mr henderson
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| posted on 18/10/07 at 08:41 PM |
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anyone used Sketchup as a chassis design tool?
I'm not much good at CAD (too old, everything new learned is something else forgotten) but I would like to get some idea of what my designs
might look like from various different angles before I go too far.
I've experimented with Sketchup, the 3D viewing is excellent and the price is good too (free), but haven't got very far.
Some people have, though, and some of the designs available from the Sketchup warehouse are pretty amazing. There's at least one I would like to
modify to suit my own ideas but I don't know how, yet, and I'd value others' opinions on whether or not is worth trying to acquire
the knowledge
John
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greggors84
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| posted on 18/10/07 at 09:02 PM |
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Had a little play myself and seems like a good tool for making rough designs and sketches, not sure about using it for the final design of a chassis
as I'm not sure if you could export it into a FEA program to analyse it.
Ive used ProE, Solid Works and AutoCAD alot and Solid Works isnt too hard to pick up. You could design a fairly basic chassis without too much trouble
if you can use sketchup. There are loads of tutorials out there. They you can use the FEA to analyse it, even if you have to get someone else to do
the analysis at least you can export it and have the option.
[Edited on 18/10/2007 by greggors84]
Chris
The Magnificent 7!
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iank
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| posted on 18/10/07 at 09:43 PM |
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Not sure if anyone has used it for much more than visualisation/packaging, but these threads show what has been done.
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=34895
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=32916
--
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
Anonymous
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Confused but excited.
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| posted on 18/10/07 at 11:08 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mr henderson
I'm not much good at CAD (too old, everything new learned is something else forgotten) but I would like to get some idea of what my designs
might look like from various different angles before I go too far.
John
Ever tried balsa wood?
Tell them about the bent treacle edges!
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Tralfaz
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| posted on 19/10/07 at 01:10 AM |
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http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=69629
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mr henderson
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| posted on 19/10/07 at 06:49 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Confused but excited.
Ever tried balsa wood?
No. I expect I would try some type of model (maybe even 1:1 scale) at a later stage, but the easy edit-ability of CAD is very attractive for the early
stages of a project.
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mr henderson
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| posted on 19/10/07 at 06:55 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by greggors84
seems like a good tool for making rough designs and sketches, not sure about using it for the final design of a chassis
[Edited on 18/10/2007 by greggors84]
Initial sketches and ensuring that I don't get two components intruding on each other is what I want it for. Plus I love the ability to look at
it from all different angles, even underneath!
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D Beddows
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| posted on 19/10/07 at 07:51 AM |
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As long as you bear in mind it's realy only a visualisation tool then I'd say go for it. I've never bothered trying it but a lot of
people I work with have (for architectural visualisations) and after an inital 'wow this is amazing and really simple' honeymoon type
period have realised it has numerous shortcomings and have gone back to 3D Max because it's actually easier to do more with it (if you get what
I mean - probably not as I haven't explained it very well  )
Solidworks is actually very easy to use after you've jumped an initial learning curve and I'd seriously consider having a go with that
instead as you'll be able to use it for a lot more than making pretty pictures.
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iank
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| posted on 19/10/07 at 07:57 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mr henderson
quote:
Originally posted by Confused but excited.
Ever tried balsa wood?
No. I expect I would try some type of model (maybe even 1:1 scale) at a later stage, but the easy edit-ability of CAD is very attractive for the early
stages of a project.
Personally I find balsa models much easier than any 3d cad as I make fewer stupid errors throughout and get a free basic FEA feature It's
really obvious if a fuel tank will/won't fit for example using a physical mode.
Takes an evening with a glue gun and a bag of balsa strips to do a whole chassis - it's also a lot of fun. But each to their own.
--
Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.
Anonymous
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D Beddows
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| posted on 19/10/07 at 09:34 AM |
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I'm all for balsa models - especially if you want to see how wobbly (note the technical term there ) your chassis will be. FEA isn't
nearly as easy to use properly as an awful lot of people seem to think it is!
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Confused but excited.
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| posted on 19/10/07 at 01:59 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Tralfaz
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=69629
O.K. Ever tried straws? 
Any plans to make that awesome sled a reality Tralfaz?
Tell them about the bent treacle edges!
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Doug68
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| posted on 19/10/07 at 08:05 PM |
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On Sketchup I can't comment but in regards learning a 3D tool in general it is ABSOLUTELY worth the effort.
You are looking at potentially the most powerful engineering - design tool in the workshop, at your finger tips you have more computing power
than put a man on the moon developed the 7, 917 and GT40 put together.
So to me it would seem a complete waste not to use as much of that power as possible so that your hard earned money and probably even harder to come
by time are not wasted in the shed, cock ups in the PC world are a lot cheaper to fix than in the real world.
Of course we're all doing this for FUN so if the idea of using the PC for design etc doesn't excite you then thats fair enough, but if you
want to do the best job possible that you are capable if doing then its a must do thing.
For my part so far I've had to learn 3 reasonably complex programs from scratch for my project. But I've also learned to TIG weld, a shed
load about suspension and a bunch of other stuff a good deal of which I wouldn't have been able to visualize or test without using pc tools.
Obviously the proof of the pudding is in the real world so prototyping things is also necessary but I couldn't count the iterations of design
I've been through before I even got to the first prototype.
I'll get off my soapbox now.
Doug. 1TG
Sports Car Builders WA
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Tralfaz
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| posted on 20/10/07 at 11:37 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Confused but excited.
quote:
Originally posted by Tralfaz
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=69629
O.K. Ever tried straws?
Any plans to make that awesome sled a reality Tralfaz?
I don't know... I have to finish my Scratch built 7 first.
I really like the look of it, but there are some issues to be worked out.
Well see. Thanks for the kind words though.
Regards,
Brian
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