I got started with Autocad drawings of precast concrete buildings. Now I work for a machine shop that refurbishes big valves, and it’s equal parts boring and amazing. Some days I don’t do anything at all. And some days someone will drop some broken and bent part of something on my desk, and say “Can you figure out what this used to look like, and make a cad model of it, so we can get this fixed?”
oh crazy! i got into this cad work because i used to work in a machine shop haha. I went to school for manufacturing engineering but moved into CNC machinist. used to be pretty good with Mach3 and RhinoCAM haha. Even built a few machines myself. It led me to 3d Printing, naturally, since both share Gcode base language, which i learned in college. I still absolutely LOVE 3d printing. Its the only thing I’m confident saying I’m an expert in, except, i haven’t been paying attention to new machines for a while now.
My CAD journey started in a fabrication shop. I ran a CNC laser, and sometimes parts had a feature in the wrong place, or a hole that was the wrong size. I learned how to make adjustments in Sigmanest, and then learned to make my own 2D cad files. I took a couple of classes in manual drafting (paper and pencils) and another couple of classes in Solidworks. I taught myself autocad after being hired to detail reinforcement in precast concrete parts.
manual drafting was so much fun. i miss the graphite marks on the outside of my palms haha. Its still the basis of how i operate in CAD. its so frustating trying to show people how tyo draft in CAD, who dont have hand drafting education. So much shit that i take for granted, came from those 2 courses.
Drafting I,II and Material Processes I, II were so incredibly formative for me. I have no idea who I would be today without the basis of knowledge that gave me, and for showing me “learning can be fun” as cliche as that sounds. I didn’t even finish my degree, but it made me 100x more curious about the world around me.
I got started with Autocad drawings of precast concrete buildings. Now I work for a machine shop that refurbishes big valves, and it’s equal parts boring and amazing. Some days I don’t do anything at all. And some days someone will drop some broken and bent part of something on my desk, and say “Can you figure out what this used to look like, and make a cad model of it, so we can get this fixed?”
oh crazy! i got into this cad work because i used to work in a machine shop haha. I went to school for manufacturing engineering but moved into CNC machinist. used to be pretty good with Mach3 and RhinoCAM haha. Even built a few machines myself. It led me to 3d Printing, naturally, since both share Gcode base language, which i learned in college. I still absolutely LOVE 3d printing. Its the only thing I’m confident saying I’m an expert in, except, i haven’t been paying attention to new machines for a while now.
My CAD journey started in a fabrication shop. I ran a CNC laser, and sometimes parts had a feature in the wrong place, or a hole that was the wrong size. I learned how to make adjustments in Sigmanest, and then learned to make my own 2D cad files. I took a couple of classes in manual drafting (paper and pencils) and another couple of classes in Solidworks. I taught myself autocad after being hired to detail reinforcement in precast concrete parts.
manual drafting was so much fun. i miss the graphite marks on the outside of my palms haha. Its still the basis of how i operate in CAD. its so frustating trying to show people how tyo draft in CAD, who dont have hand drafting education. So much shit that i take for granted, came from those 2 courses.
Drafting I,II and Material Processes I, II were so incredibly formative for me. I have no idea who I would be today without the basis of knowledge that gave me, and for showing me “learning can be fun” as cliche as that sounds. I didn’t even finish my degree, but it made me 100x more curious about the world around me.