CAD Software New 3D rocket builder, reporting in

[Joshua F Thomas]

Hey all.

I finally got my Ender 3 converted enough to print ASA and ABS without warping. Insulated enclosure, thermostat controlled 200W PTC heater, upgraded hot end and extruder, filament dry box, and a recirculating HEPA+carbon filtration system (because I live in an apartment). Whew. I'm printing ASA with minimal warpage now. Need to try my hand at the glass- and carbon-fiber types.

So I'm ready to start designing some rocket parts, but my current limitation is my shitty Tinkercad skills. I need to learn a better 3D cad system.

I started looking at Fusion 360 - I can get the student edition - and was immediately overwhelmed. Do I need to bite the bullet here and spend a few months learning, or do y'all suggestions on other CAD you like?

TIA.

 

[user 30299]

Hey all.

I finally got my Ender 3 converted enough to print ASA and ABS without warping. Insulated enclosure, thermostat controlled 200W PTC heater, upgraded hot end and extruder, filament dry box, and a recirculating HEPA+carbon filtration system (because I live in an apartment). Whew. I'm printing ASA with minimal warpage now. Need to try my hand at the glass- and carbon-fiber types.

So I'm ready to start designing some rocket parts, but my current limitation is my shitty Tinkercad skills. I need to learn a better 3D cad system.

I started looking at Fusion 360 - I can get the student edition - and was immediately overwhelmed. Do I need to bite the bullet here and spend a few months learning, or do y'all suggestions on other CAD you like?

TIA.

Just do a "Search" on this site for CAD software. You'll see plenty of "commentary" on Fusion
and lots of other software.

 

[thzero]

I use Onshape.com. I understand where you are coming from, but really either Fusion or Onshape are much the same as Tinkercrap but with the added ability to use parameters to define length, radius, etc, etc.

I was a newbie with both, and you just start, and you'll get better by just doing stuff. Pick something you want to build and start trying to build it, and don't try and get too fancy, and you should be ok.

 

[DaHabes]

OpenSCAD is relatively easy to get up to speed on and there are a lot of customizer routines for different rocket components on TRF and Thingiverse.

There is also a Rocket Workbench for FreeCAD which you can add to FreeCAD via the Addon manager. It has a lot of rocket components available to design within it.

I've used both extensively.

 

[Rschub]

I used Solidworks for 10 years in my day job, there is a Maker edition that costs $99 bucks a year, well worth it to me.

It is a huge pain to get through the installation process, because they have linked it to some cloud server B.S. so I can't recommend it for novices. There is a steep learning curve, but the numerous online tutorials on any conceivable subject allow a "paint by numbers" approach until you get comfortable.
Learning the commands is the hardest part, since most rocket parts are pretty simple to model.

 

[thzero]

FreeCad is a PITA.... nearly useless compared to other options.

OpenScad is ok, depends on what you are doing and whether you want to tinker with scripting or not.

 

[OzHybrid]

Here's the link to my SCAD files.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/norms-scad-file-repository-and-3d-printing.170781/Good luck in your printing journey.

 

[curtisheisey]

I use OnShape.

Take a "piece by piece" approach. Learn a bit at a time.

The first thing that you will need to learn is how to create a sketch.

Then just draw a line

Then just canned shapes, circle, triangle

Learn how to place measurements, so you can size things the way you want.

Then learn how to use the extrusion.

Honestly, the above list is probably 60% of actions I do in CAD, and I problaby have 300 designs or so.

 

[alexzogh]

Old thread, but linking some resources for others.

Freecad is a pita, but Dave’s work on rocket workbench makes it a great free program to start learning cad specifically to design and build rockets.

https://wiki.freecad.org/Rocket_Workbench
Includes tools to generates nosecones, body tubes, transitions, fins, etc… it has integrated all of openrockets 300+ different materials and parts. Finally, Dave has an entire YouTube channel on its use

 

[OzHybrid]

You can make your nosecone in latest test version of OpenRocket. Make colour of all parts used for the nosecone shape identical values.(Change in the appearance tab for the components) Select one part of nosecone and then export all parts the same colour as an OBJ file.( all were given a non standard in RGB of 1R 0G and 240B. Choose your own specific colour for the group you're using.
Create a simple shoulder either in SCAD or OR.
Drop nosecone OBJ onto CURA bed and center it . Raise by less than shoulder length. Drop Shoulder onto bed and give it the same center.
Shoulder will now be mated into nosecone by the overlap.
You could create a more detailed shoulder easily in SCAD or something else.