The CAD side of ONECNC

[leggetmachine]

I have heard alot on the CAM side on ONECNC CAD/CAM but i havent heard much or seen much on the CAD side. I was wondeering if any one could tell me what they think of it and what all it will do. Ahy help would be great.

[HuFlungDung]

I like it for modelling with. It is the first solid modelling cad I played around with, and has evolved from basic beginnings to a fairly comprehensive modeller.

Its strength lies basically in modelling parts to be machined or cut, rather than entire assemblies. Nonetheless, I model assemblies in it anyways See some of the attached fingernail shots of stuff I have modelled. I don't, as a rule model for the fun of it, I need that $$ incentive , and all of those parts or assemblies I have machined or constructed.

It does not have automated dimensioning or multi-view 2d drawing output at the click of a button like Solidworks.

Even when the customer sends you a finished file, you might be surprised at the amount of CAD work you might do to the file, to place the part properly, find dimensions and depths, etc.

Its good for all that, too.

While I don't hear of that many users who throw away their previous cad programs when they get OneCNC (their time spent learning another cad is valuable), there are some of us diehards who use only OneCNC. Version XR2 is so much better than earlier versions to model in. It is very fast actually, once you learn the gui and the modelling tools.

I think the type of work your customers ask you to do determines how fancy your cad program needs to be. Also, your position in your own shop, if you have to produce prints to use on the shop floor, you'd probably want something more automated for that purpose, like Solidworks.

[wms]

I too, only use OneCNC for all my modeling and design.

And for all my tooling and fixtures.

[GOLETABRIAN]

Can the models from oneCnC be imported into Solid works?

[HuFlungDung]

Yes, but not without a translation into a common file standard like iges or step (couple of examples, there are others) first.

Work is being done on direct import of Solidworks files into OneCNC, but has not been released as of yet. I am supposing that this translation (so far as the model is concerned) would be bidirectional at that time.

[ChrisJ]

From a Novice's opinion (Me), I like modeling in OneCNC very much. The added modeling features in XR2 make it very easy to model parts and/or assemblies in the program.
Other users must find it very easy to use also since I hardly ever see a post on the OneCNC User Forum asking how to construct any aspect of a model.

Nothing too fancy but here is an assembly of a small air pump.

Chris

[PROTOTRAKFAN]

The CAD side of OneCnc XR2 is VERY nice to draw with. I prefer it to any other program I have tried ie; Mastercam, Rhino, Design Cad - as well as many demos I have tried. I have used OneCnc since 2003 (XP series) and let me tell you that in three years OneCnc has gone from a functional program to a PREFERRED CAD/CAM package. XR 2 has been out for nearly 1 year but, I just upgraded to it because I have been laden down lately with complex parts - I AM NOT DISSAPPOINTED WITH IT !! OneCnc is not "cheap software" but, I dont manufacture cheap parts either. OneCnc allows you to program parts QUICKLY and EFFICIENTLY and this is what makes it a worldclass software not "hobby software".
Also I am certainly not putting down Rhino or, Mastercam. Rhino is a great program (I use it sometimes) especially for the money. If you design extremely complex parts you will need help from Rhino (this is its intended use). Also Rhino models import perfectly into OneCnc (and Mastercam) without any issues. Mastercam is certainly a great program but, personally I much prefer OneCnc to it for its ease of use......
Patrick