Knife Design on paper to CAD?

Rick Haney Design

Rick Haney Design

Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Messages
518
I have a technical question.Since I'm a lot more adapt at drawing the design on paper,How would you take a non-digital drawing apply it to your CAD program?Are some programs more user-friendly?I recently purchased a 2D/3D program,Way to complicating for me to design from scratch!Once I apply the drawing on CAD,How easy is it to modify?Do they have Cad programs you could use some type of stylus?This CAD thing is interesting,But I'm looking at the CAD as a new design tool.Basically turn a analog image to a digital format!Bear in mind,When I attended Art school CAD was rather crude!Any insight would be appreciated!Rick-Rick Haney Design.:D
 
Check the archives there was a ripper tutorial on Adobe photo shop 7 drawings. I think it was Phil who had it running for a few days while he went step by step. Very well done.

SOmeone may be able to give you a link. If you have photo shop. I only had 5 not 7 but it was close enough. I assume any adobe photo shop program would do but with different function key strokes.

Sorry Phil I gave the wrong bloke the credit. I edited to put Phil.
 
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Originally posted by Capricorn61
Once I apply the drawing on CAD,How easy is it to modify?Do they have Cad programs you could use some type of stylus?
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The easiest way to get an analog drawing into digital form is using a scanner, which usually outputs pixel-based formats like .jpg. Then you use a conversion module in a vector-based CAD/drawing program (like Autocad, Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator, Freehand, etc) to convert the pixel-based scanner output data into vector data. The vector data can then be manipulated in the CAD program to change the shape of your virtual "blade". Once the data is in the CAD program, it is usually moderately easy learning how to modify the shapes. But it doesn't happen overnight. Like blademaking, there is a learning curve for the CAD programs and that curve takes some time to progress through it.

The device you're looking for that uses a stylus is a digitizing tablet, called a "digitizer" for short, and the cheaper ones can be had for under $100 USD. But those cheaper ones are typically 4x5 USB port models (e.g. digitizing area is 4" x 5", which is pretty small). When you get into the ones that are big enough to be more useful (9x12 or most typically 12x12 to 12x18) the price has jumped to around $350-$400+.

A couple of the more common digitizer manufacturer names you're likely to see are Wacom and Calcomp/SummaSketch. You may find a used model that still works okay from a graphics business that is upgrading their equipment, or at going out of business sales, garage sales, flea markets, etc. I recommend this, if you can find one, due to the price reduction from paying "new" price. The trick is to be sure that it works, not just the seller saying it works. Maybe a test period within which you can return it to the seller.

If you find a used tablet that works and doesn't have the driver diskettes with it (the usual situation), you can download the drivers for various computer operating systems like Windows 9x, NT, Windows XP, etc for many digitizers from the mfr's websites. You may want to familiarize yourself with the models whose drivers are readily available (which model from Wacom, Calcomp, etc) and restrict your search to just those models.

A digitizer with stylus (or even better what we call a "puck" cursor that has a cross-hair viewport) allows you to "trace" your analog drawing into a CAD program after you've taped your drawing to the surface of the digitizer. This is why a 9x12 or 12x12 is the smallest size tablet I recommend.

Wacom homepage: http://www.wacom.com/index2.cfm
GTCO (owner of Calcomp/SummaSketch): http://www.gtcocalcomp.com/

Some info via links on these pages:
http://systems.webopedia.com/TERM/C/CAD.html
http://systems.webopedia.com/TERM/D/digitizing_tablet.html

HTH, -- Greg --
 
Rick,

There are several free CAD programs available online - check download.com (type in CAD and look for Free "license").

As long as you are patient with the learning curve, you'll do ok.

I design all my knives in CAD (it helps I am an architect by trade). Here's the process I go through:

I find a few knives I like and import the pictures into CAD. I trace over them in CAD and then modify the drawing until I like it. Nice thing is - you can print as many copies as you want (always looks different on paper than on the screen) regardless of how many times you screw up - if you're like me, that's a lot!

Check the first link below (Khukuri Dynamics) and you'll see an analysis I did using AutoCAD to document different knife types made by Himalayan Imports.

Best of luck!

Dan


p.s. if anyone reading this needs a design done in CAD (for free), just drop me a line. I never turn 'em down.
 
I use a free program called IntellaCad. You can download it here:

http://www.cadopia.com/

It is a 2D basic program very similar to AutoCad. Fairly easy to use if you have some "tube" experience. But even if you don't it is pretty intuitive.
 
Thanks alot guys!I recently downloaded Rhino3D!I've been a modelmaker for a few years,This is definately something that wiil take time to learn!can anybody help me with importing my drawings to the program?It would speed up the designing process!What are your thoughts on Rastor to Vector conversion software?I've got the 2D thing on paper down!now 3D!Rick.




Rick
Rick Haney Design
 
I'm new to the board but have been collecting knives since about age 7 and I am now 18. I've been using Auto CAD in HS for 4 years and now in college using it. Only a few minutes before I read this post I finished a rough design of a knife in Auto CAD. I'm interested in making something similar and just having something better than a free hand drawing. If some of you guys want you could try and scan your free hand and send me the pic and some rough dimensions and I can try to draw it up digitally. If someone can host the picture for me I can upload it to them to show better detail.
Edit: Look at my avatar, very small but you can roughly see my drawing in Auto CAD.
 
The best thing to do is to export the drawing as a bitmap. Then import it to your photo-editing program and Invert the colors. That way, instead of grey lines on a black background, you get black lines on a white background. That would help your avatar, powells85.
 
Someone wanna put it on here for me? I can't get a small enough picture where you can still see the lines good. I'll email you the full size picture.
 
Dig it Greg and Dan - that's what this forum is so good for. You guys really have something valuable going, thanks for sharing. Be ready for me to ask you to repeat it all some day...I'm bound to decide I have time to negotiate the drawing learning curve eventually! :)
 
Capricorn61, I've been using rhinoceros3d for about a year and a half now, excellent program. To get your drawings into the program, save them as bitmaps. Open rhino, and under the 'view' menu, select 'background bitmap>place'. The tricky part is getting it placed to scale, that may take a few tries.

Then use the curve tool to trace your lines...

I design almost all my knives in rhino now, in full 3d....lets me see where the problem areas will be before I touch metal to grinder.
 
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