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Air
Air
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As a working professional ME with 18 years in the field, I'll tell you that there's a great deal of difference between what will work in AutoCAD (or any other such software package) and what will work in the real world. That's why we still review designs and build prototypes before going into production.

I can't tell you the number of times I've had to get the designers who draw up stuff and the people who have to make the stuff in the same room to hash out how to make something work. The designers will pull up their model and say something like, "But it works in the model..." Whilewhile the people from production show them why it doesn't work in the real world. Then, after everyone sees the same problem, the work starts.

If you just want to goof around and make stuff for your 3d3D printer, that's great,. I'd suggest a solid modeling package like Autodesk Inventor that will let you export stl.stl files directly and do assemblies, etc. It's expensive for commercial use, but they're supportive of people learning on their own, so I think you can get a license for little or no $$. Still, even becoming an expert user of that, or any CAD package won't make you into an engineer.

As a working professional ME with 18 years in the field, I'll tell you that there's a great deal of difference between what will work in AutoCAD (or any other such software package and what will work in the real world. That's why we still review designs and build prototypes before going into production.

I can't tell you the number of times I've had to get the designers who draw up stuff and the people who have to make the stuff in the same room to hash out how to make something work. The designers will pull up their model and say something like, "But it works in the model..." While the people from production show them why it doesn't work in the real world. Then after everyone sees the same problem, the work starts.

If you just want to goof around and make stuff for your 3d printer, that's great, I'd suggest a solid modeling package like Autodesk Inventor that will let you export stl files directly and do assemblies etc. It's expensive for commercial use, but they're supportive of people learning on their own, so I think you can get a license for little or no $$. Still, even becoming an expert user of that, or any CAD package won't make you into an engineer.

As a working professional ME with 18 years in the field, I'll tell you that there's a great deal of difference between what will work in AutoCAD (or any other such software package) and what will work in the real world. That's why we still review designs and build prototypes before going into production.

I can't tell you the number of times I've had to get the designers who draw up stuff and the people who have to make the stuff in the same room to hash out how to make something work. The designers will pull up their model and say something like, "But it works in the model..." while the people from production show them why it doesn't work in the real world. Then, after everyone sees the same problem, the work starts.

If you just want to goof around and make stuff for your 3D printer, that's great. I'd suggest a solid modeling package like Autodesk Inventor that will let you export .stl files directly and do assemblies, etc. It's expensive for commercial use, but they're supportive of people learning on their own, so I think you can get a license for little or no $$. Still, even becoming an expert user of that, or any CAD package won't make you into an engineer.

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DLS3141
DLS3141
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As a working professional ME with 18 years in the field, I'll tell you that there's a great deal of difference between what will work in AutoCAD (or any other such software package and what will work in the real world. That's why we still review designs and build prototypes before going into production.

I can't tell you the number of times I've had to get the designers who draw up stuff and the people who have to make the stuff in the same room to hash out how to make something work. The designers will pull up their model and say something like, "But it works in the model..." While the people from production show them why it doesn't work in the real world. Then after everyone sees the same problem, the work starts.

If you just want to goof around and make stuff for your 3d printer, that's great, I'd suggest a solid modeling package like Autodesk Inventor that will let you export stl files directly and do assemblies etc. It's expensive for commercial use, but they're supportive of people learning on their own, so I think you can get a license for little or no $$. Still, even becoming an expert user of that, or any CAD package won't make you into an engineer.