Very Basic Question

[H2ODiver]

I have a friend who makes templates out of plywood by pencil and paper. (He uses these to create moulding to form an arc over custom home doorways. Radius?)

Instead of creating this by hand, how would you make basic templates (like arcs and radius) to scale within a Cad program? Is the principle the same for Cad software or does the procedure vary by individual software?

Are most of these programs drawn freehand or can measurements be typed in and the shape created for things like simple arcs and radius cuts?

Importing these files from .dfx into my cam program is not a problem but I have never worked with a straight cad program. I looked for something inexpensive to try this and found DeltaCam, if anyone knows the procedure to create these radius cuts within a Cad program to scale I would really appreciate your input.

Thanks again for your help.

Chris

[mxtras]

Every CAD package out there will draw an arc and a circle. No problem to draw it to size by entering the radius or diameter. It will be the right number of drawing units and if your output and drawing units match, you have a "to scale" drawing.

If you are drawing in inches and your CAM outputs MM then you will be disappointed - especially if your machine runs in inches!

CAD packages are all different but they operate very similarly. Some are easy to learn, others can take years to learn.

Scott

[H2ODiver]

Hi Scott,

Sorry for the delay in posting. Is there a recommendation you can give for a Cad program that is fairly easy and straightforward in allowing me to create these basic shapes? Perhaps a tutorial outlining the bascics of radius/arc creation within a generic Cad program?

Thanks again for your help!

Chris

[MarkWink]

...you can use a vector drawing programs like Corel or Illustrator and save as dxf, some CAMs take the native Corel and AI files right in.

[mxtras]

I have always used ACAD so I am not familiar with the different packages, but this is a common topic - a search of the Zone will turn up tons of results.


Scott