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Drafting with Rhino CAD

metronorth

Hot Rolled
Joined
Jun 30, 2004
Location
Brampton Ontario Canada
Does anyone use Rhino for creating dimensioned drawings or is it simply a modeling tool? I'm interested in the product as well as the CAM. I have found plenty of sample models that have been created with Rhino but I can't recall seeing any production worthy prints. What are the experiences of those who use the product?

Glenn @ Metro North
 
If you want to do quick visuall modelling, or high quality free form surface modelling, Rhino is in my opinion the one to have regardless of price.

If you want to do drafting you bascially want a CAD program - and Rhino isn't a CAD program. (Yes, you could do draft through plug-ins and creative self-torture, but basically Rhino isn't intented or developed for that use).

That said, you could buy a cheap CAD program, import the Rhino modell, and use that program to do drawings.
 
I have no idea as I'm not much for creative self-torturing... Thus I haven't even bothered to try. Using Rhino for drafting would be like using Excel for word processing - it is doable, but not very efficient - and like Rhino Excel is made for other purposes.

Rhino is simply not made for drafting and therefore lack most of the toolset necessary. It might have sometime in the future, but it is not prioritized. The developers are quite open about this. (Rhino has a very good support forum at Rhino3d.com).

There are people making plug-ins and such, but that can't possibly compare to say the drafting abilities of for instance Solidworks.

Several reasonably priced CAD packages support the Rhino format though, so import and drafting in them should be relativly painless. Try looking at Alibre and the Ashlar-Vellum products.

If you absolutely have to, for say a one off project, I'd be sure I had finished all the models as such. I would then make and save the view I wanted to draft. Finally I would add measures and line properties, as save each view as .dxf or whatever. Lots of work as there is no automation, and if you need to change anything you will need to retrace and edit all changes manually.

(Finally I have to say the last version I used was version 3. The 4.0 (currently beta) will hopefully have improved on some of the most basic drafting requirements).
 
Then again, how would you draft a free form 3D surface in any program? I know you can express it as a mathemathical formula, but if anything that would be more confusing as to communicating design intent? (I always send files of the models myself).
 
Well, they are steadily improving. Still no CAD systems as such though, but maybe enough for that odd simple occasion. Overall I stick to my story!


Seriously though, I prefer that they spend their efforts on optimizing the modelling environment. As a modeller Rhino is already amazing, but also with plenty of opportunities for improvements.
 
Dan B , Smallshop;

Do either of you have any examples of drawings that you have created using Rhino? I looked at the link that you added Dan and it appears that the functionality of a drafting module is there. I don't know how they could offer the CAM software without a way to produce a dimensioned print to guide the manufacturing and inspection of the machined part. I know that you could export the dxf into AutoCAD or the like but that completely disconnects the drawing from the solid and is a time bomb waiting to happen. I would like to see an ISO 9000 procedure written to ensure that the disconnect would never happen. Thanks for all input so far.

Glenn @ Metro North.
 
Glen,

No. I had about 4 yrs SolidWorks experience before I ever saw Rhino...so, I use SolidWorks for drawings. I really don't know how Rhino even works on drawing. I did look at the link Dan provided and 4.0 looks promising in the drawing area. I kind of have to stick to what everyone at work is using and we do all our blueprints in SolidWorks.(Which works real well)

Ted
 
I don't know how they could offer the CAM software without a way to produce a dimensioned print to guide the manufacturing and inspection of the machined part.
Rhino is not CAM software. It only becomes so with the inclusion of a product like RhinoCam or MadCam.

Although BadBeta is correct in that Rhino was not designed to be a 2D drafting software, I would hardly say that it is incapable, or an act of "creative self-torturing" to use it's dimensioning and drafting tools, especially so in V4. I've made some pretty snazzy prints in the new layout mode, and I never felt like I spend time in Guantanamo Bay.


Dan
 
Metronorth: We use Rhino to do our product & tool design work including the printing of drawings for our CNC operators....works for us, but then we are working towards becoming a paperless operation ;)

We take the solid model from Rhino into EdgeCAM to perform our machining operations....

I assume when V4 is released... :confused: ...you should be able to download a trial like V3 ??

Cheers
 
I guess that depends on what you compare with. We use Solidworks for drafting, and compared to that level of drafting Rhino is not at a professional level. I have not tried v4 so it might not be creative self-torture, but I bet it is still cruel and unusual?

Metronorth also seems interested in keeping models and drawings and such connected. Unless I'm very outdated by the latest version Rhino is still not a parametric modeller, and has no history function. So if you change something somewhere at some point, you will have to manually keep track of and update any dependencies. On the flip side this lack of dependencies actually have quite considerable benefits as well - you can very quickly and easily make your models as you don't have to fiddle around with planes, sketches, dependencies, mates and so on.

I actually used Rhino long before Solidworks, but the lack of parametrics, drafting, shelling and (at that point at least) proper filleting, forced me to turn to Solidworks. For modelling difficult stuff I still have to revert to Rhino though. The combination is great!
 
We have Rhino and use it for some surface modeling. We mainly use Solidworks for everything now and now that it has surface modeling we probably will not often use Rhino. We have Rhino 4 as well and that does not even rate 1 out of 10 for CAD work. If you want to show sections of parts or want to turn your model into a 2D drawing Rhino is next to useless for that. The modeling is not parametric and the filleting and shelling is just not to the standard of Solidworks. It really is just a surface modeler with a bit of CAD added on. Solidworks on the other hand you can take your 3D model and turn it into a CAD drawing and if you make changes in your model it will update your drawing Rhino has none of that.
 
I was referring to E Drawings, electronic drawings. You can print them if required but essentially it is the specifications. Quality assurance requires that you have a correct documentation and specifications of sizes tolerances thicknesses tapers angles radii etc. A model without that does not qualify therefore you need a correct dimensioned model. You may want to call it a blueprint from days of old but we have them as electronic E drawings. To do that with Rhino is where I referred would be a would be a rating of less than 1 out of 10 compared to a real CAD like Solidworks. That is not to say Rhino is not a handy surface modeler but you can't compare it to a real CAD.
 
Here’s a video from my favorite program that has excellent surfacing and good drafting capabilities. The video shows something new that should make those who don’t like the constants of parametric modeling feel more comfortable.

video
 
Moldcore - that is an impressive demonstration, very cool is right. Do you use this every day? I imagine you can trash your model with a few mouse clicks if you are not careful. What does it cost and how good is the drafting module? I have an old version of CadKey, this is a far cry from that!
 
I will definitely agree that Rhino is not on par with SolidWorks in many ways. We have SolidWorks, so I can see that first hand. Thankfully, we are only paying 1/10th the price for Rhino. :D

Dan
 








 
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