I was about to post the same thing. OpenSCAD s not a general purpose CAD system that you can use for machine design.
How to check for clearance: On a normal CAD system you can have commands like "move this enough so it contacts this other object." I do that, then move it back by the required clearance distance. When working to 0.001" using eyeballs and scales don't work. If boring a bearing I'd say to make the hole "shaft diameter + twice the clearance" With gears yu now the pitch diameter so you place the gear shafts at "pitch diameter A + pitch diameter B + required clearance" Almost all CAD system allow dimension to be expressed as formulas A good CAD system is very much like working on a mill, you would touch the part then move from that reference. The only hard references I would use come from external requirements. Others are calculated. Never trust your eyes or hands. On Sun, May 31, 2020 at 1:06 PM Thaddeus Waldner <thadw...@gmail.com> wrote: > OpenSCAD doesn’t have a measure feature. All that you get is a model > preview overlaid on a 3D scale > > You can, of course, look at the code that created each feature and read > the dimensions there. > > I can’t imagine drawing up a complex machine with OpenSCAD, but apparently > some people do it. > > > https://medium.com/@urish/designing-3d-printable-mechanisms-in-openscad-5838dcb65b39 > > Can’t argue with the price. > > > On May 31, 2020, at 12:50 PM, Chris Albertson <albertson.ch...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > > Any CAD system should allow an exact measure, click on a circle, and see > > the diameter out to the full resolution you have set, typically 0.001mm. > > You should be reading out the numbers not visually comparing to an > > on-screen scale. An on-screen scale would be limited to the pixel > > resolution of the monitor > > > > >> 1; Which is a measure of the OD of the rendered pulley, those areas of > >> the preview gfx are blank, although the scale marks are there, they are > >> drawn behind the sprocket image. so one could get a very rough idea of > >> the total radius of the finished gear in mm. Am I missing a font, or is > >> this a more serious concern that will need me to make the gear before I > >> can determine how it fits? > > > > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > -- Chris Albertson Redondo Beach, California _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
