Professional Soldiers ® - View Single Post - 3d printing: The reality of the handy dandy home replicator

TOMAHAWK9521 · 10-30-2017, 07:22

I also learned AutoCAD in school and continue to use it for making fabric templates.

35NCO, you mentioned Fusion. I'll have to look into that. My last partner at MTRC was a genuine mechanical engineer who also worked in a machine shop for 8 years and had an account with one of those free software packages. It was similar to SolidWorks but was limited in some areas. Being a free or public software package also meant everything you designed immediately went out to the public, kind of like Thingiverse.

As for milling and working a lathe, that was another basic course in IND school we had to take. It was also something I went through with MTRC. I did a fair amount of both overseas, although not nearly as much as I had hoped. I'll admit my machining and welding skills are not very sharp right now, considering I haven't touched either type of equipment in almost a year.

As for using a CNC with CAD, the ones I'm familiar with are those running Torch Mate plasma cutters and small laser cutters. The plasma cutting I did was done by hand so my work wasn't anywhere as neat as that done with a a Torchmate. Sigh, those area just more tools which I would love to have in my own shop.

10-30-2017, 07:22	#8
TOMAHAWK9521 Quiet Professional Join Date: May 2008 Location: Idaho Posts: 1,209	I also learned AutoCAD in school and continue to use it for making fabric templates. 35NCO, you mentioned Fusion. I'll have to look into that. My last partner at MTRC was a genuine mechanical engineer who also worked in a machine shop for 8 years and had an account with one of those free software packages. It was similar to SolidWorks but was limited in some areas. Being a free or public software package also meant everything you designed immediately went out to the public, kind of like Thingiverse. As for milling and working a lathe, that was another basic course in IND school we had to take. It was also something I went through with MTRC. I did a fair amount of both overseas, although not nearly as much as I had hoped. I'll admit my machining and welding skills are not very sharp right now, considering I haven't touched either type of equipment in almost a year. As for using a CNC with CAD, the ones I'm familiar with are those running Torch Mate plasma cutters and small laser cutters. The plasma cutting I did was done by hand so my work wasn't anywhere as neat as that done with a a Torchmate. Sigh, those area just more tools which I would love to have in my own shop. __________________ "It is a brave act of valor to condemn death, but where life is more terrible than death, it is then the truest valor to dare to live." -Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682) Last edited by TOMAHAWK9521; 10-30-2017 at 07:31.
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