CAD Software Tutorial

[woody123]

I am looking at getting a ShopBot down the road. I am not familiar with CAD software programs and wonder if there are any CAD Tutorial Lessons offered out there that would help me. I want to do some sign work and cabinet work. Any suggestions/advise would be appreciated.
Thanks
Woody

[kirkkelsey]

Take a look at Alibre Xpress http://www.alibre.com/xpress/software/alibre-design-xpress.asp. This is the Free introductory version of Alibre Design. It is a 3D parametric solid modeler similar to SolidWorks and Inventor. 3D is the way to go these days for CAD, where you can model your design as you would build it.

Start with the QuickStart Guide, and the free online video training lessongs at http://www.alibre.com/training/. Visit our website at www.kelseywoodworks.com (http://www.kelseywoodworks.com) and download the Keepsake Box video tutorial to see how we use this software for woodworking, and then go to www.instructables.com (http://www.instructables.com) and take a look at the CAD group and the posted written instructions on woodworking with Alibre. There is a lot of free video and written training on this software.

A good introduction to the latest state of the art CAD software, and all for free. It will give you a good foundation for further software comparison. Alibre Design is where we ended up AFTER our software comparisons. Even the chargable versions are affordable, and we have upgraded over time as we could afford it. Alibre offers enough specials and promotions that you will soon find a version that suits your need and price range. But, take your time and learn first from the free version to see if the software will fit in with your work. There is no time limit, just a 10 UNIQUE part count limit (which is quite a bit in practice).

What Alibre has over tools like the attractive Sketch Up and Rhino, is the "parametric" capabilities where you can use formulas to determine parts sizes. Drawings, DXF output, and a detailed Bill of Material are easily created from the 3D model. We switched from standard cabinet software to Alibre because of the flexibility to design anything, and the ability to rapidly change the model with changes in design. We are currently using a cabinet model where all the cabinet parts will resize with simple changes to the overall cabinet dimensions.

CAD of any form is probably the hardest software to learn, so be patient and take your time. Visit the Woodworking section of the Alibre Forum for questions, as the users there are as friendly and helpful as here in the ShopBot forum.

[Brady Watson]

Woody,
Your purchase will include an instructional video on ShopBot's CAD/CAM package, with enough info for even the newest of users to grasp.

-B

[woody123]

Thanks Kirk and Brady
Woody

[astrat]

Hi Kirk,

I've used SU Pro in the shop for several years now. I'm planning on adding a shopbot in about 6 months so thought I'd get up to speed on how to work with it and SU. Luckily a fellow shop owner has a shopbot and I can do testing on his.

One issue with SU is that it draws curves as line segments. Even though you can control the number of segments, they are still straight lines.

Do you know if alibre outputs true curves ???

Art

[kirkkelsey]

Alibre does output true curves, and I have been using a few with some recent cnc furniture designs. This can be verified by taking a DXF file output from Alibre and opening it in another CAD program.

While working in Alibre, you may see line segments used to represent the curves, and if you leave the graphical curve settings too low, curves will appear as line segments. You just need to increase the number of segements used to represent a curve on the screen to better represent the actual curve. The setting is normally low to allow better response time from slower computers. It was disconcerting the first time I tried to snap a tangent line to a curve and the line ended out in space off a straight segment representing the curve. But, Alibre knew where the curve really was, and ended the line in the proper place. Once I increased the arc display resolution, the line and curve came together nicely.

My enthusiasm for Alibre stems from the fact I now can afford to own and use a parametric program to design furniture as well as cabinets. Most graphical cabinet design software and parametric solid modeling software is priced out of the reach of small one man shops, and more so for woodworking hobbyists. I have gotten so used to working in 3D with Alibre, that I find myself automatically using the same mouse commands to try and rotate images on web sites to see the other sides.