Sketchup to design model car parts?

[V8tiger]

I'm really determined to learn how to design 3d parts and bodies for my cars. I'm determined at least until I realize I might never be able to do it or never have the skill. Does anyone use Sketchup or if not what do you use? Thanks for any input. 

Edited June 5, 2023 by V8tiger

[KMcc]

Hi Joe,   While I am not familiar with Sketchup, I have been using Freecad for designing parts for build projects. So far, I have created wheels, leaf springs, differential and tires for a Ford AA truck with great success. Youtube video tutorials are invaluable. I also have been using Autocad for thirty years, so I'm used to digital drawing environments. You need to make sure Sketchup can convert 3D solid files into .stl files because that is the type of files the slicer software needs to create the file that will get sent to the 3D printer. I have an Anycubic Photon Mono, which comes with slicer software called Photon Workshop. An .stl file displays the 3D shape with all the triangles on the surface. Freecad has the ability to adjust the resolution of the triangles created, which makes the finished print smoother. It also produces large file sizes. I had to get a new computer with more memory to handle these file sizes. I have to say, 3D modelling and printing is significantly cutting into my build time. But, I am having a lot of fun, and in the end, my models will really be one of a kind. I hope this helps you, and I wish you luck diving into this game changing part of the hobby.

Keith

[iBorg]

I'm curious as to what kind of computer requirements you needed for this upgrade. I would like to learn a software that would create files for CNC as well as 3D prints.

[stitchdup]

35 minutes ago, iBorg said:

I'm curious as to what kind of computer requirements you needed for this upgrade. I would like to learn a software that would create files for CNC as well as 3D prints.

I need at least 6gig processing speed to run the slicer. A gaming laptop might have the spec needed if its a recent one as the graphics card needs to be good too. I havent done any drawing on my computer but my friend has installed and used blender on it with no problems. His own laptop is much more powerful than mine but mine coped ok. It was a little slow but i probably wont be using it that often for drawing. If you are going to use it a lot then get the best spec you can to save having to keep upgrading parts/apps

[MeatMan]

I have a couple years old HP laptop with an AMD Ryzen 5 chip and 12 gig of ram and never had a problem.
I use Alibre Atom for my CAD drawings but there is a lot more support online for Freecad & Solidworks. I wanted something I could own so I went the Alibre route.
As far as learning to do parts, you can get up and running fairly quickly with any of those. As for bodies you need to get Blender and get proficient, which is a different animal.
I plan to take some classes for Blender but am really just focused on parts right now that I can sketch out in CAD.
Whatever you do, have fun.

Edited June 7, 2023 by MeatMan

[Texas_3D_Customs]

Fusion 360 Inventor and Solidworks are the standard in CAD design, now F360 is not as much the standard when it comes to big companies, but it has pretty much all the functionality of Inventor minus a few things you will never need for this and it has a free version the last time I checked with limited functionality that you will never notice. I have the commercial license and even that is way lower than the other two around $500/yr but I am not going to jeopardize my business to save $500/yr. I used both Inventor and Solidworks as an Engineer before doing this, and while I prefer Inventor both are good platforms. I suggest looking into F360 and there are tons of tuts on youtube on how to do just about anything on it, I admit even with 10+ years of CAD experience I still go back and look at video when theres something I forgot how to do or to try to figure a better way.