Which CAD / CAM software for designing?

Spark

Spark

HPIC - Hatas gonna Hate
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The question came up in conversation this weekend and I have to admit, I am curious myself: Which is a good CAD program to use for designing knives? For that matter, should someone even design in CAD, or just do it in another program like photoshop?

I'd assume that unless a person is designing blade blanks only, they'd want a 3D program to show bevels, chamfers, liner cutouts, etc - stuff that wouldn't translate well on a 2D drawing.

For my own edification, I looked around at a few programs and AutoCad 2004 was priced at $2500+ (youch!), which is a barrier for entry level designers.

What do you guys recommend?
 
Spark,

Not trying to be a smartass, but I guess it depends on how you want to do it. If you are going to use a CAM, especially one that can read .DWGs (or some other drawing file) without a translator, I would think 3D would be the way to go. The CAM could then generate all your G&M codes on the fly, and you could walk away. But if a real live human is going to read the drawings, it might be faster if you just drew them up in 2D. Any chamfers/radiuses could be called out in the notes. And if that's the case, it would probably be easier to just do them in Photoshop or something similar.

It's been a while since I did any CAD/CAM work, so I hope this is accurate.
 
Photoshop is what I have familiarity with but from what I understand, it doesn't translate well to the dwg files - plus if anyone wanted to design a knife, and just walk into a machine shop anywhere in the world and get it made, they'd need a 3D program.

Is there a Photoshop to .dwg converter? Or do files need to be converted to PDF?

And, getting back to the question at hand - which program would be best for Joe Blow the knife enthusiast to get started making his own designs?
 
AutoCAD does make a Lite version that is less expensive. It will do everything you need it to do and more.

I use AutoCAD to design knives because I already have it as part of my profession (architect). (all the drawings in the "Need help..." link in my sig line were done in AutoCAD)

I have designed knives in Photoshop as well - especially if I needed something with some color. However, it's really not much better than doodling on a napkin. Terribly inaccurate, hard to get the radii drawn correctly, etc.

Oh, and I don't bother with the 3D stuff either. If you are going to get blanks cut, they'll want .dwg or .dxf files. The reason is for accuracy. If you understand the difference between a raster image and a vector image, then you'll know what I mean. A .dwg file is a vector-based file. Typically, Photoshop images are raster files. 2 completely different animals.

Seems a few folks really like Rhino3D for designing in 3D. I agree that it's an easier 3D package to use, but for me, I do all my stuff in 2D, so AutoCAD is quicker.

There are several freeware CAD programs online. Avoid anything that says "House Designer 3.0", etc. :rolleyes:




I seem to remember making a recommendation (on a CAD program) here on ShopTalk a while back - I think to Nathan House. Maybe he'll pitch in and let us know if it worked out.
 
Yeah, I agree, if you are going to do blanks 2D is all you need - but for folders and the like, you'll need 3D models - especially for autos and stuff that has internal parts. Thus, AutoCad LT looks like it would indeed be perfect for the aspiring fixed blade maker, but not for the folder guys.

Rhino looks like a good program based on what I've seen. I might have to give that a whirl.
 
AutoDesk (the makers of autoCAD) have some products that you might be interested in. AutoCAD and Mechanical Desk top, are basically just substitutions for pencil and paper, they are a very good 2d tool, and used to be the industry standard. Both AutoCAD and Mechanical Desktop can do 3D drawings, but they are not really idealy suited to that role. Autodesks new offering that they are trying to replace both AutoCAD and Mechanical Desktop is Inventor. It is a true 3d modeling package and i found it quite easy to use.

I believe that 3d would be much better for more advanced designs but you could certainly get your point accross in 2d.

The industry standard 3d package is now Solid Works, you could draw any knife you want, it is basically analogous to Autodesk inventor.
 
Ya, inventor is pretty cool, but for $5000+ it'd better be.
 
Personally, I use SolidWorks. Unfortunately it is in the same cost range as Inventor. For professional tools you pay professional prices.

If you want to look at low cost design packages, I have heard some positive things about Alibre (http://www.alibre.com/). It runs for between $600 and $1200 depending on which "level" you get and it is a full 3d modeler. You might also check out Think3 (http://www.think3.com) or FormZ (http://www.formz.com/). They got a bit of hype not long ago. Rhino is also good but beware, it is not as user friendly as some of the others that have been posted.

As far as I knew, AutoCAD lite is lite because they took out most of the 3d functionality. i.e. you may not be getting the tools you think you are.
 
Originally posted by Spark
The question came up in conversation this weekend and I have to admit, I am curious myself: Which is a good CAD program to use for designing knives? For that matter, should someone even design in CAD, or just do it in another program like photoshop?

I'd assume that unless a person is designing blade blanks only, they'd want a 3D program to show bevels, chamfers, liner cutouts, etc - stuff that wouldn't translate well on a 2D drawing.

For my own edification, I looked around at a few programs and AutoCad 2004 was priced at $2500+ (youch!), which is a barrier for entry level designers.

What do you guys recommend?
Click to expand...

Spark, there's a long thread here

http://www.ckdforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17981


I design all my folders using CAD.
 
Another alternative to Autocad LT is AutoSketch (current version is 8.0 I think). It is also from the Autodesk folks. It can be found for under $90 USD online. It is, however, a drawing program not a full-blown CAD program. Being an Autodesk product, it's file compatibility with Autocad is built in and it will also export jpg file format according to the FAQ page.

Autodesk's page for AutoSketch:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=2753027&siteID=123112

Autodesk also makes QuickCad, which sounds like an even cheaper and more limited drawing program.

Pendentive's comment on vector vs raster file formats is well worth investigating if you don't know the difference. Trying to scale raster based files (jpg, bmp, gif, tif, etc) from the virtual "inside the computer" world to the "real world of this slab of steel laying in front of me" world can get real ugly. ;)
 
I played a good bit with SolidEdge in college, and they were using it at NASA at the time for design work. Not sure what the current version is, but it seemed pretty easy to use to me. Might be worth a look. I designed a few knives in it without trouble back in the day. Haven't played with it in a while, and don't know if it's still even current with todays standards.
 
SolidWorks and Solid Edge are about equal in terms of functionality, user friendlyness and price. Most of the arguments for or against either of them seem to be in terms of user preferences.

One of the problems with saying that NASA uses the software (or Ford or Boeing...) is that those big companies will often have 6-7 major CAD programs installed at any one of their facilities. One of the Demos that SolidWorks had at one of their conferences was an assembly made by NASA engineers.
 
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