Comments for or against QCAD/CAM?

[adbuch]

I notice that sometimes I can go back and edit posts, other times I can't. Curious if you guys know why.

I forgot to add that I did cut the FC80 back to 40 amps.

I think admin has the time limit set to 24 hours to edit a post.
David

[Fastyankee]

Dave,
I'm looking for input on possibly changing up my Cad. I'm using Ink Scape and have grown to like it the more I use it. But were it falls short is on the DXF files and creating parts. As you know I went from Enroute for a few years and I could do both art work and create parts with it. I personally do not like Qcad its to hard to size parts in my opinion. So with all of that I'm trying to figure out what Cad program I should go with. I use Bend tech pro which is a 3d 2d cad program for tube bending and notching they even have a parts wizard. I'm probably needing to move towards more of a cad software that operates like Inkscape but is more usable with other file formats like DFX. I was looking at fusion 360 but its a yearly subscription and I see you mentioned Solid edge. I could go back to Enrout but its expensive for the yearly subscription about the same as Fusion and they don't support the version of Enrout I have and it really wasn't the best. So what's your opinion on a good cad program that doesn't need an engineer to work it. I consider you the guru on Cad.

[Pspider Support]

I notice that sometimes I can go back and edit posts, other times I can't. Curious if you guys know why.

I forgot to add that I did cut the FC80 back to 40 amps.

I think admin has the time limit set to 24 hours to edit a post.
David

A couple months ago we extended the post editing time from 24 hours to 48 hours with no increase in unwanted spam activity so we are sticking with 48 hours for now and may re-visit it at a later date.

[adbuch]

Dave,
I'm looking for input on possibly changing up my Cad. I'm using Ink Scape and have grown to like it the more I use it. But were it falls short is on the DXF files and creating parts. As you know I went from Enroute for a few years and I could do both art work and create parts with it. I personally do not like Qcad its to hard to size parts in my opinion. So with all of that I'm trying to figure out what Cad program I should go with. I use Bend tech pro which is a 3d 2d cad program for tube bending and notching they even have a parts wizard. I'm probably needing to move towards more of a cad software that operates like Inkscape but is more usable with other file formats like DFX. I was looking at fusion 360 but its a yearly subscription and I see you mentioned Solid edge. I could go back to Enrout but its expensive for the yearly subscription about the same as Fusion and they don't support the version of Enrout I have and it really wasn't the best. So what's your opinion on a good cad program that doesn't need an engineer to work it. I consider you the guru on Cad.

I use the free hobbyist version of Fusion 360. It is easy enough to make a drawing and export as dxf.
I also use Corel Draw (around $105 on Amazon for a perpetual license) - it is similar to Inkscape, works well with dxf files and is more like a "cad" program in that it can add dimensions to the drawing.
BricsCad is another one I use. It is a modern version of AutoCad - and may of the commands are the same. For 2D, you can purchase the BricsCad lite perpetual license for $566. I have the full package, but only use the 2D part of it.

David

[Fastyankee]

Dave,

I'm looking for input on possibly changing up my Cad. I'm using Ink Scape and have grown to like it the more I use it. But were it falls short is on the DXF files and creating parts. As you know I went from Enroute for a few years and I could do both art work and create parts with it. I personally do not like Qcad its to hard to size parts in my opinion. So with all of that I'm trying to figure out what Cad program I should go with. I use Bend tech pro which is a 3d 2d cad program for tube bending and notching they even have a parts wizard. I'm probably needing to move towards more of a cad software that operates like Inkscape but is more usable with other file formats like DFX. I was looking at fusion 360 but its a yearly subscription and I see you mentioned Solid edge. I could go back to Enrout but its expensive for the yearly subscription about the same as Fusion and they don't support the version of Enrout I have and it really wasn't the best. So what's your opinion on a good cad program that doesn't need an engineer to work it. I consider you the guru on Cad.

I use the free hobbyist version of Fusion 360. It is easy enough to make a drawing and export as dxf.
I also use Corel Draw (around $105 on Amazon for a perpetual license) - it is similar to Inkscape, works well with dxf files and is more like a "cad" program in that it can add dimensions to the drawing.
BricsCad is another one I use. It is a modern version of AutoCad - and may of the commands are the same. For 2D, you can purchase the BricsCad lite perpetual license for $566. I have the full package, but only use the 2D part of it.

David



coreldraw example.jpg
bricscad drafting.jpg

Can you open SVG files with either of them? Can any of them scan a bitmap file?
I have really been considering go back to EnRoute 23 but its $100 a month. It has a flange tool and a bunch of really good features. You can try a 7 day free trial if you want to check it out. It also has a kerf compensation tooling.

[adbuch]

CorelDraw will open svg files, and has an auto trace (convert image to vector) tool. The Inkscape auto trace provides much better results.
BricsCAD will not open svg files, but easy enough to convert dxf to svg using one of the other programs - Inkscape for instance. BricsCAD will not auto trace images - it is a pure cad drawing program.

David

[adbuch]

Design Edge does have a flange tool, along with may others. You can purchase a stand-alone Design Edge perpetual license with the Advanced Design upgrade - the last time I checked the cost was around $3k. You could get almost 3 years worth of Enroute 23 for that price.

David

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2.jpg (46.51 KiB) Viewed 1432 times

[adbuch]

[Fastyankee]

Design Edge does have a flange tool, along with may others. You can purchase a stand-alone Design Edge perpetual license with the Advanced Design upgrade - the last time I checked the cost was around $3k. You could get almost 3 years worth of Enroute 23 for that price.

David

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2.jpg

Dave am I reading that right it has pipe cut? I do a lot of tube chassis work. I'm looking to accomplish a work around for my Bend tech pro software. I can print export the cut wrappers as dfx files into a cad soft wear so I can cut them on my plasma machine rather than buy a whole new machine for 20k just to cut pipe. But basically the cut wrapper is a flat layout that you would wrap around the pipe. I believe one would have to have at least 2.5D or 3D to accomplish this. I'm told it might be possibly achieved in Sheet Cam. The one thing I really like about Enroute it has a really nice repair and smoothing features that fixes files with not connected lines like the previous file issues we have discussed. It also has really good node smoothing feature. But I really don't like subscription based software. Your rite 3k is a drop in the bucket these days. Maybe I should let you see a coping cut wrapper file. I'm just a dirty thumb engineer:0) I hate using multiple cad software programs> I already use Bend Tech just for designing tube chassis and Inkscape for parts, signs and fire pits and everything in between. BendTech has a cool parts library for tabs, beedlocks and I use sprocketteer for sprockets.

[tcaudle]

You will get better results working and importing/exporting in SVG. DXF is not a published "standard" and the format belongs to AuutoDesk that will change it anytime they want and they do not always release details . As a result a lot of Import DXF filters don't support Bezier curves or poly (connected) lines/arcs. DXF is a format invent to transfer a minimum of information to make it more difficult to use with another drawing or engineering package. It's designed to view or print not to be able to change or combine with other formats.

If you work with Inkscape you will find it has a lot of CAD type tools and has a good set of import and export file formats. I think the best question is which CAM program works best with SVG and keeps everything intact (arc, curves, circles, etc) Unlike a lot of Open source / Free software , Inkscape continues to be updated , fixed and released . The latest 1.3.2 has a lot of improvements that make doing mechanical Drawing (call it CAD if you want) a lot easier.

SHeetCAM has a direct SVG import filter. And the import is nice and smooth with closed shapes.
Some other CAM /cutting programs support SVG including all of the Vectric 2D and 3D programs.

One of the best file formats for transfer between a lot of modern programs is PDF. Because its a published standard the import and export including if the Font is transferred as a native font (assuming that font is installed on BOTH programs) or as shapes. Moving from Inkscape to CorelDraw or back using any other format may have some issues but PDF will be perfect. Unless the latest Coreldraw release has changed, the DXF export is REALLY basic and breaks arc and circles into hundreds of tine line segments. Makes for a cut file 6 times bigger than it needs to be .

Inkscape does DXF import pretty good but a beetler export format is SVG. I know a lot of older programs do not support SVG but here is a trick:
ORCAD Pro (about 65 bucks to upgrade) lets you open DWG OR DXF files and export in SVG. Because its a pure CAD program it handles the pure CAD formats better and if you CAN get it in DWG format its even better . its one of the few ways I know to go from DWG to SVG in one step. If you do custom or contract cutting its a life saver when your client sends a logo or drawing in DWG. It's REALLY a PITA if you get a bitmap or a low resolution screen grab .
You get to see how imprecise auto trace can be !

Fusion 360 will import SVG but does not support an export in SVG (on purpose)

Technically , if you use Fusion 360 to generate files for Profit/Resale (meaning for cutting, file transfer or including in a commercial product) OR you have a business that does over a threshold of yearly dollar sales (not just in products made with the designs from Fusion), and YOU are the owner or partner, you are supposed to use the subscription version, not the free hobby version. The terms and conditions keep changing but they have not spent millions upon millions to buying up smaller CAD and drawing companies to give the core products away for free. Having owned a software company years ago I respect that, but for limited use the monthly fees start to get hard to justify.

Not a lot of the independent companies still exist . Even fewer are the perpetual license models.

[Fastyankee]

Dave Went and looked at design edge I forgot that's part of Plasma Cam . I looked at one of their machines and even had a rep come to my custom bike/ hot rod shop in 1999. The machine is just way to light and small for my uses. I run a 5x10 table. I think the software on the other hand has all I need and it looks like they will sell just the software to me. I receive more and more files in SVG and DWG format these days and I definitely prefer it. BendTech actually exports its files as DWG .Not to many cad programs will open a PDF EnRoute will. But its hard to justify the monthly cost for me know that I basically do this as a side hobby for fun gig now that helps pay for my racing Habit . I'm leaning towards Design edge now! It has a lot of templates like Bend Tech Pro has and a lot of operating features I'm use to. Its hard to believe I have been doing this plasma gig for going on 11 years now. Design edge also has the open spline repair and smoothing tool. I think I'm going with Design edge thank you for the recommendation. I'm going to call them Monday.

[tcaudle]

You do not have to spend 20K to do a pipe cutter. For round or square you can use the Rotary Plasma Plug-in for SheetCAM (85 bucks) and it will auto-scale the shape to be correct size on the surface of the pipe / tubing.
It presents you a material shape of the shape unfolded (2D) and lets you import contours onto it It then uses a POST to cut that into the pipe . Its easiest to be able to install a 5th rotary axis (A) and keep a flat table intact to do mixed cuts without a huge change over process.

If you wan to do mitres and join various diameters of pipe to other pipes at any angle or to a flat surface, you can look at PipeFit that actually designs the joints using input boxes and displays in a 3D shaded drawing.

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Unsaved Image 1.png (17.16 KiB) Viewed 1389 times

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pipefit7-150x150.png (4.47 KiB) Viewed 1389 times

Will it figure out bend radius's or pipe length to get compound bends to an exact length?....No . But it will "draw" a couture in 2D that cuts on a pipe to join (inside or outside) to a matching main pipe or plate

[adbuch]

Dave Went and looked at design edge I forgot that's part of Plasma Cam . I looked at one of their machines and even had a rep come to my custom bike/ hot rod shop in 1999. The machine is just way to light and small for my uses. I run a 5x10 table. I think the software on the other hand has all I need and it looks like they will sell just the software to me. I receive more and more files in SVG and DWG format these days and I definitely prefer it. BendTech actually exports its files as DWG .Not to many cad programs will open a PDF EnRoute will. But its hard to justify the monthly cost for me know that I basically do this as a side hobby for fun gig now that helps pay for my racing Habit . I'm leaning towards Design edge now! It has a lot of templates like Bend Tech Pro has and a lot of operating features I'm use to. Its hard to believe I have been doing this plasma gig for going on 11 years now. Design edge also has the open spline repair and smoothing tool. I think I'm going with Design edge thank you for the recommendation. I'm going to call them Monday.

[adbuch]

Dave am I reading that right it has pipe cut?

[adbuch]

Design Edge Video Manual - Software Reference Guide.pdf

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Design Edge Video Manual - Software Reference Guide.pdf

(372.94 KiB) Downloaded 7 times

[adbuch]

Design Edge Tutorial.pdf

(8.32 MiB) Downloaded 6 times

Design Edge Tutorial.pdf

(8.32 MiB) Downloaded 6 times

[adbuch]

AJ - The main programs I use are Design Edge and Inkscape ("One-Two Punch"). I like CoreDraw for manual tracing and Fusion 360 for solid modeling. Don't get too concerned with esoteric discussions about dxf vs. svg. Design Edge only works with dxf files - no big deal!! For cleaning up vector files which many times have defects - Design Edge has edit features I have not seen in any of the other programs. Robert made a nice video a few years ago showing how to edit a "messy file" using Design Edge. I will see if I can find it.

AJ - I put the link below for Robert's file edit/clean-up video, along with links to his FaceBook video page and Youtube video page. If you do end up purchasing DesignEdge - I think you will find these videos very instructional as you proceed to learn the program and it's many features.


David

[adbuch]

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?re ... 0346275313

[adbuch]

https://www.facebook.com/learnplasmacam/videos

[adbuch]

https://www.youtube.com/c/LearnPlasmacam/videos

[adbuch]

AJ - here are a few slide shows I created showing the steps to draw a small bracket with Design Edge. In particular - the Design Edge trim tool is great! Way better than any or the others I have used.

David

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8C5PQobhxAc79hUC6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3W8SyAioubsiv8wz5

[Fastyankee]

Dave I think my go to will be Inkscape Design edge Sheet cam and Bend tech. I think my wrappers created in Bend Tech will work in Sheet Cam and Design edge. I like a lot of the functions like nor having to stencil font. I was blown away on how Design edge has a stencil function.

[kn612]

Dave I think my go to will be Inkscape Design edge Sheet cam and Bend tech. I think my wrappers created in Bend Tech will work in Sheet Cam and Design edge. I like a lot of the functions like nor having to stencil font. I was blown away on how Design edge has a stencil function.

Are you able to take pipe copes and notches from bendtech and export them as dxf or svg to import into sheetcam?

[adbuch]

AJ - a while ago you posted a question in the Inkscape section about a file with many disconnected path segments - Eagle Tattered Flag dxf shared file.

viewtopic.php?p=237069#p237069

At the time we suggested using LightBurn to link/join this file. I also seem to remember that you had another file later on where LightBurn would not completely link/join the file.

Design Edge will link/join problematic files like these with a single command. Select all, type "J" to link/join, and file is fixed.

David

[CWPlasma]

I use Qcad almost every day, it works great for what I need to do with it, which is mostly parts, and less art. It does work great for modifying art drawings too though. It was very easy to learn compared to others I've tried.