CAD/CAM training ?

[Jeepers]

anyone here use Lynda.com for autocad ?

wondering how easy to follow there tutorials are, looking at AutoCAD 2011 Essential Training to start out(6 hour tutorial) as i know really nothing about using CAD/CAM software.. step in the right direction or not worth it ?

anywho is Lynda.com is worth the 25-37 per month for there autocad courses ?

[Peter.Steele]

I've not used Lynda's stuff before, but I'll tell you honestly that it's almost not worth learning AutoCAD anymore, or at a minimum not learning it first.

Start off with Inventor or Solidworks. Later on, if you still want to, you can go back and pick up AutoCAD, but the future lies in solid modeling.

[Jeepers]

hmmmm will give Solidworks a try they have a demo , but again whats a good training for the SW ?

[Peter.Steele]

The built-in tutorials, to start with. Solidworks has pretty good ones.

I use Inventor, myself. I started with the built-in tutorials, then applied what I picked up there to some gun blueprints off the net - Sten & AR lower - and then just played from there. Sort of a "wonder what this button does" approach. Fast forward a couple years and now Inventor is how I make my living.

There's a lot of tutorials online, too - plenty of Youtube videos, etc. Google will be your friend. There's some really good books, too - for Inventor there's a series called "Mastering Autodesk Inventor," and I'm sure there's comparable books for Solidworks.

I honestly think that most of the paid training stuff is more money than what it's worth. If you've got a future using this sort of software, you'll probably be able to pick it up with little or no training. Of all the guys I work with, only one has had any formal training, and he's the one that's furthest behind the power curve. It was just intuitive for the rest of us.

[Jeepers]

thanks

just looking to get a idea of just how hard they are to learn before looking for a copy to buy as they are spendy ! lol

i see Inventor also offers a demo so will download that ...

just looking to play with CAD/CAM while building a couple of CNC's , a router and lathe already have some SW such as mach3 ,Aspire/vcarve/cut3d/cut2d that my Bro bought for the CNC project

[Peter.Steele]

thanks

just looking to get a idea of just how hard they are to learn before looking for a copy to buy as they are spendy ! lol

i see Inventor also offers a demo so will download that ...

just looking to play with CAD/CAM while building a couple of CNC's , a router and lathe already have some SW such as mach3 ,Aspire/vcarve/cut3d/cut2d that my Bro bought for the CNC project

If you've got experience actually using machine tools, you'll do well with solid modeling software. A lot of the operations aren't that different from working with actual tools.

I don't really know Solidworks, but with Inventor, I can probably help you out if you need. I've used 2009-2012. I need to get around to getting my home-use license for 2013 set up, but since we haven't upgraded yet at work it hasn't been an issue.

Anyway, PM me if you need help with Inventor, and I'll give you my email address.