Drafting Update

It's been over two years now that I've gone from drafting in SolidWorks to drafting in AutoCAD. Wow what a transition. I was driving an automatic for three, four years and boom - I had to go back to driving a standard. Now after three years, I'm soon to be using Inventor, so back to automatic I go!

Backstory:

I originally learned CAD drafting in AutoCAD. After all, besides MicroStation, AutoCAD was about the only choice that existed when board drafting became the dinosaur. Back in the days of my rebelling, trying to figure out how to go to college against my parents' wishes, AutoCAD 10 was the thing to learn. The grid was always there, two dimensional, simple commands of line, circle, array - this was my introduction.

Fast forward twenty years, I still had not landed a drafting job although I'd apply for every beginner job out there I didn't have a grasp of the industry, no knowledge of how the career world worked, and no google to search and no "How Stuff Works" to get me up to speed on the lingo. The first of those two decades I was also too immature and excited and I'm sure looked quite the eager happy pup that frightened off more than one potential employer, so those years I spent in customer-oriented jobs: delivery, cook, retail.  Then the second of those decades I was too busy keeping my kids alive to care about pursuing what seemed a pipe dream, so I buried my ambition under duty.

Finally after I convinced myself the kids were independent enough, my thoughts of a career reawakened with a vengeance and I began this pursuit with new tools at my disposal. I drew up a plan of how to get from point A to point B, and tenaciously began chipping away. Nothing really went according to plan, but I still knocked chunks off that block piece by piece.

At the time, I wasn't sure if taking the cell phone repair technician job would really help in my career goals, it was sure a stretch but used my skills in reading blueprints, and I definitely wanted to break free of my typecast secretary rut. Unfortunately I soon found myself back in another secretary job, but because it was a manufacturer, I learned SolidWorks while working there! I learned to use calipers and modeled some parts while I was there.

After three years I was able to get a job as a "real drafter" using SolidWorks. And the rest is history.

Standard, Automatic, Standard, Automatic:

So the hardest part of going back to AutoCAD from SolidWorks was mastering the change from planes to UCS navigation. In the beginning I couldn't find the words to explain the difference to coworkers who had never used anything but AutoCAD. Now I see the best way to translate it is that SolidWorks (and Inventor) planes are UCS rotations.

Models in AutoCAD are still drawn with lines, circles, arcs, arrays, but AutoCAD is gimped in that it doesn't recognize intuitively that you might want to create a feature - a bump, a hole, a ridge - on the surface of a solid body. It's not parametric modeling. It's still 2D drawing, even in 3D modeling mode.

When I first started re-learning AutoCAD, I compared it to programming. It is still very much able to take command line input, and much of the skeleton is visible. Robust and powerful, yes, and some GUI features have been incorporated over the years, but that skeleton being so close the surface is far too often an obstacle to intuitive design.

There is much that has improved in twenty years, of course. We use many side plug-ins, just as SolidWorks has plug-ins so does AutoCAD. I learned about CADWorx Plant, CADWorx P&ID (both for piping design), and touched some other AutoDesk software such as Navisworks and 3DS Max, 123D Design, Meshmixer and played around with other third party tools like Inkscape and Bentley View.

There's a plethora of design software and analyzing for usage could be a full time job for a full team of professionals.I am sometimes staggered at the amount of information that has been dumped into my head over the last two years. I've drawn plans, I've modeled equipment, I've found out tips to share with others, I've traveled to a vendor's facility, I've been on the edge of project planning, and when a concept query was tossed in the air - I caught it and ran with it. I'm now in charge of building scale models, two under my belt and a third in planning.

Now we're looking at getting Inventor, so after using "presspull" and "UCSNext" for all my model building lately, getting away from the inefficient workflows of a CAD system that was built 30+ years ago and going back to parametric modeling is a relief!

I'm excited at the prospect of doing my next model with automated partitions rather than hand sketching my own wall joints based on carpentry practices. It was a nice history study, but definitely not optimum efficiency. And I'm all about logic and efficiency.

Maker Space Dreams

This is a stream-of-consciousness gathering of my dreams for an ideal maker space. I've cleaned up the spelling and grammar a bit, but it's still very rough. I really would be thrilled seeing these ideas brought to fruition. Enjoy.

I want to see maker space with show and tell hour.  No one is allowed to sell their products there.  Can exchange time teaching others how to do something for time credits. Can earn time credits for show and tell.

Public schools would be ideal spaces for this, except lack of space.  Encourage adults to get involved too though.  How to make it for both?  Set times for adult space and times for kids space and then have show and tell for each. Or have adult maker spaces at high schools only. No, maybe the schools would be better for demos only, just to introduce kids to the concept and encourage them to come hang out at the actual space.

Maybe libraries should be the controlling force. For space, empty warehouse type buildings. There are lots of unused commercial properties. Perhaps the owners could receive subsidized rent or tax incentives for allowing use of the space?

Businesses like Home Depot and Lowes and Tandys and Radio Shack could be sponsors. No selling on location, but advertising, signage. And maybe tool rental?  Like would ABC Rentals participate?

Importance of being creative article

Have recycle bins for material scraps by size and type, free for anyone to take from. Employees and volunteers sort and discard as needed.

Have full sheet materials available for at-cost purchase.

Admission free to use open tables and just hang out. Encourage an arcade atmosphere.
Anyone under 14 must be accompanied by parent or guardian.
$1 per hour to use a booth (basic equipment/tools) - have coin-op doors with a credit card slot, but just waist or chest high doors & walls so people can talk with you and observe your project while you work
$5 per hour to use advanced booth (power tools)

Would require security for locking up things, and one or possibly two full time staff members on site during all open hours. Have volunteer opportunities for anyone over 16.

Needs to open around noon and close around 9 pm so students and workers would have plenty of time to work on a project. Open Tuesday through Saturday to cater to customers. The employees would have Sunday and Monday off.

Maker Space

Tulsa is short on maker space. All we have is FabLab.  I made my phone stands there a couple years ago, but I haven't been back.

They have reduced their public non-member hours to once a month, but the fee is low (2 months for $25). Lately I'm more short on time though. They are sponsoring a maker fair at one of the small buildings on the fairgrounds here in August, which I've marked on my calendar.

The library is planning to open a maker space when renovations are complete, but that's a long way off. I am skeptical of the space they show on the temporary Librarium space. It looks like there are no machines. Another "too short on time to go confirm" problem.