Curved text

[ReMark]

Bottom line is if you are creating this mock-up to give to a contractor so he has some idea of what you want then I see no problem doing it the way Jack has demonstrated. If you are doing the work yourself, and you want perfect results, then I'd consider following JDM's advice and download Inventor (I'm pretty sure the OP is affiliated with the university in some manner). You want a perfect looking end product right?

 

Thanks guys...I really enjoyed the debate. Kind of like watching the Republicans debate amongst themselves. LOL

[JD Mather]

This shouldn't be an AutoCAD vs Inventor debate.

Geometry is geometry.

It can be created in AutoCAD or Inventor or any other CAD program that I am aware of.

 

The question is creating the geometry correctly - not simply creating a mock-up and sending it to the contractor to do what they know how to do.

Sure - this is a big concrete slab - nothing critical here. But it is the pervasiveness of the attitude - well it will take me too long to do it right - and they don't need all that detail anyway.

 

I worked out on the shop floor for 8 years with this kind of garbage coming down from engineering because of a basic lack of understanding of geometry, of manufacturing processes and because the design tools (technology of the time) just weren't up to the job. (yes, my work was a bit more critical than a concrete sign - tank, missile, submarine and helicopter parts)

 

Over the next few days (weeks?) as I find time I will break this problem down into examples which will demonstrate that the solution suggested is not correct.

A geometry problem, not a software problem.

 

So this only becomes a software problem when you consider the costs of making mistakes between communication of design intent between the office and shop floor because of the difficulty of modeling with older technology vs next generation technology. There is good reason (economic) why companies are willing to pay the $1300 or so for Inventor or other modern CAD programs over Inventor as there is a payback in speed and fewer mistakes.

 

I made a mistake in suggesting the student license as my initial impression was that this was a student question (given the basic geometry and the design content). Even if this is for a school - the school is required to use a commercial license to produce the drawing for creation) even if not-for-profit. On the other hand, there is no such restriction on 30-day trial.

 

Enough of the CAD wars - I'll get back to the geometry when time permits.

 

How deep do you want those letters?

[ReMark]

No matter how perfect you make that mock-up drawing the person who does the actual work is only going to use it, in this particular case, as a guide. Nothing more, nothing less. He'll lay it out himself using whatever program/time-tested method he has used in the past and you would be beating your head against the wall trying to convince him to do otherwise.

 

Now if you are doing both the design and the fabrication, well you damn well better get it right in the first place or you'll be wishing you had farmed the project out to someone who knows what they are doing and does it day-in and day-out. I think we refer to a person like this as an expert. Correct me if I am wrong.

[ReMark]

I'm having a radiator enclosure constructed out of wood and punched metal for my 103 year old house. I've already talked to the carpenter who has been doing this type of work for over 50 years. I told him I could give him not only a fully dimensioned drawing of the enclosure I had in mind but one of the existing radiator as well. His response was "I'll come out and take the measurements myself and I'll look at your "sketch". He'll look at my "sketch"! LOL

 

By the way, forming letters in concrete is not the same as machining them in metal. Letters in concrete date back long before machining as we know it today even existed.

 

An article re: forming letters in concrete. Notice the reference to a "skilled craftsman".

 

http://www.concreteconstruction.net/Images/How%20to%20Form%20Lettering%20in%20Concrete_tcm45-346429.pdf

Edited September 23, 2011 by ReMark

[JD Mather]

''' ...not the same as machining them in metal.

 

Now we are getting somewhere.

[Jack_O'neill]

This is my final post on this subject. Continue the discussion if you llike, but I will not see it.

 

I told everybody up front that what I offered was a representation. Unless you work for the company that will do the engraving, nothing you give them will be used for any more than an idea of what you want. They WILL RECREATE anything you take them to match thier capabilities and in the format they need for thier machinery. You can make the finest, most accurate cad drawing ever created and it will be treated as a photograph and redrawn.

 

If the parties involved had read everthing I posted, it would have been clear from the start that the text did not wrap. I never said it did, and in fact gave a detailed description of what I did. It creates an illusion of wrapped text, and all that is necessary for a rendering.

 

I also stated that you could take the letters after they were extruded and lay them out around the arc if you wanted to put the effort into it.

 

This is not an inventor vs autocad debate, it's an "i'm right and you're wrong and by god i'll prove it" debate. I completely understand the geometry, the needs of a machine shop and how to draw it. I've worked in machine shops for the last 30 years, I've used autocad since release 10 so don't tell me I don't know what I'm doing. READ what I said....I told you what I was doing.

 

Enjoy the weekend.

[nestly]

This shouldn't be an AutoCAD vs Inventor debate.

 

Yeah, who made this all about Inventor anyway when the OP's profile says he's using AutoCAD. Lets flog that guy.

[rkent]

Yeah, who made this all about Inventor anyway when the OP's profile says he's using AutoCAD. Lets flog that guy.

 

Ignore list is a beautiful thing.

[SEANT]

Would it be safe to say that the most accurate geometry possible is preferable – provided it is not too costly?

 

If the project is without restrictions then distributing a visual mock-up makes sense. If geometry and/or time constraints exist then the extra effort up front may be justified.

 

If, for instance, a customer absolutely needed each letter placed a certain way then distributing an accurate model to vendors provides the best launch for the project. If a sub-contractor is incapable of producing that exact geometry then there is no sense in their wasting time producing their own drawings.

 

In a similar sense, if a vendor signs off on the customer’s model then the customer can continue with project development without having to wait for the vendors return package.

Edited September 24, 2011 by SEANT

[SEANT]

I’ll state my motive for posting the reply above:

 

I’m developing a set of 3D related tools for AutoCAD and hope to post them at Exchange-Apps some time in the near future. The topic of this thread was one of the areas that I targeted.

 

Presumably, AutoCAD users have learned to live with numerous “workaround’s” to compensate for the 3D deficiencies. That additional effort may not warrant the cost of upgrading to Inventor (or some such) but may be incentive enough to try a $20-$25 app.

[ReMark]

The most accurate geometry is preferable if one knows what it takes to actually achieve the desired results. I'm betting the OP has no inkling of how letters are formed in poured concrete on flat surfaces let alone curved surfaces. And I don't get the impression that he or the university will be doing the work themselves.

 

Until I came across the article I linked to previously I thought that any lettering in concrete would be done much like the lettering on headstones which is obviously not formed in place.

 

How granite headstones are made....http://www.everlifememorials.com/v/headstones/granite-headstones.htm

[SEANT]

Many of the original post to threads require some “read between the lines” sort of interpretation, unless the poster is overly specific. And I think all of the replies here were appropriate, and a combination of them will likely satisfy the OP’s request.

 

 

 

Some of the replies (mine and JD’s specifically) had ulterior motives but were still pertinent to the topic. I think these replies were geared to a more general application – more so, at least, than the specifics of this thread.

[Z GUY]

I want to write 3D text around the cylinder. Please kindly see my attachment. It has taken nearly one hour. The shortest way is the best one for me because of my employer who want to see my work before i finish it. I have to use 3Point UCS and for one words and used back again text explode command for each because of accepting only plan view by Auto CAD. Can you point for me the best and short way with Auto CAD.

Text.dwg

[scj]

See

http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?35404-How-to-emboss-objects-on-cylinderical-object&highlight=jochen

Regards

Jochen