Today I acquired...........

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Note to self.
TYA can say No too tools.

3 of the items are new to me. One has been on a trip for 12 years.



2 more.

But I have a cunning plan.

The big one with the pump handle looks to be to far gone, but the smaller one is ex WD fitted with a hot jet and hot norrow open nozzle. Should be worth a better look.




Yes another bit and brace.
But I know some one who found a Square shank drill..........


The 1" Knuckle bar and 36mm socket.
I acquired it in 1995, used it on Astra Mk2 to work on clutches.

I lent it friend, I knew it would be a while before I saw it again. He ran away to the USA to work on Beetles.
Long story short he has come home and posted it back to me.

Plus a nice letter.

 

[Dr.Al]

Not for long....they have just announced a very restricted version now as the free offering.
1st stage after that is 300 dollars for a year.

I was very nervous about Fusion when I trialled it and compared it with lots of other tools. It wasn't as good as a lot of competition and the risk of lock-in and then decide to charge you" scared me too much to use it. I'm glad I went another way now.

Interesting that they haven't included STEP files on the export file types list for the free version. That means you'll really struggle to get the models (in a decent editable CAD format rather than just a printable mesh) into an alternative CAD application. Presumably in the hope that you pay them for the full version at which point you "don't need" the alternative CAD application.

I saw it coming, but I'm still disappointed that Autodesk decided to do it.

 

[Arc Tourist]

A double pein hammer

ideally I’d prefer it much much smaller and with a longer nose

if anyone had one feel free to pm me

Here is something close which might suit your purpose, saw this hammer today on ebay. Item # 1437 3325 8075

 

[8ob]

Not for long....they have just announced a very restricted version now as the free offering.
1st stage after that is 300 dollars for a year.

I was very nervous about Fusion when I trialled it and compared it with lots of other tools. It wasn't as good as a lot of competition and the risk of lock-in and then decide to charge you" scared me too much to use it. I'm glad I went another way now.

Interesting that they haven't included STEP files on the export file types list for the free version. That means you'll really struggle to get the models (in a decent editable CAD format rather than just a printable mesh) into an alternative CAD application. Presumably in the hope that you pay them for the full version at which point you "don't need" the alternative CAD application.

I saw it coming, but I'm still disappointed that Autodesk decided to do it.

I am only a few days in, should I jump ship

Bob

 

[stuvy]

Here is something close which might suit your purpose, saw this hammer today on ebay. Item # 1437 3325 8075

ideally I’d love a long nose ball pein but they fetch £75 on ebay

 

[Arc Tourist]

ideally I’d love a long nose ball pein but they fetch £75 on ebay

There is a double peen hammer on the " gamdmtools.co.uk " site, described as for beating copper; and its about a third of the price you mentioned here. Have a look, putting "hammer" in the search box.

 

[mpats]

A new house

Well, don't count your chickens yet and all that but our offer has been accepted so fingers crossed it all goes through. Be a shame to leave here but much more space (loads of workshop space ) and plenty ground for a wee tractor

 

[ukracer]

I was very nervous about Fusion when I trialled it and compared it with lots of other tools. It wasn't as good as a lot of competition and the risk of lock-in and then decide to charge you" scared me too much to use it. I'm glad I went another way now.

Interesting that they haven't included STEP files on the export file types list for the free version. That means you'll really struggle to get the models (in a decent editable CAD format rather than just a printable mesh) into an alternative CAD application. Presumably in the hope that you pay them for the full version at which point you "don't need" the alternative CAD application.

I saw it coming, but I'm still disappointed that Autodesk decided to do it.

What do you use now then?

 

[ukracer]

I am only a few days in, should I jump ship

Bob

Good question. I am months in but don't know enough to get upset about it.. I will export the basic models I have made as you can only keep 10 soon. But I won't be going in depth with it.

 

[mtt.tr]

A 12v chainsaw grinder used a friends one few weeks ago on site i was totally blown away completely ruined 24" chain sharp in minutes

I do have a bench grinder but i think in future i will tickle my chains with this at the end of the day.


Have you tried one @8ob ?

 

[stuvy]

There is a double peen hammer on the " gamdmtools.co.uk " site, described as for beating copper; and its about a third of the price you mentioned here. Have a look, putting "hammer" in the search box.

that’s almost what I’m after

 

[mtt.tr]

that’s almost what I’m after

I might have what you want

 

[8ob]

A 12v chainsaw grinder used a friends one few weeks ago on site i was totally blown away completely ruined 24" chain sharp in minutes

I do have a bench grinder but i think in future i will tickle my chains with this at the end of the day.


Have you tried one @8ob ?

Yes I have one, absolute godsend on site for the big saws. Wouldn't be without one, stones last a long time if you dont lean on them too hard

Bob

 

[mtt.tr]

Yes I have one, absolute godsend on site for the big saws. Wouldn't be without one, stones last a long time if you dont lean on them too hard

Bob

i feel like ive been missing out, im normally the person that ends up hand filing on site for 20mins, i think its actually more convenient than my bend grinder

 

[8ob]

i feel like ive been missing out, im normally the person that ends up hand filing on site for 20mins, i think its actually more convenient than my bend grinder

If you use the whole of the stone and don't trough them they can be used on the smaller topper chains as they wear down.

Bob

 

[Dr.Al]

What do you use now then?

Short answer: onshape, cadquery & ZW3D Lite, depending on what I'm doing.

It's not an easy choice by any means. Most of the really good options (e.g. Solidworks) are eye-wateringly expensive. What I would generally recommend for most people is onshape (which I use a lot). It has the same risk as Fusion to some degree, but the company seems more committed to hobbyists. The disadvantage of it is that your models will be public on the web (not that anyone will ever find them amongst the thousands of models in their collection). It's (in my opinion) better than Fusion as well. I think it was started by some ex-Solidworks developers.

If you want to be absolutely sure you'll never lose access to your models, then you'll need something that is installed on your PC on a permanent licence basis (i.e. buy once, keep forever). I wanted this and I also wanted some private CAD models.

The choice in the semi-affordable bracket basically came down to four:

1. FreeCAD (free)
2. Alibre Atom3D (about £300 one-off cost†)
3. ZW3D Lite (just over £1k one off cost†)
4. IronCAD Inovate [sic] (about the same as ZW3D Lite)

Alibre Atom3D is a complete waste of money as it's not as good as FreeCAD. It doesn't support top-down modelling (designing parts based on the existing assembly) and never will as they want to charge a lot more for that feature. FreeCAD doesn't either, but they're working on it so it probably will eventually. FreeCAD is nowhere near as polished as the likes of Fusion, Onshape or ZW3D Lite, but if you just want some simple models to test out designs or 3D print stuff, it's fine.

The other two are a lot more expensive, but it's a one-off cost as opposed to an annual subscription, which is WAY better in my opinion. I bought ZW3D Lite a few years ago. I'm now using an out of date version (getting updates is about £300 per version I think), but it works fine so I haven't bothered to pay for any of the the new (annual) releases. It's not quite as capable as onshape, but it's close enough for my purposes.

IronCAD Inovate I gave up on the trial as the trial version includes all of the features of the (much) more expensive version and I couldn't figure out what would suddenly disappear when I went back to the more basic version.

Of course if you want all of Fusion's CAM (as opposed to CAD) capabilities, it gets much more complicated (ZW3D for example charges a lot more for their CAM-capable version).

I haven't bothered describing the other one I use, cadquery, as I doubt it'll be of interest to many people here!

† Those prices were a few years ago so may have changed

 

[Dr.Al]

Oh, and whatever you use, export your models as STEP files regularly. Save the STEP files somewhere safe and at least you'll then stand a chance of recovering them (albeit without history-editing capability) if whatever CAD application you use goes kaput for whatever reason.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

But I have a cunning plan.

Does it involve 'upcycling' + bulbs?

 

[bigegg]

Does it involve 'upcycling' + bulbs?

It'd only make a small planter...

(Or did you mean "lamps"? )

 

[ukracer]

Short answer: onshape, cadquery & ZW3D Lite, depending on what I'm doing.

It's not an easy choice by any means. Most of the really good options (e.g. Solidworks) are eye-wateringly expensive. What I would generally recommend for most people is onshape (which I use a lot). It has the same risk as Fusion to some degree, but the company seems more committed to hobbyists. The disadvantage of it is that your models will be public on the web (not that anyone will ever find them amongst the thousands of models in their collection). It's (in my opinion) better than Fusion as well. I think it was started by some ex-Solidworks developers.

If you want to be absolutely sure you'll never lose access to your models, then you'll need something that is installed on your PC on a permanent licence basis (i.e. buy once, keep forever). I wanted this and I also wanted some private CAD models.

The choice in the semi-affordable bracket basically came down to four:

1. FreeCAD (free)
2. Alibre Atom3D (about £300 one-off cost†)
3. ZW3D Lite (just over £1k one off cost†)
4. IronCAD Inovate [sic] (about the same as ZW3D Lite)

Alibre Atom3D is a complete waste of money as it's not as good as FreeCAD. It doesn't support top-down modelling (designing parts based on the existing assembly) and never will as they want to charge a lot more for that feature. FreeCAD doesn't either, but they're working on it so it probably will eventually. FreeCAD is nowhere near as polished as the likes of Fusion, Onshape or ZW3D Lite, but if you just want some simple models to test out designs or 3D print stuff, it's fine.

The other two are a lot more expensive, but it's a one-off cost as opposed to an annual subscription, which is WAY better in my opinion. I bought ZW3D Lite a few years ago. I'm now using an out of date version (getting updates is about £300 per version I think), but it works fine so I haven't bothered to pay for any of the the new (annual) releases. It's not quite as capable as onshape, but it's close enough for my purposes.

IronCAD Inovate I gave up on the trial as the trial version includes all of the features of the (much) more expensive version and I couldn't figure out what would suddenly disappear when I went back to the more basic version.

Of course if you want all of Fusion's CAM (as opposed to CAD) capabilities, it gets much more complicated (ZW3D for example charges a lot more for their CAM-capable version).

I haven't bothered describing the other one I use, cadquery, as I doubt it'll be of interest to many people here!

† Those prices were a few years ago so may have changed

Thanks for taking the time to do a write up...
freecad and onshape it is then.