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51cub

Plastic
Joined
Sep 17, 2015
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Hi all. I've been hanging around PM for a while, but brand new to the CAD forum. I have a chance to take a CAD course. An interest in drafting, a want to use it in my hobbies, and maybe even an eventual career change are the biggest reasons. But, I have questions I hope some here would answer. What minimum computer should I have available to me at home? Are there books I can read before the course started? I have zero experience. I've found some videos on you tube, but everything I saw so far seems to assume at least a little knowledge. Am I jumping the gun? Should I try to do some reading, and get a little practice on my own from the free demos I see on the internet, and take the course the next time it comes around? Thanks for any advice you have.
 
The computer you have now will be fine until you are not the bottleneck in the process. For those of us that use it every day on large models it pays to have a really badass machine but it will take a while before you get there. Get a free copy of Fusion 360. The future is 3D and once you have any 3D program under your belt the next four are easy! We actually generate the POs to order the parts for the systems we build from the 3D model. We update the model and the new orders will reflect all the different parts.
 
Hi all. I've been hanging around PM for a while, but brand new to the CAD forum. I have a chance to take a CAD course. An interest in drafting, a want to use it in my hobbies, and maybe even an eventual career change are the biggest reasons. But, I have questions I hope some here would answer. What minimum computer should I have available to me at home? Are there books I can read before the course started? I have zero experience. I've found some videos on you tube, but everything I saw so far seems to assume at least a little knowledge. Am I jumping the gun? Should I try to do some reading, and get a little practice on my own from the free demos I see on the internet, and take the course the next time it comes around? Thanks for any advice you have.
Have you picked out a cad software to learn on yet? Imo since you are diving in this amazing world of cad I think you might like Fusion 360 by Autodesk. Not only can you get it for free if you are an active student but you can also purchase a yearly license for $300 or pay monthly around $40. Hit up YouTube and check it out. I use Solidworks at work but I did use Fusion and loved it. It has everything included. So many different systems to choose but as far as a computer it depends. To run something like Solidworks you would need a powerful set up but Fusion is more universal, works on Macs too. Good luck to you! :-)

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 
Thanks guys.I hadn't picked out a software yet only because I didn't know what the course would be using.I'll get that Fusion 360.Thanks, Gary for the tip about 3D.I didn't see how 3D couldn't be better,but I figured the people teaching 2D knew better what's needed in the field than I do.I'll keep looking at YouTube,too.Even if I pick up something I won't need right away,it'll be a heck of a revelation when I need it,and remember hearing about it.Thanks again!
 
Have you picked out a cad software to learn on yet? Imo since you are diving in this amazing world of cad I think you might like Fusion 360 by Autodesk. Not only can you get it for free if you are an active student...

You don't need to be a student for a free license, simply not using it to make money (there are caveats to that $100k/year requirement).

How to activate Start-up, Student or Educational licensing for Fusion 36 | Fusion 36 | Autodesk Knowledge Network
 
You can get a free version of inventor pro. through Autodesk with a 3 year license. It's not to be used for commercial purposes, just learning. The requirements for getting it are not hard to provide. There is also a good training web site called "I get it". I have used it before and it's reasonably priced, $250/year or so. It covers a lot of different software.
 
Hi all. I've been hanging around PM for a while, but brand new to the CAD forum. I have a chance to take a CAD course. An interest in drafting, a want to use it in my hobbies, and maybe even an eventual career change are the biggest reasons. But, I have questions I hope some here would answer. What minimum computer should I have available to me at home? Are there books I can read before the course started? I have zero experience. I've found some videos on you tube, but everything I saw so far seems to assume at least a little knowledge. Am I jumping the gun? Should I try to do some reading, and get a little practice on my own from the free demos I see on the internet, and take the course the next time it comes around? Thanks for any advice you have.
Have you read and memorized ANSI 14.5 Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing? Anyone can draw something but, to be able to tolerance it for manufactureability is another story. You must learn Datum systems, True position etc.
 
Sorry for the late response Revelstone. Thank you for pointing out something else to look for and put some effort into. I appreciate it!
 
Have you read and memorized ANSI 14.5 Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing? Anyone can draw something but, to be able to tolerance it for manufactureability is another story. You must learn Datum systems, True position etc.
Naw.....they got a button for that now....."Auto Dimension"

At least that's what management thinks.
 
The computer you have now will be fine until you are not the bottleneck in the process. For those of us that use it every day on large models it pays to have a really badass machine but it will take a while before you get there. Get a free copy of Fusion 360.

Fusion 360 is only for a 64 bit machine.
 








 
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