Newbie- New User Questions - CAD

[TravisR100]

I just recently started using bobcad v23 and I'm trying to get started with some basic drawings. I went through the short tutorials presented without any problem.

It may be that I'm used to Alibre and the functions I'm looking for just don't exist in Bobcad. For instance...

Does bobcad not support constraints? In Alibre if I sketch to lines, one above the other in the xy plane I can simply select the two lines and add a parallel constraint to them. They will suddenly snap to be parallel to each other. I can do the same with angles, etc. in Alibre. Is there no way to do this in bobcad?

Dimensioning in bobcad seems very odd as well. In alibre the dimensions aren't drawing entities. They work almost like constraints. If I draw a line in Alibre and add a dimension to the line for length, it will indeed add a dimension showing the length of that line. If I want to change the length I just double-click the dimension and change it, voila the line will match the the new length I typed in the dimension. With bobcad the dimensions only seem to be for viewing the dimension, not setting it. They also appear to be drawing entities.

Another oddity. If I use the "angle line" function in bobcad to draw a line at an angle to another entity, it asks me for the angle to use when creating the line. It will then draw the line at this angle. Great. But if I want to change the angle after the line is drawn I try right clicking on the line and choosing to "modify entity." Instead of having a box to change the angle I can only change the start and end points of the line in both the x and y axis. How can I simply change the angle of the line without deleting it and drawing it again?

[BurrMan]

Originally Posted by TravisR100 It may be that I'm used to Alibre and the functions I'm looking for just don't exist in Bobcad. For instance... Does bobcad not support constraints? In Alibre if I sketch to lines, one above the other in the xy plane I can simply select the two lines and add a parallel constraint to them. They will suddenly snap to be parallel to each other. I can do the same with angles, etc. in Alibre. Is there no way to do this in bobcad?

In BobCad this is done at design time

Originally Posted by TravisR100 Dimensioning in bobcad seems very odd as well. In alibre the dimensions aren't drawing entities. They work almost like constraints. If I draw a line in Alibre and add a dimension to the line for length, it will indeed add a dimension showing the length of that line. If I want to change the length I just double-click the dimension and change it, voila the line will match the the new length I typed in the dimension. With bobcad the dimensions only seem to be for viewing the dimension, not setting it. They also appear to be drawing entities.

Yes

Originally Posted by TravisR100 Another oddity. If I use the "angle line" function in bobcad to draw a line at an angle to another entity, it asks me for the angle to use when creating the line. It will then draw the line at this angle. Great. But if I want to change the angle after the line is drawn I try right clicking on the line and choosing to "modify entity." Instead of having a box to change the angle I can only change the start and end points of the line in both the x and y axis. How can I simply change the angle of the line without deleting it and drawing it again?

This history mechanism in BobCads Cad side does not perform like this yet.
These functions are not parametric.

[BurrMan]

With that being said, you can always change the angle of any entity with the rotate or 3d rotate commands. It's just a different way of looking at it.

[TravisR100]

Thanks for the response. Another question. Let's say I start with a 2d drawing. I define the stock. I create a rectangular pocket. If I now want to fillet the pocket in z (in other words the angle between the xz and yz, not xy) do I have to start over as a 3d solid?

[TravisR100]

Also, any easy way to draw a hexagon? Octagon? x sided polygon of any sort?

[TravisR100]

Disregard post #4. It appears I can use the "extrude surface" command to accomplish this.

[tobyaxis]

Originally Posted by TravisR100 Thanks for the response. Another question. Let's say I start with a 2d drawing. I define the stock. I create a rectangular pocket. If I now want to fillet the pocket in z (in other words the angle between the xz and yz, not xy) do I have to start over as a 3d solid?

Originally Posted by TravisR100 Also, any easy way to draw a hexagon? Octagon? x sided polygon of any sort?

BobCad does not use Parametric Technology. Therefore you can not edit features in a Drawing or Design.

Your better off creating your Design in Alibre then Exporting to your V23 to do the machining.

Or you can get Alibre Cam (which is Visual Mill) and have Parametric CAD and CAM.

The choice is yours to make.

[TravisR100]

Thanks Toby. Yep, looks like I'm going to have to create the parts in Alibre then import them into bobcad for machining. The drawing tools on the CAD side in bobcad just seem extremely cumbersome to use. I suppose it's just what one is used to.

[tobyaxis]

Originally Posted by TravisR100 Thanks Toby. Yep, looks like I'm going to have to create the parts in Alibre then import them into bobcad for machining. The drawing tools on the CAD side in bobcad just seem extremely cumbersome to use. I suppose it's just what one is used to.

That is probably your best bet considering you would have to spend more on the Alibre Add-On Module.