2D Options and thoughts:
- Visio – is a MS office tool that some people and organizations use for 2D BIDs, Wiring Diagrams, floorplans, and small part creation. Data easily cuts and pastes easily to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and you can embed work and Excel into your drawings, but it is clunky at best and accuracy/ease of use for CAD is not a strong point. Awesome for block diagrams and flow charts.
- My own Visio template and model file for garage, house, and yard design. Feel free to use and copy and share to your heart’s content.
- AutoCAD LT is you #1 choice for 2D CAD. As seat is $300 a year and there is a vast amount of things that is can be used for: Mechanical, Strux, Electrical, flowcharts, etc… It is a program that is most easily shared with vendors, supplies and the .dxf format can be read by Illustrator and Visio, which may simplify workflow or sharing. You can get a free/heavily discounted copy if you are a student of have a .edu address.
3D Options and Thoughts:
- CATIA is CRAZY expensive. Seriously. It is a barrier to entry for mom and pop shops into the Aerospace market at $25K a seat for a basic license + $3-10K a year for mandatory maintenance fees. Great for cable routing and for material surfacing.
- Fusion 360 – This cloud-based tool from Autodesk—the makers of AutoCAD, Inventor, and Maya. It cost $460 a year, but you can use on ANY device: MAC, windows, Linux, phone, iPad, Kindle Fire, etc. as it is cloud based. Pretty strong 3D design and a great platform to share between machines and groups. Works well with 3D printers and tools like an X-carve. Not really great for surfacing, small multi-faceted part creation, or for cabling.
- Sketchup – Free. Great for wood working or metal fab design for square-ish stuff. Some really good tutorials are out on the web and there are some users that have done some really cool things with the tool. Not great for complicated assemblies or compound/curved shapes.
- CREO – (ProE/ProEngineer) can also be pricy and has a draconian Maintenance fee policy from PTC. Good for small parts and box design. Not great for cables and routing, sucks for surfacing (yes that includes Parametric 5.0). If you are new to CREO, but have experience in other 3D software like CATIA, NX, Auto Desk or Solidworks, then start here:
- Books:
- Videos:
- Easel is what a lot of small CNC machines use. It is pretty strait forward and about the same cost as AutoCAD, but there are free and low cost versions available when you buy machines like the X-Carve.
- Solidworks is probably your best bet for an overall functional design program. It can be pricey at $5K for an individual license, but there is a way around that and you can get a full version for FREE as long as you do not use it for any commercial work.
- Join the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and pay the $40 annual membership
- Use you member credentials to download a full working version here. Again do not use commercially. DAS will know and you will get suspended, screw it up for the rest of us, and possibly get a fine.
- Use Simplify 3D for slicing if you are planning on printing any designs. Cura can have issues with some printers, but i have never seen or heard of printer issues with Simplify3D.
- Save your 3D file as a .stl and import
- Personal copies are $200-ish for home use.