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Posted: 11/20/2013 2:38:13 PM EDT
This may not be the best spot but here goes...

I have a 15y. old son that is into mechanical "stuff". he has asked for a planetary gear set for Christmas He will take old cereal boxes and make gears, he made a cars steering setup as well. I am thinking about getting him a computer program where he can design mechanical "stuff" and be able to see it work (CAD?). Is there something out there I can get that will let him do this?
Link Posted: 11/21/2013 5:52:06 AM EDT
[#1]
Never used it but I have always heard of Solidworks when talking about mechanical designs.
Hopefully someone else will chime in with more info.
Also, possibly talk with someone at his school to see if they can get access to a student version.
Much cheaper than paying full retail. At least it was when I had to buy AutoCad.
Link Posted: 11/21/2013 2:14:40 PM EDT
[#2]
It definitely sounds like he might enjoy a CAD program. Most CAD programs have pretty steep learning curves. They're very difficult to just dive right in to, and figure out what you're doing. A CAD/CAM/drafting class at the local community college might be fun for him.

Try using sketchup first. It's a little more user friendly than the high horsepower stuff like Siemens NX. It used to be distributed by Google for free, but it looks like it's independently distributed now. With some digging, you should be able to find a free version of sketchup (maybe even the old Google version). There are TONS of videos on youtube, and articles full of instructions on using sketchup to create different things. If he likes that, a CAD class may be in order.

CAD is what all the pros use to see things work before they actually build them

Sounds like you have a future engineer on your hands

Link Posted: 11/22/2013 7:03:13 PM EDT
[#3]
It sure sounds like he'd enjoy CAD. I'd say the biggest issue is expense. The pro softwares are pretty insane as far as affirding them for personal use. I would have suggested a free one like Google Sketchup mentioned above, but I didn't realize it changed hands. What you might be able to do is contact DDS (Solidworks) or similar and ask for a student copy. When I was an engineering student, they gave all if us a free student copy.  There was nearly full functionality, but you were limited in export capability.

Good luck. I think this is a great thing for him to start playing with at that age. You may want to look into enrolling him in a drafting class at a local community college. Our country needs new engineers.
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