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@jchabotte:
CAD isn't as difficult as it looks, especially if you're just making models and not creating formal, ASME or ISO drawings for traditional manufacturing - GD&T is tricky, and takes a lot of practice to do elegantly and in an easily understood fashion.
What i'd recommend is Vectorworks, but only because that's what i'm used to, and AFAIK it's a bit more user friendly than AUTOCAD.
Anyways find some small objects around the house and recreate them in 3D - you may need micrometers to attain any real precision - and work your way up to more complex objects. The trick is being able to visualize the steps you'll take to make a shape - a good way to start making things is to create a rough, encompassing shape and then subtract various other shapes from it.
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@jchabotte: I take the opposite approach. I build up the part like a layer cake. (this seems to work the best in solidworks)
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@nutbastard: I guess it's all what your use to. I'm a AutoCAD person and I've been using it since Release 12 was new, mostly engineering work. I used to do 3D renderings of all the steel in the buildings we did. I can't imagine there's a better 3D program, but like I said, it is the one I'm use to.
It would be cool to use one of these printers to print out building models; both architectural and engineering.
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@CoyoteBrown:
There's also novel methods like sweeps, extrude-along-path, lofts, tapered extrusions that are usually very good for creating a limited number of rough shapes. for example, something that is cylindrically symmetrical (such as a donut or a vase) is actually really simple - a donut is a swept circle and a vase is a swept profile.
if you have the time, it's a rather rewarding activity.
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@nutbastard: I do it for a living, so it's kind of a job. I don't do lots of swoopy things on a day to day basis, mostly fabricated tanks and rotating mechanical equipment. I'd like a 3d printer just to make 3d models of our stuff.
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@CoyoteBrown:
i too get to do CAD for my day job, but I mostly do mechanical assemblies, enclosures, sheet metal and machining, lots of gas flow control and custom test equipment stuff. since it's a small company i also get stuck doing wiring diagrams, design guides, PCB fabs and assemblies, the whole gamut.
I like it a lot : )
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