cowman
Final Approach
Got my free copy from EAA about a year ago after I ran out my trial version of Rhino 3D. I'm pretty much a tinkerer using these programs to make stuff to print out on my 3D printer.
I made all kinds of stuff with Rhino for the International Scout I was restoring- door clips, spacers, brackets, adapters, plugs, etc. Nothing too complex but a lot more involved than say 2 cubes stacked ontop of each other. I took CAD courses in high school and college using AutoCad and some drafting in HS as well so while I'm no pro I at least do have a clue...
I mention this because I'm trying to draw exactly that in SolidWorks right now... I'm trying to make a jig to hold 2 different sized square tubes together in alignment so I can tack weld them up. It's literally just two boxes one stacked ontop of the other. Simple as can be and just like every time I use this program I want to tear my hair out because I can't figure out how to make this very very simple shape. In rhino I'd just draw my two 3d boxes, select one by it's centerpoint at the bottom and snap it to the centerpoint on the top of the other and I'd be done, it would take me less than a minute.
So I've figured out solidworks wants you to draw things in a 2d sketch an then extrude them out... so following that logic I drew two rectangles with their centers lined up. Then I tried to extrude the "inner" one out to it's full length. Ok, check... and now I try to extrude the other rectangle out... and NOPE. I can't even select it. In fact if I click exactly wrong somehow my entire outer rectangle disappears. Tried doing it the other way- extruding the outer one first and it works as it should but then I can't seem to do the inner one???
I assume I'm either fundamentally misunderstanding how I'm supposed to draw things in this program or not understanding the interface or it's just a really really quirky finicky thing. I'd go back to Rhino but it costs hundreds of $$$s per year IIRC and that's not worth it for my hobbying/tinkering.
I made all kinds of stuff with Rhino for the International Scout I was restoring- door clips, spacers, brackets, adapters, plugs, etc. Nothing too complex but a lot more involved than say 2 cubes stacked ontop of each other. I took CAD courses in high school and college using AutoCad and some drafting in HS as well so while I'm no pro I at least do have a clue...
I mention this because I'm trying to draw exactly that in SolidWorks right now... I'm trying to make a jig to hold 2 different sized square tubes together in alignment so I can tack weld them up. It's literally just two boxes one stacked ontop of the other. Simple as can be and just like every time I use this program I want to tear my hair out because I can't figure out how to make this very very simple shape. In rhino I'd just draw my two 3d boxes, select one by it's centerpoint at the bottom and snap it to the centerpoint on the top of the other and I'd be done, it would take me less than a minute.
So I've figured out solidworks wants you to draw things in a 2d sketch an then extrude them out... so following that logic I drew two rectangles with their centers lined up. Then I tried to extrude the "inner" one out to it's full length. Ok, check... and now I try to extrude the other rectangle out... and NOPE. I can't even select it. In fact if I click exactly wrong somehow my entire outer rectangle disappears. Tried doing it the other way- extruding the outer one first and it works as it should but then I can't seem to do the inner one???
I assume I'm either fundamentally misunderstanding how I'm supposed to draw things in this program or not understanding the interface or it's just a really really quirky finicky thing. I'd go back to Rhino but it costs hundreds of $$$s per year IIRC and that's not worth it for my hobbying/tinkering.
