Wilsons Sandbox

On Apr 10, 2005, at 4:47 PM, tkat@tkat.com wrote:

But it sure ain't a tutorial!




I would agree with your statement. I have been able to do little
things but I have partly given up in frustration. There is also a major
lack of time on my part to figure out all of the bits by myself. Just
how do I setup a page with a given scale.....? It is the really simple
stuff like that that I can't find/figure out. If someone can start a
tutorial, I'd be willing to be a guinea pig for testing it. providing
feedback




Matthew Goeckner
Associate Professor
Electrical Engineering
Plasma Science Lab
PO Box 830688 M/S EC33 (2601 N. Floyd for packages)
University of Texas - Dallas Richardson, TX 75083
Ph: 972 883-4293
Fx: 972 883-6839
http://www.utdallas.edu/~goeckner

Any opinions expressed in this email are those of the sender.

>Hello to All,
>
>I've just upgraded to a G4 w/ 10.3.8 O/S. I've been using AuraCAD
>[MGMS] since the old Mac II days. Unfortunately, it won't go past O/S
>8.5.
>
>So, I've just started w/ CADintosh --- and raised my frustration level
>to a danger point.
>
>My main use for a CAD pgm are to design smaller machine parts,
>typically in the 6~8" range. Accuracy needs to be in the 3 decimal
>range.
>
>Follows are my starting questions --- once I get s'thing down on
>"paper" I'm sure I'll have a bunch more.
>
>* How do I change the scale of the dwg screen to real size? So 1"
>appears to be about 1".

>* How is the zero/zero corner moved to a user defined position.
>That's where the mill takes it's reference from to cut the parts.
>
>Once I can get the parts designed, we'll chat about absolute
>dimensioning. I'm an ol' "moss back" and prefer "tree-ware" so I've
>printed out all 92 pages of the manual. But it sure ain't a tutorial!
>

> ....................... If someone can start a
> tutorial, I'd be willing to be a guinea pig for testing it. providing
> feedback
>

> ..........click on the + and - button that appear above the
> up/down scroll bar. The Z sets it back to 100%. At 100% I think that
> the size depends on the scale that you set when you created the
> document
> or as you changed it in the options.

>
> .........introduction file is a tutorial...............select the
> HELP->OPEN INTRODUCTION menu. ............Still, there are a lot of
> settings that need to be set to get started. It is hard to remember
> where
> everything is.

On Apr 11, 2005, at 11:00 AM, tkat@tkat.com wrote:

>
>
> Question
>
> What are the major pieces that a CAD program has to do?
>
>

>The Z sets it back to 100%.

>* How do I change the scale of the dwg screen to real size? So 1"
>appears to be about 1".

>* How is the zero/zero corner moved to a user defined position.
>That's where the mill takes it's reference from to cut the parts.

>Once I can get the parts designed, we'll chat about absolute
>dimensioning

On Apr 12, 2005, at 2:27 AM, Rowland Carson wrote:
>
>
> Tkat - there has been some chat on this forum already about scaling,
> and the scaling options in CADintosh are (to me) quite complex

That's why I asked if there was a FAQ section. I don't wish to belabor
a dead horse to get up to speed.

> .............but the metric ones seem to work OK. It may be that
> Thorsten, being a European, is less comfortable working with imperial
> conventions than with metric, and so his implementation of that
> aspect is less fluid than someone who has grown up in the culture of
> fractions, inches, feet, yards, rods, poles and perches.

And don't forget furlongs & chains. Unfortunately, our machine tools
here are scaled in 0.001". My take so far is that he's a macro guy
where a meter is his basic unit. I work in 1/1000"'s. +/- .005" is my
general tolerance.

> The zero/zero corner, is by definition, at x=0 and y=0.
>
> Not sure that I understand your question, but here are 2 possible
> answers:

What I meant by this is that my mill and programing like to take one
corner of the part and do all cutting/computing from there; the Ø/Ø
corner.

On the dwg each view has its own ØØ ref corner. Then the dim's for
that view are taken from that corner. Typically, I'll have 3 views on
a sheet; plan, elevation, & end. [front, top, side]. So I'm look'n
for how to spot that origin where it is convenient for that view & then
move it to another spot for another view.

I'll try yer suggestions & see if they do what I need.

> ....... Sometimes it's easier to draw stuff at full size and scale as
> necessary for printing; the resulting .DXF export may suit the
> water-jet cutter or whatever you're using to make the bits.

Most of my stuff is drawn full scale & printed out. I have a garden
variety 3 axis CNC mill that uses conversational language that I
program @ the machine.

> I wonder if it is useful to have a collection of CADintosh drawings
> donated by users to show what can be done or to illustrate questions,
> etc? Obviously there are intellectual property issues to be aware of
> in releasing complete drawings - but I'm thinking more about smaller
> examples of details than a complete architectural drawing for a
> corporate headquarters. I haven't checked yet, but as this is a Yahoo
> group, there should be a ready-made place for such file sharing. I
> have a few small files I'd be happy to share.
>

I'm all for that. Mechanical stuff is too easy to reverse engineer to
worry about be'n copied. And I'd sure like to "go to school" on
other's experiences. There's enuf weird stuff left to invent/learn to
bother redo'n plowed ground.

I've scanned a typical dwg into this post to show what I mess w/. Hope
it comes thru.

This is a clamp for a Yamaha XS1100 fork brace --- circa '79~'81. Over
the last 7 yrs. I've made around 1300 sets of 'em.

Ciao,
Tkat

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie', until you find a big
stick."