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solidworks cad does anyone
alfablack - 5/10/14 at 06:44 PM

Hi I am looking at making a tube spaceframe for my car and have been looking into some software to draw it up

first stop does anyone have a free copy of solidworks i can lend or purchase at a reasonable price or point me in the right direction for something similar

any help in this area would be most welcome


43655 - 5/10/14 at 08:23 PM

not sure if this is an okay thing to do, but if you're familiar with 'torrenting', the SolidSquad releases work perfectly for me
https://kickass (dot) to/solidworks-2014-sp3-0-win32-win64-full-multilanguage-integrated-t9009932.html
You won't need to download both 64 and x86 versions, as long as you know which your PC is
Let me know if you need any more advice i work with Solidworks in work and for car stuff.
Edit, Solidworks is f'ing extortionate to buy! Circa £5k per license


[Edited on 5/10/14 by 43655]


tract0rman49 - 10/10/14 at 06:53 PM

Hi,

I am new to the forum but for what it's worth I purchased my own SolidWorks Licence almost 14 years ago for use in my own business as a profesional contract design engineer.

Yes it is expensive......but like many advanced pieces of software its not about what it cost's but what you can do with it!!!!

My license purchase and annual support subscription costs pale into insignificance compared to the hundreds of hours I invested in training and becoming truly proficient using it. I guess in that time it has enabled me to create a good living so please don't knock it.

For what its worth any legitimate student can obtain an education liscense free via their collage or university!

You can also down load the software via the web and run it for 30 days also free of charge.

Contact www.solidsolutions.co.uk or www.solidworks.com for more information.

Please bear in mind this is a fully professional product with over 2 million licences sold throught out the worls since launching in 1998. It needs a decent PC or Laptop with proper (non gaming graphics card) to make it work or can be painfully slow.

There are loads of free tutorials on the web and its great fun to use.


coozer - 10/10/14 at 07:17 PM

If its a one off then how how about Sketchup?


tract0rman49 - 10/10/14 at 08:02 PM

Have you tried using SketchUp??????

It as far removed from a serious CAD package as pencil and drawing board. I'm all for people designing their own stuff but don't forget when driving the result you don't want it falling apart and killing ypou or others.

If you really are on a tight budget something like TurboCAD will do a presentable job in 2D.


dave_424 - 10/10/14 at 08:07 PM

If you are proficient on the internet regarding downloading things then a version if solid works can be pretty easy to find, U2U me and I should be able to help you out

Dave


coozer - 10/10/14 at 08:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by tract0rman49
Have you tried using SketchUp??????

It as far removed from a serious CAD package as pencil and drawing board. I'm all for people designing their own stuff but don't forget when driving the result you don't want it falling apart and killing ypou or others.

If you really are on a tight budget something like TurboCAD will do a presentable job in 2D.


A well known book auther used it due to the huge cost of solidworks... and driving the result is down to engineering and building skills...


43655 - 11/10/14 at 05:57 PM

quote:
Originally posted by tract0rman49
Hi,

I am new to the forum but for what it's worth I purchased my own SolidWorks Licence almost 14 years ago for use in my own business as a profesional contract design engineer.

Please bear in mind this is a fully professional product with over 2 million licences sold throught out the worls since launching in 1998. It needs a decent PC or Laptop with proper (non gaming graphics card) to make it work or can be painfully slow.


My PC is pretty old now, but I've been using a GTX 460 and later a 670 GPU. not ideal, but my work computer (Quadro FX2800?) isn't much quicker and you can see how complex my model is. my laptop runs Solidworks alright too, for something like a chassis it would be fine, just a huge faff using a touchpad!
Sure you have to be legitimate if it's for work, but for hobby stuff no-one is going to spend that kind of money realistically.
From what I remember Sketchup is awful compared to Sworks. Not at all suitable for creating engineering models or drawings. yes i know it's legally free but...
Worth noting that SolidEdge is a cheaper? simpler version of Sworks. might be of interest

[Edited on 11/10/14 by 43655]


gremlin1234 - 11/10/14 at 06:27 PM

quote:
my laptop runs Solidworks alright too, for something like a chassis it would be fine, just a huge faff using a touchpad!

you could plug a usb/wireless mouse into the laptop


Alan B - 18/10/14 at 03:09 PM

I need a van...just occasionally for the odd errand....but they are soooo expensive..
Anyone know where I could steal one?