Wait, Solid Works, the drawing program.

Been using it for all of two weeks now.

I can see why former employer feller did not want me having it. As surmised by folks here, I would have made him extraneous.

A few pitfalls and some basic procedures to comprehend, but I have a teacher of sorts and searches of the internet are fruitful.

Have not figured out yet how to draw a TAPERED keyway in a bore. 20" bore needs a 3.5" wide tapered keyway, 1/8" per foot. We are making that part [not shown] in 4140 cast steel.

Ready to practice by drawing Olds V8 parts. Then we can 3D print them. Desktop V8 that spins, executed in plastic, would be great to have...

Here is a crank I got the dimensions fixed on last week. I drew this, before I was told that we already have the item drawn up. I learned a lot though in the process.

 

Cool.

I need to learn to use one of these programs one, day, just to be able to make drawings that don't have to be scanned.

I'm a halfway decent draftsman, but these days that's kind of like saying I'm a halfway decent millwright.

- Eric

 

I learned the basics of AutoCAD when I was 47. I know enough to get by and enough so that when I retire I'll be able to do enough side work to keep me busy. All these programs are going to subscription based so gone are the days of pirated software. I'm sure by the time I retire it will be $5k a year. It's around $1k a year per subscription now. It can be accessed from two machines for that price but, from what I understand, not at the same time.

 

Well, Solid Works I would rate exceedingly easy to make basic shapes like the crankshaft. A few tips would have been handy to know.

For a recess cut in the shape of a crescent moon I kept trying to make two 3-pt or center-pt ARCS but the ends were never connected. A better method is to draw the two eccentric CIRCLES on the known centers, then snip away the un-needed portion with the laser vaporizing tool, leaving only the crescent shape with its ends connected and properly located.

It seems to matter which thing you draw first, and it appears to be neither over nor under-defined, one should immediately dimension the crucial size of whatever it is you just sketched, and base on a tie to previous existing features if that is what you intend to do. I.e., not just a circle centered here, but also the same size as the circle from 3 portions back.


EDIT Mon 4/25, I was able to "draft" [angle] exactly one plane of the bore's keyway today, no problem. I now have a tapered keyway, and its end measurement matches the calculated value exactly. The only tricky part was to FIRST select the surface you DON'T want to relocate, then the surface to cause to be angled, then it works fine.

 

Have a friend that uses Solidworks input to make programs for his five axis mills. He can make some of the best machined parts I've ever seen.