CAD Recommendations?

[funk]

Wondering if anyone is up to speed with their CAD software, ideally cheap/free/open source offerings?

Have had a few little projects grind to a halt with the intention of doing a bit of training to make really basic stuff for 3D printing.

I'd usually default to YouTube but there are so many options and preferences, was intrigued to see if anyone is either a professional, or a hobbyist who's gone through that process and has insight 👍

 

[councilface]

I've been a professional CAD monkey a few times. I think they all do the same job but NX was my weapon of choice. Not cheap but there are student and (ahem) other options. The nice thing about NX is the search function. It makes learning incredibly intuitive.

 

[funk]

Will take a look cheers @councilface

 

[david656]

whilst not strictly 'CAD' I've always taken the noddy approach of using Corel Draw for vector work, I was shown how to use it at school and just always used it ever since, I've used it for doing CAD layouts of wiring in the house, planning bathroom layouts all sorts, not what its primary use is, but as it is a vector package it can be done.
What is it you want to CAD up?

 

[funk]

It's a fair question @david656, in the main basic stuff, the one I've had pending forever is a frame/stand for a P4 DMD display.

 

[FrancoB]

I've been a professional CAD monkey a few times. I think they all do the same job but NX was my weapon of choice. Not cheap but there are student and (ahem) other options. The nice thing about NX is the search function. It makes learning incredibly intuitive.

Oh my god, someone else who uses NX! 😁

The company I work for is a Siemens partner and NX reseller. It's definitely not cheap, depending on the bundles/licenses chosen you can be looking at tens of thousands of pounds a year for a seat.

The search function is good, especially if coming from another CAM system as you can search for the function name from the old CAM system and the relative function in NX will be displayed in the results.

I'm not sure how user friendly it is as starting software though, especially in the later versions NX1942+ that use the new sketcher. I'm probably getting old and hesitant to change but I really do find it a step backwards.

Autodesk Fusion 360 might be a good shout. There is a free version for personal use and there are tonnes of tutorials etc out there for it.

 

[councilface]

Oh my god, someone else who uses NX! 😁

The company I work for is a Siemens partner and NX reseller. It's definitely not cheap, depending on the bundles/licenses chosen you can be looking at tens of thousands of pounds a year for a seat.

The search function is good, especially if coming from another CAM system as you can search for the function name from the old CAM system and the relative function in NX will be displayed in the results.

I'm not sure how user friendly it is as starting software though, especially in the later versions NX1942+ that use the new sketcher. I'm probably getting old and hesitant to change but I really do find it a step backwards.

Autodesk Fusion 360 might be a good shout. There is a free version for personal use and there are tonnes of tutorials etc out there for it.

Yeah I'm using 73 at the minute (albeit lightly) and I don't like it at all compared to the earlier releases. I guess it's not a great beginners tool, I'm also old and stuck in my ways - I just can't to grips with any of the free modelling tools. I'm far too impatient!