Learning CAD with Alibre Atom3D

[Martin LenParticipant @martinlen44626]

Thank David

I’m back on track now .

Martin

[Roger Page 2Participant @rogerpage2]

I have successfully followed the Alibre tutorial up to fig 4 of the clamp pin. I created sketch 1 ok, but no way can I create sketch 2 withn a 3.5mm circle to the left hand side of the part, Alibre seems to insist on placing it on the origin. Please help.

Roger

[Roger Page 2Participant @rogerpage2]

Ooops, please disregard my Roger Page 2 post. I reset my user profile and the problem went away. Super Series

[David JuppParticipant @davidjupp51506]

Roger, check to make sure that snap to grid is not enabled – snap will force things to grid intersections.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Roger it sound like you may have "snap to grid" turned on.

To turn it off click the Atom Gem top left, Then system options at the bottom of the drop down. From there come down the list of the window that comes up to Part/assembly and sketching under that heading then scroll to the bottom of the bottom and take the tick out of "snap to grid"

[David JuppParticipant @davidjupp51506]

Roger – re-setting user profile will put things like grid and snap settings back to default values.

[Roger Page 2Participant @rogerpage2]

Thanks for your prompt replies will press on with my brain training.

[john hill 1Participant @johnhill1]

Thanks David, Second option to change toggle reference tab worked John Hill

[David George 1Participant @davidgeorge1]

Hi I have just about got to grips with the program but I have drawn the main body block for the mod on my little mill and when I have extruded cut for example the cap screw holes there are red circles where they were. Also the same for the larger diameters through the centre how do I get rid of the red lines on the model they don't appear on a drawing taken from said part. I have looked through pages and pages to see if anyone has had the same problem but it is possible to index it to help find relevant support.

David

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

It is not a "problem" it just shows how the part was made up from an outline of each sketch. They are useful if you want to go back and edit a sketch as you can click any of the red outlines or as you run the mouse down the left hand list each will be highlighted in turn.

To turn off see my post 25th at 18.22 and do the opposite.

[Anonymous]

Posted by Tim Taylor 2 on 25/01/2019 17:30:09:

Sketches that are not selected show up as a thin red line – when selected they turn blue.

Well I never, sketches can be toggled. But I can't see a need for them in 3D so I'll leave them off.

Andrew

[Nick JamesParticipant @nickjames]

Hello, sorry I'm a bit of a newbie as far as forums are concerned, but I'm having a problem with Alibre Atom3. I have the 6

month licence in conjunction with MEW. Can I go ahead and just ask please?. It's just that I feel I'm breaking into other peoples conversation.

Nick

[David JuppParticipant @davidjupp51506]

Fire away Nick. You might want to take a quick skim through the whole thread first, in case your question has already been answered.

[Anonymous]

Posted by Nick James on 29/01/2019 12:46:34:

It's just that I feel I'm breaking into other peoples conversation.

I wouldn't worry about that; just go for it.

Andrew

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Andrew Johnston on 28/01/2019 09:47:12:

Posted by Tim Taylor 2 on 25/01/2019 17:30:09:

Sketches that are not selected show up as a thin red line – when selected they turn blue.

Well I never, sketches can be toggled. But I can't see a need for them in 3D so I'll leave them off.

Andrew

It can help if you want to select one to edit by clicking on it. But there are alternative routes.

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Nick James on 29/01/2019 12:46:34:

Hello, sorry I'm a bit of a newbie as far as forums are concerned, but I'm having a problem with Alibre Atom3. I have the 6

month licence in conjunction with MEW. Can I go ahead and just ask please?. It's just that I feel I'm breaking into other peoples conversation.

Nick

HI Nick,

That's exactly what this thread is for! Please fire away.

Neil

[Nick JamesParticipant @nickjames]

Hi Neil,

Sometime ago I had reason to email a drawing to someone who did not have the software to open it (QCAD in this case).

I was able to save the file as a PDF which almost any one can open. I tried using PDF publish on Alibre anf it worked ok with a 3D drawing but will not work with a 2D drawing. I have latest update of Foxit reader installed but have removed any Adobe software as it seems to cause trouble. I get the message "No PDF writer was detected. Please retry after installing one". If I look at Alibre System Options – Drawing – PDF. it shows Active PDF Writer as being "Foxit reader PDF Printer Driver" only. Any help would be appreciated.

I'd like to add that that I am very impressed with Alibre atom3D so far. A bit of a steep learning curve to start with but perseverence is paying off. The software seems pretty bullet proof as I just click on things to see what happens and not once has it crashed just helpful messages.Many thanks to Robert for his excellent articles.and everyone else who has made Alibre available.

Regards

Nick

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I tend to just go to print and then instead of selecting my printer I use Cute PDF writer (free to download) which works fine for me, this is an example of one such 2D drawing in PDF format.

I've just done it with the same drawing using Alibre's "publish to PDF from the 2D drawing and that works fine too. Mine shows "Microsoft Write to PDF" and "Cute" as the two available and it used Microsoft.

Edited By JasonB on 29/01/2019 14:59:41

Edited By JasonB on 29/01/2019 15:05:42

[Anonymous]

Posted by JasonB on 29/01/2019 14:53:24:

I tend to just go to print and then instead of selecting my printer I use Cute PDF writer

Me too, although I rarely print PDF with 2D. For clients the 3D PDFs of parts or assemblies are most useful as they can be rotated, panned and zoomed. For 2D for workshop use I print straight from the drawing.

Andrew

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

That's what I do too Andrew just print and use but the PDF is handy for sharing drawings with those that may not have Alibre or any CAD, the example above is one of the engines I have shared sets of drawings for.

[David JuppParticipant @davidjupp51506]

Nick – the PDF option in Atom can be set to use any 'virtual PDF printer' that you have installed. These do vary in quality/compatibility.

Like Jason I don't use the Publish option for 2D drawings, mainly because it introduces a slight scaling of the page to make room for header and footer at top and bottom of page – so your drawing won't truly be to scale.

The Publish option expects to find PDFill installed, so might complain if it isn't. If you chose to install PDFill (it is free), take care to avoid accepting any of the 'bonuses' that the installer might add to your computer.

In summary – simplest to just Print, and choose your PDF printer, most will work. If you find issues with (most likely) text on drawings, try a different PDF printer.

Edited By David Jupp on 29/01/2019 15:03:59

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Windows 10 users will have Microsoft Print to PDF, which should be fine for most purposes.

It just works like a printer, and when you click print it comes up with a 'save' as dialogue.

Neil

[Nick JamesParticipant @nickjames]

Hi,

I now have a PDF 2D file saved on my desktop, then sent and viewed on my phone. Brilliant

In Alibre I selected Print then select Foxit Reader PDF Printer instead of my usual printer, and then choose where to save it.

Thanks everybody for your help.

Best regards

Nick

[mickParticipant @mick65121]

Sorry to bother you all again but I've spent quite a few hours trying to sort this out for myself. I've followed the tutorial to the letter but when I apply the midline constraint it locks the left hand line to the origin point but not to the sketch. I establish the plane by clicking on the z axis in the tree Which creates the blue box shown in fig 32.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Looks like you have drawn the sketch on the ZX plane and not the new plane that touches the edge of the disc.

Easiest option is to deactivate the sketch you have there then click "activate 2D sketch and come down the tree on the left to what is probably your "plane 5" and then draw the angled rectangle again.

 

Edited By JasonB on 29/01/2019 18:38:28

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