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Which CAD/CAM to learn 3D design and use 3D printer and CNC mill

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awemawson:
What sort of outlay are we talking for a seat of Rhino Joules ?

Joules:
Sit down.......

€995 for PC version
€695 for Mac version
€195 if you are a student or teacher   (could be well worth teaching a spotty YOOF, as they can get the student version)

Upgrades  €495 commercial, €95 student.

All the above ex vat.   it's a shame we don't have the night schools we once did as I'm pretty sure the education version would be available.  Should you leave education you are still allowed to use it, you don't have to pay the commercial price till upgrade.

You can get a 30 day free trial, not crippled and after 30 days you can't save or print.   You can however continue using it as a viewer for 3D files and carry on learning to use it.

CrazyModder:
I'll throw in Sketchup.

When I needed to do a little modelling way back, I was also looking for a "real" CAD/CAM solution. One where you could do stuff like parametric screws that automatically make sure that the holes in the other part are correct, and whatnot.

While searching and searching, I installed Sketchup. You know, it seemed a bit like child stuff or just for "architects".

Many, many years later (Wikipedia tells me that it is 16 years old now - they bring out a new version every year, roughly...) I am still exclusively using it - the free version no less. It does *exactly* what I need - hobbyist stuff, quick sketches or involved constructions. The complexity of my designs is limited by what I can do in the shop, not by Sketchup. It has no parametric stuff in the free version (not sure about the paid one, I don't think so, though), but I never actually needed any.

It is *very* easy to get into. You can just install it and go. They have a pretty unique way to model, it is nothing at all like traditional CAD/CAM. Totally uncomplicated.

So my suggestion: while you look for the "real thing", give it a spin. You can certainly do 3D prints from it. It has a large online (community) parts library which you can access directly from inside, without registering anywhere. Your own drawings are offline, no mandatory cloud storage. Import/export formats are a bit limited in the free version - I guess they need a hook for people to eventually pay for it. I always got around that limitation though, or found the necessary parts in their own library.

PekkaNF:
OK. Bought used businesslaptop, last night I made recovery DVD:s, backked up system and made image to USB drive (64 Gb stick).

SanDisk Ultra Fit 64 GB USB 3.0 flash
Todo Backup Free
http://www.todo-backup.com/products/home/free-backup-software.htm

Maybe today I'll manage to download and start Fusion360. Any good instructions to read before rushing into installation?

Pekka

awemawson:
Pekka,

Just follow a few of this chaps videos:



I too am in the process of loading up a new (to me) PC especially for Fusion. Fusion complains my current PC's graphics aren't up to snuff - it works but is a bit jerky.

So I bought an ex corporate HP Z800 tower workstation with 3Ghz Xenon Quad core with 12Gb of RAM and a Nvidia 580 graphics card with 512 Mb on board ram. System has a 120Gb SSD and a 1Tb HDD.

On paper it sounds quite a beast, but I can't try it yet as I'm waiting on a DVI-D cable to drive my monitor  :bang:

Cable should arrive today. This will be my first venture into Windows 10 Professional so there's another learning curve - unless it maybe can be set up in some sort of 'Classic Mode'  :scratch:

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