Is software like Catia or Siemens NX overkill for model engineering?

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

You were lucky to find a lathe for less than £113, even less if you just bought a licence.

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

On SillyOldDuffer Said

 

SE is harder to learn than Fusion360, but F360’s community edition has a 10 part limit that’s too low for me.  Freebie F360 is great for small projects, but not if you exceed the limits.

 

This is not Correct.

You have a limit of 10 actively editable files. …

As Jason goes on to explain various F360 workarounds that are totally unnecessary in SolidEdge I am correct.  There is a 10 file limit!  Read all about it on Autodesk’s website.  (Actually a 10 document limit, so Jason and I are both wrong if any pedants want to criticise! Those who need to know can read Autodesk’s detailed explanation.)

Not sure how many files I had open at the same time when I modelled the Enigma machine with SE recently.   At least 20 on occasion.  Enigma machines have many parts, and not having to worry about artificial limits is very helpful.  I just got on with the job without having to manage files.

I like Fusion and found it easier to learn than FreeCAD and SE.  Dumped it because I didn’t like AutoCAD being able to alter what the product does and their terms and conditions at any time. Not just a threat either: they actually did remove features and impose arbitrary file limits.

Just as a matter of interest, how many parts do CAD users think constitute a big model?  I’d say anything less than a hundred is small, and a 10 part limit doesn’t intrude much.  Limits become more annoying on bigger models, which is why AutoCAD impose them: they encourage serious players to pay for the full licence.

Dave

 

 

 

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

My own view is that for a hobby, especially one dominated by people on a pension, a piece of software with restrictions to ensure it does not impact commercial sales that can be reproduced for zero cost (not even cost of CDs like 30 years ago) cannot justify a cost above >£50.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

As I said Dave any file are “document” can have as many individual parts as you want and all are actively editable without doing anything. You could quite happily have 1000s of parts in each document so plenty to do what the OP wants which is model 00 gauge locos. He could have 10 complete locos active and as many more as he wants just a click or two away from becoming active.

Example here of a small hit & Miss engine, it is just one file/documnet but there are 78 “parts” to it. So you could have ten enigma type documents all instantly accessible and active at the same time.

[Michael CallaghanParticipant @michaelcallaghan68621]

You can get solidworks for £70 per year, take a look on their web site. However be aware that it’s only good for stl files. I use an old copy of solidworks 2016 which I have loaded on a pc kept off the internet. But I still need fusion360 for any g-code I need

[Michael Callaghan]

On Michael Callaghan Said:

You can get solidworks for £70 per year, take a look on their web site. However be aware that it’s only good for stl files. I use an old copy of solidworks 2016 which I have loaded on a pc kept off the internet. But I still need fusion360 for any g-code I need

Michael

I would be interested to know what method you use to transfer files to and from your off-grid PC?

Ian P

 

[Nick WheelerParticipant @nickwheeler]

Dave, you’re misreading the details about the F360 10 limit. It’s ten editable files at any time, not parts, and you can alter which ten are editable.

This is only a ‘problem’ if you create each individual part as a separate file instead of the whole job(like the chassis I’ve shown several times) as one file made of individual components within it. Doing it as separate files would be like your word processor wanting each paragraph of a novel to be separate, which is clearly ridiculous!

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

Just so we are on the right track (no pun) is this the sort of thing you hope to make?

https://www.djhmodelloco.co.uk/product/k72-kit-nbr-lner-br-j35-0-6-0/

Yes.

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