CAD Software for Knife Designers (free for non-commercial use.)

Lagrangian · #1

For you hobbyist knife-designers:

DraftSight CAD
Free CAD software for PC, Mac, and Linux from Dassault Systems (one of the giants in the CAD industry):
(Free for hobbyists/non-commercial use. This is _not_ free for _commercial_ use.)
http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/overview/
I found this software via the following YouTuber: knivesandstuff
https://youtu.be/_lj2PN_ ... AAAAAAANAA

123D App
Free PC-only CAD software from Autodesk (one of the other giants in the CAD industry):
http://www.123dapp.com/

MeshLab
Free open-soruce software for processing 3d polygonal meshes:
(This will not work with non-polygonal file-formats used by many CAD programs. For example, spline and NURBS formats like IGES need to be polygonalized first. But this can do stuff like convert .obj files into .step and .stl.)
http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/

There are also several other packages which are either free, or relatively inexpensive. If you get to try any of them out, let us know what you think. I should warn you that 3d modelling has a fairly huge learning curve. It might be getting better with the new software, but it's still quite a lot to take in.

quattrokid73 · #2

If you can get your hands on a copy of Solidworks, it will blow your mind. Perfect tool for designing knives.

jossta · #3

Haven't heard anything bad about Solidworks, but it is waaaayyyyyyy opposite of free...

Clip · #4

For those of you with a valid .edu email address, Autodesk provides a free student copy of their current software offerings for download each year. Full functionality, but when printing the drawings it has a "Student edition" watermark around the border.

Lagrangian · #5

Clip,

Wow that's great! I didn't know Autodesk was doing that. :) I may try that out.

For now, I'm using some software based on an old version of the ACIS modeling engine. So far, it's good enough for me, although it's not parametric.

If you're willing to spend money, I've heard good things about the following software:
(1) Solid Works
(2) Rhino3d. I forget, but I think the educational version is around $200.
(3) Moment of Inspiration 3d (MoI3d) (this is more of a NURBS modeler at the hobbyist level, but written by a former programmer of Rhino3d). Right now around $300 with an educational license for around $100. http://moi3d.com/index.htm
(4) Silo3d (http://www.nevercenter.com/silo/). Okay if you're willing to live only in the world of NURBS and sub-d, and don't mind missing a lot of dimensional tools. Around $160.

Of course there are other high end 3d programs (some for computer graphics, others for CAD), but many of them are extremely expensive. Examples include Pro Engineer, Catia, 3d Studio Max, Maya, etc. But most of those are too expensive for mere mortals. ^^;

Donut · #6

The question that comes to my mind is: At what point does knife design go from non-commercial to commercial?

If you are doing it right, there should be a point where you go from designing knives for fun and start getting paid for your designs.

The Deacon · #7

Donut wrote:The question that comes to my mind is: At what point does knife design go from non-commercial to commercial?

If you are doing it right, there should be a point where you go from designing knives for fun and start getting paid for your designs.

As with most questions of ethics, opinions on that are going to differ but most software I've used in the past that was offered "free for non-commercial use" had the maker's definition of what they considered "commercial use" right in the license agreement. Some were more liberal than others, but many would consider even submitting designs for consideration by manufacturers crossing that line, and all I ever dealt with would consider getting paid for your designs as having crossed it.

ceya · #8

I wish I could use CAD to draw my designs.

I hand draw my stuff with enough Architect and drafting classes I have a eye for scale.

S/F,
CEYA!