Dr Footleg (he/him)
Mark Fraser@drfootleg Even simpler - sketch and revolve?
Chris Huck@mfraz74 @drfootleg There you go, making the sketch more ‘complicated’ 😉
Κέχ (👻🏴☠️)@chrishuck @mfraz74 @drfootleg This snarky reply was my first thought when I saw the post, to the point that I didn't even look at replies before I went and did this. At least I have a nice, topical place to stash it, I suppose.
@xek @chrishuck @mfraz74 I was showing that what you design in CAD doesn't need to be complicated to be useful, not trying to start a 'this is the simplest way to CAD this part' contest. But I still feel a sketch with 2 circles with the inside and outside dimensions of my washer is simpler than the sketch required to revolve this part. But there are always many ways to make the same part, and the best way is always the way you prefer.
@drfootleg @xek @mfraz74 I was just being snarky because there really isn’t a “wrong” way to do anything in CAD (though, some people get very angry about this). Mark’s suggestion is one less feature, but a “more complicated” sketch (even though not really).
Keep on showing people that using the tools is what it’s about.
@chrishuck @xek @mfraz74 I run a weekly CAD drop in session at my Makerspace, and it is always interesting to see the different ways people think about how to model a part. I had someone who does a lot of manual machining who hadn't seen that they could 'cut' a feature horizontally from the middle of a part because they were so used to thinking in terms of where a tool would approach the material to make a cut from the top face vertically downwards.
concretedog@drfootleg @chrishuck @xek @mfraz74 ha I've definitely had the opposite of this where people are so used to CAD for 3D print they easily make impossible to machine geometry!
@drfootleg @xek @mfraz74 Trying to figure out how someone else modeled something is definitely interesting, especially when you’re trying to help them troubleshoot why something isn’t working. I deal with this all the time at work as my other engineers have their own methods that admittedly baffle me sometimes 😂
Even better is one of my newer engineers asking me questions about why a past engineer did certain things, and I honestly didn’t have a good answer. All we could do was speculate and try to come up with mitigation tactics for a reasonable path forward to fix “sins of the past”.
@chrishuck @drfootleg @xek I encounter that where I work quite often. Having to up-issue a design due to an error or something clashing and trying to unpick how they created their design so I can change it.
@drfootleg Whenever anyone makes a request of me at work, and they tell me to “Make it simple”, I usually respond with: “I don’t get paid more if I make it unnecessarily complicated. And, why would I want to make something more difficult for me to support?”
Then, my next question is: “Simple for whom?”
That usually makes them reassess their requirements.
I appreciate posts like this because so many people think CAD is only for elaborate designs. Sometimes you just need to make a damned washer, and tools like FreeCAD make that just as easy. 😃
@chrishuck @drfootleg honestly making standoffs and washers is such a great use for CAD and 3D print!