ONSHAPE
On first hearing about Onshape (LinkedIn, or some CAD industry magazine?) I was sceptical - sounded too good to be true. Draftsight had only recently pulled the rug on their "free" LT clone which I'd come to rely on for the work I was doing at the time - CMC ENG projects like old bike parts, guitars and various components, furniture designs, miscellaneous workshop bits, simple graphic design and client projects such as site layouts, planning drawings, building mock-ups, details for SER applications and other detail work that was too cumbersome in TEKLA. I'd have been far better off Using Solidworks for my own projects, but the cost was prohibitive and having a 2D CAD package at my disposal remained convenient.
I was keen to explore Onshape's browser based system and quickly got to taking apart the mountain bike frame model which was used as a demo. Initially I thought in terms of Solidworks commands for sketching and modelling and that served me well once I had gotten used to translating SW commands/icons to their Onshape equivalents. I found that I generally knew the commands I was looking for but not what they were called, or where to find them. I recall that the search wasn't as good as it is now, but I was able to navigate fairly successfully straight away. I don't know if that is credit to Onshape, or my years of using various 2D and 3D platforms.
My first two projects were creating a model and ultimately fabrication drawings for a BSA trials bike frame, and sketching out some rough designs for a hardtail mountain bike frame. I began with enthusiasm, but this quickly tailed off as I found Onshape unbelievably clunky and lagging when used in anger. Defeated, I shelved both projects - the MTB opportunity has come and gone, but the BSA project will hopefully see the light of day some time soon.
Being off the drawing board for a bit I had forgotten all about Onshape for a year or two until I was asked if I could attend a site, carry out a survey and produce drawings for a lifting bracket, all with great haste. I created a satisfactory set of hand drawings, which I sent off the same day but I had an urge to better document the info in case there would be any subsequent modifications or development. Having no CAD at all on the laptop, and the whole evening to spare, this seemed an ideal opportunity to reassess Onshape and see if the browser based CAD had improved - or if there was less traffic in the evening GMT.
Returning to Onshape a year or two removed from my initial tinkering I found that the speed and responsiveness had improved greatly. It was not only useable, but quick. There were more commands than I remembered, the search function greatly improved and I noticed that sheet metal and steel framing add-ons were now present. Noted. I found that every query I had had already been answered online, and the Sketch - Parts - Assemblies - Drawings format was fairly intuitive. The UI was "familiar" enough, the icons for the major functions could be found easily at a glance, and the deeper commands were easily navigated in the drop downs or with a quick search. Sketching works as you would expect, and there are no glaring omissions from the commands at hand. Modelling commands have a bit more complexity than the equivalents in SW as I recall, but nothing that has really delayed my progress on any projects yet. Drawings again work pretty much as you would expect, with staggered sections, broken out views and custom views saved from the modelling space all available.
My favourite aspect of Onshape is that even though my usage is intermittent - I am generally in the field until there is a requirement for tooling design or enough hours in the day to accommodate a CMC ENG project - I am able to pick it up, and make it do what I want quickly and effectively. Whether I need a 2D sketch, a model to send to the machine shop or details of a complex assembly with a B.O.M. for quantities/pricing I can get out of Onshape what I need with minimum fuss and with none of the constraints of a drawing office CAD setup. I can share (and collaborate, although I don't) on projects, and often make use of view-only invites and the mobile app makes a great viewer for discussion/showing off.
The next steps for me are to investigate creating my own custom drawing templates, find out what customisations I can carry out - context sensitive right click menus? - how to effectively number drawings in a large project, and how to handle revisions. I have no doubt that if these facilities are not available now, someone will have asked the forum and they will appear in future.
Model of a crane lifting bracket for <redacted> that I hastily surveyed on site. This was my first Onshape project, which had to be turned around on a tight deadline and I was able to complete this successfully despite having only a chromebook type laptop on hand with no CAD software. I hoped Onshape would get me out of a bind until I acquired the traditional "gaming PC spec CAD machine" and established a bit of a drawing office resource, but these items have proven surplus to requirements. I somewhat better equipped now in that I have a nice wireless mouse in the van and a fair to middling spec laptop - but even at a hot desk or in the field this is all I require.
Second model created on returning to Onshape - I haven't created fabrication drawings for this yet, the brief was to quickly model these parts which appeared in the office for one afternoon so that they could be replicated. Combination of fairly complex machined parts as well as "off the shelf" items I was able to download from manufacturers site and insert into model.
