I am looking for a free/low cost CAD/CAM program for designing parts to print with a 3D printer, or machine with my CNC mill if/when I get it running again. I've either got a bad stepper motor, or a bad piece on the break out board. I haven't investigated yet to find out which.Any recommendations for something easy and intuitive, or lots of YT tutorials? Thanks
Fusion 360
I sure can understand the sentiment @Insanity. I was that guy too. This stuff eluded me for 30 years - no joke. I tried off and on over decades to learn this, and it didn't happen. The only thing that worked for me was to work at it continuously, interrupted only by meals and the need to sleep. At least for me, any interruption (in the beginning) while learning this material simply set me backwards. Nothing was sticking in my dense pea brain.Once I got the basic ideas (in a few days) then it was plodding through the material to learn the other stuff. Wasn't easy, but at least I started making progress. It was kind of motivating to get to the point of modeling something (simple) and then doing an export to stl. Think that was the 5th or 6th lesson. Thought to myself, hey this is pretty cool.Not learning CAD, did set back my career. I regret not learning it earlier. But, that's water over the spillway, seeing as I am retired now. Can't fix the past.I do have to say, one needs some uninterrupted time to learn this. If you don't have enough uninterrupted time in your life, then learning this would be tough indeed. For me, it took about 126 quality hours of (video) instruction. It was work - tasked by myself - and I was a tough taskmaster. Heh, heh, I didn't let myself get away with anything, because I knew all my tricks for evading "work". Anyways, it might not work for you in your current circumstances, but I thought I'd let you know that learning this stuff is possible with a combination of both hard work and perseverance. At least that's my story. It's up to you to write your own story.
QuoteI sure can understand the sentiment @Insanity. I was that guy too. This stuff eluded me for 30 years - no joke. I tried off and on over decades to learn this, and it didn't happen. The only thing that worked for me was to work at it continuously, interrupted only by meals and the need to sleep. At least for me, any interruption (in the beginning) while learning this material simply set me backwards. Nothing was sticking in my dense pea brain.Once I got the basic ideas (in a few days) then it was plodding through the material to learn the other stuff. Wasn't easy, but at least I started making progress. It was kind of motivating to get to the point of modeling something (simple) and then doing an export to stl. Think that was the 5th or 6th lesson. Thought to myself, hey this is pretty cool.Not learning CAD, did set back my career. I regret not learning it earlier. But, that's water over the spillway, seeing as I am retired now. Can't fix the past.I do have to say, one needs some uninterrupted time to learn this. If you don't have enough uninterrupted time in your life, then learning this would be tough indeed. For me, it took about 126 quality hours of (video) instruction. It was work - tasked by myself - and I was a tough taskmaster. Heh, heh, I didn't let myself get away with anything, because I knew all my tricks for evading "work". Anyways, it might not work for you in your current circumstances, but I thought I'd let you know that learning this stuff is possible with a combination of both hard work and perseverance. At least that's my story. It's up to you to write your own story.That sounds like the best advice anyone could offer. I dove into the deep end with FreeCad, tried to import an image and sketch over it, the revolve it to get a 3D shape.... Wasted 2 days, and learned nothing.... .... I'm going to follow your advice, I hope I'm still married in a month.... Bob