Wirth's Law
Member
One question I've been meaning answer over the past few months is how to get started miniaturizing old projects using 3D CAD software.
Not long prior to that, I was finishing up a filter project complete with circuit board, circular connectors, and panel-mount LEDs. It was functional, it was fairly water-tight, it looked reasonably cool; but it was BIG. This excess size was more of a painful design choice: where I opted to make the box over-sized and not risk having too little space for the internals once I closed the lid. Normally, to make sure things fit, I'll sketch things out on paper before-hand, but usually in 2D. And usually, that drawing changes way more often than I would like. It would nicer to have a CAD program do it.
Question: Can anyone recommend a free or inexpensive 3D CAD program for this type of dilemma?
I've seen Altium products do this, but the price is high compared to what I can get out of it as a beginner. If your suggestions can import .stp and .igs files; or function in either Windows or Linux, that's a nice bonus.
Not long prior to that, I was finishing up a filter project complete with circuit board, circular connectors, and panel-mount LEDs. It was functional, it was fairly water-tight, it looked reasonably cool; but it was BIG. This excess size was more of a painful design choice: where I opted to make the box over-sized and not risk having too little space for the internals once I closed the lid. Normally, to make sure things fit, I'll sketch things out on paper before-hand, but usually in 2D. And usually, that drawing changes way more often than I would like. It would nicer to have a CAD program do it.
Question: Can anyone recommend a free or inexpensive 3D CAD program for this type of dilemma?
I've seen Altium products do this, but the price is high compared to what I can get out of it as a beginner. If your suggestions can import .stp and .igs files; or function in either Windows or Linux, that's a nice bonus.