computer aided design

Welcome to turbocad design software I use it as a hobby now but all the things on here we used to make and believe me it was a very tedious job as we had to draw everything by hand and when we had done that we had to draw it all again in indian ink so the profile machine magic eye could follow it. If we needed an attachment for a bigger machine it was back to the drawing board, Well with cad you do not need to redraw the thing again just three clicks of the tab key and everything is scaled.

Well a bit of recognition this week on facebook as turbocad have done a little spread about me and what I use turbocad for. Most seem to use use it for arty farty stuff which is ok I suppose but I never could see how you could make a few quid with it using it like that.

well we only ever made one and it was fitted to the first long reach caterpillar excavator in the uk the 245 model 70 tonnes in weight. The actual attachment weighs about 4 tonnes.

Well thought I would do a bit of 3d graphics just to show the versatility of turbocad they are after all a great marketing tool, The twitter graphic turned my google traffic up by 68% but they are not of much interest to me.

This drawing is a hydraulic pump created in turbocad professional v 15. It uses the gears tool in turbocad and face to face lofting to create the mounting flange. The pump is then rendered with lightworks. This one is in a gold render

Well the most exciting part about turbocad is the actual file associated with the picture.

This data can then be used to make each part via a cam program and once you have designed it you have it forever, As long as you back it up to disk of course. Turbocad supports 30 different file types so it is a very versatile piece of software.

The images created are photorealistic and there are dozens of different light settings including spot lights, head light, ambient light and a million other things.

The properties tab can be used to make your image out of anything from wood, plastics, metals etc etc.

Well it is time I explained why I started doing all the typing. Because I have always had my feet in two camps, Demolition and Demolition equipment manufacture. Metal prices for most of my life have remained pretty stable except in recessions. Scrap metal prices have gone through the roof in the last few years and are currently at about £250 per tonne. Now that is only the start of it as the scrap metals then have to be processed melted down rolled etc.

So it stands to reason if you are going to manufacture anything at all you need a competitive edge.

That is where the computer comes in and a bit of kit called a cad program.

Once done in cad you have it forever, make sure you back it up of course.

We use a magic eye profile cutter so once the drawing is printed off it is just a matter of placing the drawing on the table for the machine to follow.

What is the down side then. Well I found it very hard to learn but I was used to doing things the old school way.

If you have been doing some thing one way it is very hard to change .

Implementing new technology whilst running a busy shop Is just not going to happen. Why did I do it.

Well an old mate and brilliant engineer Mike Reynolds died a few years ago virtually penniless and that is hard fact to swallow.

He would never embrace new technology and would not know how to turn a computer on.

Many can not see what learning fairly complex software would do for them but believe me it is worth the effort.

You can sit back easy now as I do not sell any type of cad program but there is loads out there and nearly all offer free trials.

So if you would rather sit and watch tv ok fine but you have been warned.

On bbc tv last week was a leading business man saying that we do not have enough cad and cam engineers. Well I do not need telling twice.

Well here is a link to Active Search Results. They are no affiliation to me but after reading a bit about them I decided to put some links up.

They purport to give asr ranking points to people who are active on the net. "doing things" So to an old school grafter like me that sounded like a good proposition.

I can not recommend them yet as I am still giving them a try. I am no internet guru so i thought well at least if I am actively doing a bit of something it can not hurt so here they are ASR. Even rhymes.http://www.activesearchresults.com/addwebsite.php

Computer Aided Design seems to be a very misunderstood subject in general. The images created are true photo realistic quality and most people tend to think that is the end of line. In actual fact the file that accompanies the drawing can be used to make the particular item. At this point I should point out that some items on here are purely for the eye. In the case of some of the construction equipment the drawings are printed out and parts are cut from the printed drawing.

You must of course consider the fact that once you have created a drawing you have it forever, Always back your designs up of course. I have just finished watching the tv show American Chopper which ended up with the computer getting smashed to pieces after it crashed during the final stage of designing an air filter box.

Turbocad has an auto save program running in the back ground so it has never been an issue to me.

Well today is my first day on the new sub domain at hubpages so I will have to look through what I have already posted and do a bit of editing. Look forward to your comments (nice ones) lol. And happy hubbing.