Wow - Way too Cool

[Laredo7mm]

As most of you all probably know, I started a new job about 5 weeks ago. They use some CAD software called Solid Works. It is a 3D modeling program that builds everything in solids as opposed to 2D stuff. I have made it through the Essentials Class, the Advanced Solid Modeling Class, and the Advanced Assembly Modeling class. All of that amounts to two weeks of training.

Anyway, during luch break today I was messing around with modeling an initial billet. I did it just the way I do it in my shop, starting with an initial 17 layers of 0.0625 thick steel. Then I applied a twist command of 1800° over the 12 inch length, and by gosh, she twisted and looked just like it does in my shop with all the fluted spirals. Then I applied a stretch command (streched in a negative direction so it squashed it) and again it looked like it does when I flatten the billet with the power hammer.

Then the crowning moment, I cut the bevels into the billet, and low and behold, there was a perfect single star twist pattern showing.

It must be the Engineer in me but I was giggling like a school girl. It was just way to awesome to have the computer predict the pattern so accurately. The time to model that was about 15 minutes. So I can see myself spending a few late nights at work doing some pattern development.

Now I just need to come up with the $5000 so I can buy a license for my home computer. Anybody want to contribute to the fund?

 

[NickWheeler]

Hey Sean-


Yep, it's slick!

I thought about trying to get it for home use for mosaic pattern development, but I just couldn't justify spending several thousand on that instead of spending the money on "real" shop tools

-Nick-

 

[fitzo]

geek engineers......

 

[adammichael]

Anyone at your new job hear you giggling like a school girl?

I have worked with just about every 3D cad program out there and they are cool. Did you ever hear of CoCreate One Space Designer?

Email me, I might be able to help you out with your fund.
Mike@adammichaelknives.com

 

[NickWheeler]

geek engineers......

Hey, I wasn't geeky enough to stay an angri-neer... so I dumped all that to be the owner, operator, secretary, and janitor of this two bit operation.

Now I'm real cool. Um, yea, uh, that's the ticket!

But then again, I would expect such a comment from somebody that played with silly chemicals all day


-Nick-

 

[Mark Williams]

Just sell a couple of knives for what they are REALLY worth and you set . Heck just take Ed's class and folks will beg to buy your knives. Yeah right

 

[Burchtree]

Sounds pretty cool. Hell, I can't even figure out my $19 version of TurboCAD I put on the computer last month.

 

[jhiggins]

Sounds pretty cool. Hell, I can't even figure out my $19 version of TurboCAD I put on the computer last month.

I'm with you, Mike. I took 4 years of mechanical drawing in high school, and I'm pretty good with making my own designs on paper, but I would LOVE to be fluent in CAD/CAM.

 

[fitzo]

But then again, I would expect such a comment from somebody that played with silly chemicals all day


-Nick-

I sorta figgered the irony of my comment would not be lost on you, Nick!

I'll bet you don't even have a sliderule!!

 

[Steve Hayden]

Don't knock slide rules, they took us to the moon and built the atomic bomb.

My last one dissappeared somewhere along the way, but I could still use it.

 

[jhiggins]

Don't knock slide rules, they took us to the moon and built the atomic bomb.

My last one dissappeared somewhere along the way, but I could still use it.

Went to a yard sale last weekend. The homeowner was a retired high school science teacher. He had one of those gigundus slide rules the whole class could see. I remember in my high school physics class we had one hanging above the chalk board. Seeing that big ol' slide rule brought back memories. God, how I hated that class!

 

[fitzo]

Don't knock slide rules, they took us to the moon and built the atomic bomb.

My last one dissappeared somewhere along the way, but I could still use it.

I've still got my yellow metal Pickett with the leather case and belt loop!!! Probably got a pocket protector or two around here somewhere but the tooled leather pencil holster got lost somewhere along the way along with the original babmboo slipstick.

I weren't knockin' em, Steve, but waxing nostalgic....

Let's take a survey: how many of you geeks had a holster for your newfangled eee-lectronic calculator??

 

[Steve Hayden]

People who learned to do calculations on slide rules never had any trouble with the concept of significant figures. All those excess decimals just went away.

 

[pso]

Sean

Just stay late and use Solid Works at work. Let your employer pay for all the maintenance of the computers, the software upgradedes (to fix any bugs) and the technical support. The real cost of such software is much higher than the initial purchase price.


Fitzo

You only have one slide rule? Let me know if you don't want it anymore. I'll see what funds I can sneak past my wife's scrutiny.

The computer network at the last place I worked was maintained by a bunch of bozo's and kept going down. I ended up putting one of my slide rules on top of my monitor with a note stating "100% reliable, 24/7".

Phil

 

[fitzo]

Phil, is it you who collects those old sticks?? I know there was someone who'd mentioned it.

Thanks for the offer, but this old yellow beast will go to my math geek nephew some day. I *think* I may even still have the manual somewhere so he'll know how to work it if he chooses.

 

[Steve Hayden]

Mike

If he knows the math, he shouldn't have any trouble using a mechanical analog computer by K&E. As soon as he sees what the scales are, he'll be on it.

 

[fitzo]

I had thought this was a K&E, but turns out it's a Pickett (edited earlier post). The K&E was a bamboo job I had first that met an unfortunate demise.

I went and dug that old beast out and, surprisingly, I still remember how to use the danged thing. Somewhere inside there's a few old connections survived the 70's!

As for my nephew, yeah, he'd probably figure it out quickly, Steve. He won't get this puppy for a good while, though. The boy has an IQ about 165 and if he can find the motivation can be brilliant. Whether he will do so is anyone's guess at this point. He's off to the local community college for two years before transferring to a decent school because he copped an attitude and got straight A's for anything interesting in high school (math/science) and D's if he didn't care about it. The jury is still out whether he'll realize his potential or just end up being another near miss. Not a bad thing, really, as long as he's happy, IMO, but his mother and I disagree about those things...

Sean, sorry to steal your thread. Your program sounds very intruiging. Something I'd love to play with. If you can get any jpegs or tifs to share I'd love to see a couple diagrams.

 

[NickWheeler]

Slide rule?!?!?

I can do it all with an abicus

I probably should have mentioned that I was so cool I got to ride one of those little short buses to college

-Nick-

 

[fitzo]

Slide rule?!?!?

I can do it all with an abicus

I probably should have mentioned that I was so cool I got to ride one of those little short buses to college

-Nick-

That'd be abAcus, nifemakur!

Did they send the lady in the funny dayglo vest up to the door to walk you to the bus???

 

[ddavelarsen]

I just went and looked and I still have my slide rule too, along with my plastic flute and steel tipped darts... I won't say what other nostalgic 70s items I found. Unlike Steve and Fitz, I don't think I can work my rule anymore - some things did not come through the "decade" intact! Good thing I can still put "Festival Express" in the DVD player and get a taste of what the good life was like!

One of these days I'm going to spring for a good modeler too - maybe when I get that new iMac, which will be after the grown kids are done using my computer. They can sure bog things down with crap. Not like a good modeling program! Thanks for the story Sean, that sounds like a whole lot of fun. I could almost make damascus that way!