Free CAD software and 3D printed motor mounts

[RatelZA]

As a mechanical design engineer for a small company with no dedicated draughtsman I spend a LOT if time behind CAD software, specifically Solidworks. I always have a bunch of ideas bouncing around in my head begging to be committed to a CAD file. Unfortunately, proper 3D CAD software (with assembly modeling) is generally prohibitively expensive, and out of reach of the hobbyist who wants something to use at home.

I recently discovered OnShape, which is a cloud based 3D CAD program with a lot of very handy features. Coming from Solidworks, I was very impressed with the software, especially since it is free to use, with a 100MB limit on private documents. For public documents, where anybody can view the designs, there is 5GB of storage, which is more than adequate for hobbyists. There is some very nice collaboration features which can be very handy for the RC community where a few people from all over the world can easily work together on a design.

Since it is cloud based, everything runs from your browser, with no installation required. It also works from your smartphone or tablet. There are apps for that The tutorials on the website is very handy for anyone to get started.

To test OnShape out, I created the FT Swappable Firewall and Control horns as public files, and 3D printed them at work. I added studs to the back of the firewall to allow easy mounting to the power pod.




Here are the links to the OnShape files. Anyone can copy and modify them.
Firewall: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/f2b637bba94198d8a7980667
Control Horns: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/45cd6216774d7ce4e657b214

 

[Balu]

I like them . I wonder if you could add some tabs on the sides corners of the firewall to give some more grip for the hot glue?

Oh and make sure your motor doesn't get hot. That might result in troubles .



Have you tried Autocad Fusion360 for a CAD solution? It's free for hobbyists / makers. You have to renew your license every year, but they don't limit you in any way. I'm not a big fan of all the cloud based stuff, but this felt really nice and it has a very helpful community.

 

[RatelZA]

I discovered Fusion360 yesterday, still have to put it through it's paces though

 

[mactek]

For a hobbyist that does not know CAD at all i find Tinkercad to be the easiest to create objects and 3d print them. I have created firewalls, control horns camera mounts and i have no 3d or cad experience. I am going to check out this Onshape though because it looks like you create more complex models which lately i have been wanting to tackle and Tinkercad is not the right tool for. Thanks for showing us this.