Sujet : Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better)
De : llc (at) *nospam* fonz.dk (Lasse Langwadt)
Groupes : sci.electronics.design comp.sys.raspberry-piDate : 19. Jun 2025, 21:22:43
Autres entêtes
Organisation : A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID : <1031rij$3urp$1@dont-email.me>
References : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
User-Agent : Mozilla Thunderbird
On 6/19/25 02:21, john larkin wrote:
On Wed, 18 Jun 2025 23:58:45 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D'Oliveiro
<ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:
On Wed, 18 Jun 2025 07:45:27 -0700, john larkin wrote:
>
People are expensive compared to the cost of SolidWorks. By about
100:1 or so.
>
So why are you bothering with that extra “EDrawing” tool? (Or whatever it
was called.) With all the trouble it takes to set it up, why not just use
another copy of SolidWorks for viewing those CAD files?
Edrawings is the free SolidWorks viewer. It displays .dwg and .dxf and
.step files too.
SolidWorks is expensive and has a big learning curve. I do mechanical
stuff with pencil and paper and give it to my guys to make real in
SolidWorks. I can view it with Edrawings.
I quite like Fusion360 especially the CAM part. There is a free version with some limitations for private use and small startups. The full version is ~$700/year which for professional use is peanuts
One coold thing we do is design an enclosure and a PC board together.
We can export a .dxf file that shows all the mechanical details of the
PCB, which PADS can import when we do the real pcb layout.
ye, even Kicad can do that, import dxf and make it a board outline or even artwork. And as long as your components have step files assigned you can instantly bring up a 3D model of the board with components. You could even make a dummy component with your enclosure so the 3D view is with enclosure
No more writing down dimensions from the mechanical design and placing
parts on the board from that.
Lots of machine shops now accept the SolidWorks files to bend metal
and make enclosures too.
quite a few of the cheap Chinese PCB/assembly houses now also offers 3D printing/CNC/sheetmetal. Upload a step file, choose process and materials and you get an instant price
| Date | Sujet | # | | Auteur |
| 17 Jun 25 |  SolidWorks is cool, sort of | 52 | | john larkin |
| 17 Jun 25 |  Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 50 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
| 18 Jun 25 |   Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 49 | | john larkin |
| 18 Jun 25 |  Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 48 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
| 18 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 9 | | Sergey Kubushyn |
| 18 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 6 | | Don Y |
| 18 Jun 25 |  Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 1 | | john larkin |
| 18 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 4 | | Sergey Kubushyn |
| 18 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 3 | | Don Y |
| 19 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 2 | | Sergey Kubushyn |
| 19 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 1 | | Don Y |
| 18 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 2 | | Crash Gordon |
| 18 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 1 | | Don Y |
| 18 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 38 | | john larkin |
| 18 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 37 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
| 18 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 36 | | john larkin |
| 19 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 35 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
| 19 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 34 | | john larkin |
| 19 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 23 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
| 19 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 22 | | john larkin |
| 20 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 21 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
| 20 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 20 | | john larkin |
| 21 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 19 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
| 21 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 2 | | Don Y |
| 21 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 1 | | john larkin |
| 21 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 2 | | piglet |
| 21 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 1 | | Don Y |
| 21 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 2 | | john larkin |
| 23 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 1 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
| 22 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 12 | | candycanearter07 |
| 22 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 8 | | john larkin |
| 22 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 4 | | Jeroen Belleman |
| 23 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 1 | | john larkin |
| 23 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 2 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
| 23 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 1 | | john larkin |
| 22 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 1 | | The Natural Philosopher |
| 23 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 2 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
| 23 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 1 | | john larkin |
| 23 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 3 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
| 23 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 1 | | Don Y |
| 23 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 1 | | john larkin |
| 19 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 10 | | Lasse Langwadt |
| 19 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 9 | | john larkin |
| 20 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 3 | | Lasse Langwadt |
| 20 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 2 | | Lawrence D'Oliveiro |
| 20 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 1 | | john larkin |
| 20 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 5 | | The Natural Philosopher |
| 22 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 3 | | Don Y |
| 23 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 2 | | Crash Gordon |
| 23 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 1 | | Don Y |
| 22 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of (but FreeCAD might be better) | 1 | | john larkin |
| 19 Jun 25 | Re: SolidWorks is cool, sort of | 1 | | Joe Gwinn |