You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I'd like to do a bit of simple (?) CAD, design some sheet metal to be cut and bent by a fabricator, but only have a work MacBook air, into which I don't have admin rights to install software.
Is there a half decent online CAD program, ideally free haha, that would be suitable?
I use Fusion 360. It's free.
There are some limitations, in terms of how many editable models you can have live at any one time, but you can switch between editable or not, in a few seconds.
Literally every YouTube video I watch seems sponsored by onshape.
So...er...onshape ..
DrP
Another shout for Fusion 360.
Very powerful even with the free version.
A really simple option is Tinkercad, designed to get kids into CAD.Still can do a bit.
Both are Autodesk products and you need an account to acce them.
Fusion 360.
On shape is very good. I used to be a pro solidworks user but since left that career and no longer had an CAD access, onshape meant I could keep my eye in with a few little diy projects.
does Fusion 360 not require to be installed? If think for web only it would be sketchup or onshape
Onshape is very online and works surprisingly not-badly on a tablet, which is nice.
Fusion 360 has lost some features in the free version but still sound.
Both are fine for basic shape modelling in my experience.
Thanks all, I'll check them out 👌
Doesn't need to be super complex, couple of bits of sheet metal to be bent into shape, right angles only etc
Ta!
Ah yeah. Sorry, Fusion360 isn't web based. Should read the OP more thoroughly.
Bending sheet metal is actually quite complex, you'll need to know if it's an inside or outside bend, how much the material stretches and a few other bits. We had 8 engineers and two sheet metal workers and we sometimes couldn't get the flat CAD to match the bent metal but they were generally more complex than 90°. I'd speak to your fabricator, there's a good chance they'll just want a finished drawing and they'll work out all the complexities or depending on what it is they might just suggest welding two sheets together.
Do you actually need to use a CAD programme or can you just do a hand sketch with dimensions and angles on it? Admittedly slightly different but whenever I've had structural steel drawings off engineers they have been pretty crude hand sketched drawings!
That's a fair point, the quality of the drawing is secondary to the quality of the information
Ok that's really good to know! I'm getting some help with the project from an engineer friend who is known for over-thinking things, maybe I should just speak to a metal shop haha
Doesn’t need to be super complex, couple of bits of sheet metal to be bent into shape, right angles only etc
I may or may not have saved a former employer a few hundred quid and a couple of weeks waiting for a prototype with a pair of tin snips, a hammer, a vice, a drill, a file, some hammerite (to make it look proper) and a couple of hours after people had gone gone home on a Friday 😉
The final version of the product had it's bracketry produced by a very capable sheet metal place down the road with a nice brake press. They liked our (Pro-E back then) CAD that came with dimensioned drawings and both the flat and folded instance models for them to interrogate for every job, but the lovely design data never actually sped up the job...
If it's online only then Onshape, or a paper and pencil...
Oh and don't be surprised when they charge you "random man off the street" prices. We get very favourable prices having put over a million through our fabricator's books but I'm still surprised how much the simple stuff costs. I've reluctantly ordered bits from China for myself because it's a fraction of the cost of having something done over here even through work.
Talking to the guys you might find that you've spec'ed 3mm and it costs a fortune but they've got 2 and 5mm offcuts that you can have for the price of scrap or if you get some plate water cut they'll chuck it on the side of the next order instead of cutting it by hand but you'll have to wait 6 weeks. They might also be super busy and really not interested unless they think they can rinse you.
Being a CAD makes no difference to either scenario & in one of my previous jobs it was my task to manage people who'd have to create CAD drawing of items that had already been made from 1970s not to scale hand sketches.
+1 for everything thepodge wrote.
As said above, bending sheet metal can be complicated. Our fabricator recommends at least 1 x thickness for the radius. So if the plate is 1mm thick, the smallest radius should be no less than 1mm.
What about good old Cardboard Aided Design?