I am a designer / prototyper looking to use cad software for cnc and / or 3d printing steriolithography, as needed for the part.(instead of doing everything by hand) Some free form parts shapes of containers, toy parts etc and also form and fit parts. Many parts will be called out with dimensions as needed not just to look right. I am trying to decide which software to persue. I have looked at rhino and solidworks. Pros and cons of each ease of use etc for design for cnc or stgeriolithography? Learning curve etc. Other software that might be recomended etc. add ons neded ? Any advice I would be gratful.

Ripe

Ripe,
Rhino always seems to come up as a lot of bang for the buck, Alibre is another, I have Alibre but never have used it since I opted for OneCNC because of the integrated CAM. There is a great pricing gulf between programs, first step I believe would be to settle on what you are willing/able to spend. I would definitely look into OneCNC if you are needing CAM. I do not have the experience to make any "as a matter of fact" statements but others do and many are repeating that it is in fact state of the art technology, very powerful, in regards to support I am qualified, it is top shelf.

Ripe,
Rhino always seems to come up as a lot of bang for the buck, Alibre is another, I have Alibre but never have used it since I opted for OneCNC because of the integrated CAM. There is a great pricing gulf between programs, first step I believe would be to settle on what you are willing/able to spend. I would definitely look into OneCNC if you are needing CAM. I do not have the experience to make any "as a matter of fact" statements but others do and many are repeating that it is in fact state of the art technology, very powerful, in regards to support I am qualified, it is top shelf.

Does OneCNC support thread milling (generation of helical paths with lead in and out)? If so, will it support a fourth axis to tilt the head in order to correct for the helix angle?

Thanks,

Ken

thread milling (generation of helical paths with lead in and out)?

Ken, (this is like talking to myself) :D
Yes it does.

Presently it does not directly support 4 axis, but this is as I understand it in Beta and well on the way for inclusion in the appropriate OneCNC XR series. What you are referring too sounds more like a 5th axis operation but I cannot say for sure, three axis is my limit and has my full attention right now :)

Thanks for some thoughts. I will look into one cnc. Price persay is not a big factor. IE 5k-7k would be about max. No one has mentioned solidworks or pro/e wildfire. How is lerning curve and what are the drabacks? I will need cam operations but stl also. Am I correct that rhino / maya are more design oriented and solidworks and pro/e more engeneering, paramentric? But what about ouput
for all to actually make parts, which is why I need to learn?

Thanks,
Ripe

VisualMill 5.0 is 5 axis capable and it can be purchased as an integrated package with Rhino.
Should be well within your budget.

I am a designer / prototyper looking to use cad software for cnc and / or 3d printing steriolithography, as needed for the part.(instead of doing everything by hand) Some free form parts shapes of containers, toy parts etc and also form and fit parts. Many parts will be called out with dimensions as needed not just to look right. I am trying to decide which software to persue. I have looked at rhino and solidworks. Pros and cons of each ease of use etc for design for cnc or stgeriolithography? Learning curve etc. Other software that might be recomended etc. add ons neded ? Any advice I would be gratful.

Ripe

Dear CNC member,

I use AutoCad Mechanical Desktop for my 3D requirements. Rhino I have used as a demo version and would not recommend. This being only because I am more of an old school autocad guy.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Commercial CAD packages are very expensive, and if purchasing that CAD package on the lower end (less expensive) you will no doubt pay anyway in frustration and your personal time in making these drawings. Software allows you to save imense amount of time and money in prototyping by allowing you to make software models to be sure of a working design. That being said (and I can see your already aware of these things).

I would like to offer CAD services myself to other hobbists like me for a fraction of the cost. I need to offer these services in order to finance my own hobby CNC machining as everyone knows, this isn't a very cheap hobby. :-)

Feel free to email me any pictures (bitmaps, jpegs or dxfs) of components you need to generate in 3D. I will generate them, fill in the blanks and then can return several drawing and drawing views in acrobat format or DXF or what ever format you require. Cost will be based on the complexity of the parts and components. I can also make the assembly models for those requiring them.
Best Regards, notworking03@yahoo.com

Does OneCNC support thread milling (generation of helical paths with lead in and out)? If so, will it support a fourth axis to tilt the head in order to correct for the helix angle?

Thanks,

Ken

Wow, I've never thought of trying to do thread milling that way. Unless you are milling some extreme leads, this kind of provision is unnecessary. Tilting the head would require a continuous precession motion to tilt the cutter to all planes as the advance is made down the helix. I don't think the shank of the cutter would allow you to get very far down the hole to do this, if you had to :D

But, I do use OneCNC and a helical path with spiral lead in/lead out for thread milling of standard pitches.

A lot of people here use Solidworks. A lot also use Rhino. Rhino is the preffered app for more organic shaped or freeform objects, but can do just about anything. No parametrics, though. Solidworks, and others like it, excel at mechanical type objects. Also has the added benefit of assemblies, which Rhino does not.

I'd stay far away from Maya, as it's primary function is animation, and you'd only use a small percentage of the software for modelling, but you might want to look at Alias' Studiotools. http://www.alias.com/eng/products-services/studiotools/index.shtml

Before spending any money, it's always a really good idea to play with demo's. Especially when the prices get higher.

Wow, I've never thought of trying to do thread milling that way. Unless you are milling some extreme leads, this kind of provision is unnecessary. Tilting the head would require a continuous precession motion to tilt the cutter to all planes as the advance is made down the helix. I don't think the shank of the cutter would allow you to get very far down the hole to do this, if you had to :D

But, I do use OneCNC and a helical path with spiral lead in/lead out for thread milling of standard pitches.

You got me there. I hadn't thought of the implications of tilting the head in that manner. I'm presently milling some threads (in which to insert a jar) manually using a homemade fixture. Since tilting the fixture 1deg 31' was so simple, I didn't bother to try doing without that. (That's for a six pitch 2-1/8 diameter, roughly.)

I was just curious, anyway. I don't have even a three axis machine. A five axis machine would make MY head spin.

Ken

I used to wonder the same thing, but since the thread mill is quite a bit smaller than the hole (maybe 75% of the diameter), it seems to be small enough that the tooth seems to clear well enough as it enters/exits the cut.

The odd job would permit setting the part up on a 4th axis, to mill "down the axis" but then, such a job would usually be done in a lathe.

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This Rhinoceros 3.0 plug-in is a general purpose machining program targeted at the general machinist. RhinoCAM 1.0 includes 2-1/2 axis, 3 Axis and Hole Making operations. It comes with hundreds of post-processors and additionally a post-processor generator to create user definable post-processors. Also includes a DNC program and a G-Code editor.

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This is the text of an email I got from Mecsoft. I though it might give you another option. I use Rhino and I can tell you that it is a very powerful design package. To say that it is a cad package....I don't know. It does take some getting use to. In my case it is probably because I have never had a powerful cad program and had never done much in 3d. I will be purchasing Rhino cam asap unless it cannot or does not support 4th axis. If that is the case I will buy the VisualMill5 Basic with the 4th axis add on. I had an on line demo from tech support at MecSoft using one of my Rhino models and I cannot tell you how impressed I was.

Mike