Time for our fourth question!
If you see this post, please take a moment to share your thoughts!
Question 4: What CAD software do you work with the most?
For me, I spend a large amount of my time designing in either SolidWorks or Fusion360. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but if you're just getting started in Computer Aided Design, Fusion360 is the way to go. It simple to use, easy to understand, and free for all hobbyists and makers!
Let me know what your go-to CAD software is in the replies!
-Ben, 3D Exchange Applications Engineer
I have another question for everyone!
If you happen to see this post, please take a moment to share your opinion on the question! It would be greatly appreciated!
Question 3:We would love to host 3D design challenges in the future! What design contests would you like to see us host?
It could be related to a company to sponsor the challenge or a specific design challenge you would like to participate in!
Let us know in the replies!
-Ben, 3D Exchange Applications Engineer
As I mentioned in my last post, I will be posting a series of questions this week to get the opinions of All of our community members.
So, if you see this post, please take a moment to respond and let us know your thoughts!
Question 2: Are there any 3D models that you need for a current project that are not currently available?
There have been many times where I had to spend time modeling an item for a project I was working on because the manufacturer did not have models available.
We want to hear what products or manufacturers you'd like to see 3D models available for! Such as Texas Instruments, Arduino or even Honda!
Let us know in the replies!
-Ben, 3D Exchange Applications Engineer
We are looking to get your opinion on a series of questions!
I will be posting a new question every day this week so please take a quick moment to share your thoughts, if you can!
Question 1: What do you think would make this community better?
We want to hear what you think we could improve on to make this community more engaging!
I am looking forward to hearing what all of you have to say!
-Ben, 3D Exchange Applications Engineer
What’s one 3D printing mistake that taught you a valuable lesson, and how did you improve from it?
I 3D print pretty often as a hobby. The most common failure that I experience with my prints is bed adhesion around curved perimeters. When 3D printer filament cools, it shrinks. When filament cools around a curved perimeter that is not properly adhered to the build plate, it contracts and straightens out which can ruin a 3D print early on.
To correct this, I have found calibrating my bed level and Z offset distance can drastically improve bed Adhesion. Increasing the temperature of the extruder or build plate can also help the first layer to adhere. As I'm sure many of you are aware, the first layer is the most important layer to get right!
I'm curious to hear your thoughts and opinions on this in the replies below!
-Ben, 3D Exchange Applications Engineer
We want this forum to be a place for professionals to offer their advice and wisdom about Computer Aided Design to those of us who are newer to the industry.
So, What has been the most useful and/or underrated feature of the CAD software you use? It could be anything: A not-well-known feature, a hidden menu, some useful quality of life settings etc
For me, I would say the most useful feature, or the feature I've used most often, would be the mouse gestures SolidWorks has. You can customize the mouse gesture window to contain your most used commands such as Extrude, Loft, Revolve etc. Mouse gestures make accessing your most used commands much faster and saves a ton of time from navigating through the Toolbar menus!
An underrated feature of SolidWorks is the 'Numeric Input' setting when placing sketch elements. This setting allows you to type dimensions for sketch elements you are actively placing, rather than having to input the dimensions after creating the element. This saves quite a bit of time when sketching many different sketch elements that need to be specifically sized. As many of you well know, dimensioning sketch elements after everything is placed does not always go to plan!
Let me know what your thoughts are in the replies!
-Ben, 3D Exchange Applications Engineer
Welcome to the New 3D Exchange Forum! Thank you for posting!
We have a significant number of Verified CAD models available on our main website. You can select any of the listed manufacturers that we offer models for in the list of catalogs, navigate through the table of contents to a product, and configure the product before selecting any of our many available CAD formats.
Here is the link to our list of Verified Models: https://3d-exchange.com/catalogs
Each model provided is verified to be dimensionally accurate by the manufacturer of the product, so you can be sure you are receiving an accurate model.
Thank you for your question and let me know if I can assist any further!
-Ben, 3D Exchange Applications Engineer
Introduce yourselves in the comments below.
This community will be ever changing as it becomes a large hub of engineering discussion. So, tell us in the comments below what you would like to see out of this community. Whether it be sponsored 3D design challenges, informative Q&A sessions with industry professionals, or a casual location for engineer's to discuss their personal projects, let us know your opinion!
We look forward to hearing from all of you and developing this new forum into a vibrant and diverse community!
-Ben, 3D Exchange Applications Engineer and Forum Moderator