Drawing in Y-Z view

[rozon]

I'm accustom to Other CAD Softwares (Alibre, Pro/E and AutoCAD) and I find BobCAD hard to use.

All I want is to draw a circle in YZ view, then extrude it on the X axis. Shouldn't be difficult...? 30 minutes and I'm as clueless as when I started.

[stevespo]

Are you using v23?

You'll need to read up on UCS (User Coordinate System) and how to use it. The quick approach is to use the Layer/UCS/Post manager and select the Side View (Y/Z) UCS. Then simply create your circle, use the Extrude Curve option to extrude the arc along the X axis.

When you're done, select the Top (X/Y) view and you'll see that your cylinder is oriented along the X axis. By using the Y/Z view to create the geometry you've effectively swapped the X axis for the Z axis so functions that work in that dimension are now operating in the X instead.

I'm not an expert at this, and I still find it confusing at times - but it's a powerful way to create geometries. There is a section on the training videos that goes into detail on this.

Steve

[oxford]

I still use v22.

I don't know how different v23 is from what I use, but here goes anyway...

Draw the circle at the point you want it at. Rotate the circle to get it in the right plane(90 degrees along Y axis, use pick point of rotation, while holding shift click on circle, and then click on the center dot that pops up). Then extrude it. You might have to play around with the +/- sign while extruding.

[rozon]

I still use v22.

I use V22 too. Bought it long time ago, never used it. Now I see why that might be a good thing...

The methode you described works. Thanks!

BobCAD is too different from my other CAD software to make it a easy switch. I don't have any other 3D CAM, so I'll give it a few days before I throw the whole pack in the bin.

stevespo: V23 sounds more sensible to me. Turn the part (viewport actually) then draw. In V22 it seems like it only want to draw in XY, and then you have to rotate your sketch until it fits your part.

[stevespo]

I'm not familiar with V22, but I thought it also used a UCS system for drawing (like V23). It's a powerful feature, because you can define a reference (drawing) plane using any 3 points in your drawing, move and rotate the viewport, etc.

I am often frustrated with some of the CAD features, but the CAM side is fairly nice. The CAM tree is a great addition to the product and there are many nice options for 2D and 3D milling. Again, I'm speaking about V23 - I'm uncertain about the V22 feature set.

Steve

[oxford]

Make your pieces in the xy plane and then rotate or translated them into place.

I am a fan of the sketch translate feature. I use that a lot in conjunction with the "extract edge" utility to align parts accurately.