AutoCAD and CAD/CAM

[MK1_Oz]

[Mark Cogan]

[Lincoln]

[mic_rs2000]

also notes on your drawing sheet are very helpfull ie. 1.5mm chamfer on all edges, this will take 20 seconds on the cnc after all its about getting a perfect machined product with less man hours for production time. Talk to your local metal shop as alot of places will have there own guide lines with external work with what they can and cant achieve this will affect your overall design.

cheers,

michael

[mic_rs2000]

I would keep the file as a (.dwg) when saving the file also save to an earlier version ie. 2004 Auto cad as alot of CNC prgrammers are running on old gear this will still allow for them to open the cad file in newer versions and make any necessary changes due to machine capabilities.

After this the transfer to there external computer to run the cnc can be made alot easier at their disgresion with direction of cuts layed out by the cnc programmer. Also if you fillet all the square angle's with around a 4mm radius u'll get a better finish plus more strength and also less chance of breaking bits as there not cheap.

You may have noticed alot of machined parts are jaggered as they are run once and to fast a good machinest will offset your original by .5mm - .2mm then re-run to the final sizes which will make a very clean cut for the finish product.

ESTIMATE PRICE FOR FIRST 1 $450 - $600

[MK1_Oz]

[jpayne]

[MK1_Oz]

[David W]

OK - a couple of dumb questions.

My son is studying Engineering & has an 'Architect' version of AutoCAD (but has no idea how to use it - he's in first year).

Can I use this version to draw basic brackets etc? it seems to be useful for designing houses/floor plans etc. I've only had a preliminary look at it.

If I've got access to a Laser cutter will this program be compatable with that (guy who owns it said it works from AutocCAD).

[jsa]

[MK1_Oz]

[ozstang65]

[MK1_Oz]

thanks Oz. will take a look at Inventor....surely it cannot be any harder than AutoCAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ozstang65]

I think you'll find it much easier.

One of the main benefits of any parametric modelling program is that you can tweak designs very easily (if the part has been modelled correctly!). The mixer model below is a combination of many (many) separate parts. All the sheetmetal has individual drawings/dxf files for laser cutting.

After the first prototypes were built we decided we needed more clearance at the top of the rear A-frame. By simply changing the angle of the sides to the required dimension updated all of the sheetmetal parts and their associated flat patterns. To manually do this in a 2D environment would have taken a very long time.

[MK1_Oz]

Nice looking model!!! Always wanted to do something with mechanical design but never ended up doing that line of work

[gen mk 1rs2000]

looks like realy good stuff you guys are playing with
can i get you guys to help me with a set of
billet alloy pinto engine mounts to suit a world cup crossmember
i have got some stock billet material to play with .

the other thing would be a set of high grade steel
bolt on steering arms for t/c ,capri type struts

[MK1_Oz]

I will have to bail Steve. Unfortunately my skills just are not good enough yet. However, I do need a pair of bolt on steering arms for RS stub axles too - me interested.........