its basic functionality that people generally find they can switch back and forth without significant difficulty. Having said that if you struggled with AutoCAD draftsight probably isn't going to be an easier time.

It's also not a cheap knockoff or an amateur project, it's made by Dassault Systemes of Solidworks fame.

Pinfeldorf

If this is something you're interested in patenting, doing it the right way is, quite simply, the only way you should consider doing it. If you don't know any engineers, put out an ad on something like craigslist to try to find one. Do up some form of NDA, and walk him through the specs of your design as he draws it for you.