CADShare

[Nick]

CADShare

If you are one of the increasing number of G3 modellers who create drawings and models in CAD, this message is for you. If you are doing this for your own use (i.e. not for a commercial venture), consider whether other members can benefit from your expertise by sharing your efforts.

CADShare will be a new service offered to members of the Gauge 3 Society, giving easy entry into the new technologies such as 3D printing, laser cutting and chemical etching for our hobby.

CAD is not for everyone. Not everyone has the existing knowledge or the willingness to learn how to use CAD software (and it must be said that the learning curve can be steep at times). CADShare is a facility where those members who are producing CAD files allow them to be used by other members.

CADShare will be a catalogue of CAD files available on request from other members that you can use for your own, non-profit, purposes. CAD files can be used on your home equipment or that of another member, or can be sent to a company that offers the right services.

At present we are still compiling the catalogue. Some modellers have already contributed to it, and the more the better. If you have CAD files that you are willing to share to other members of the society we can add them to the catalogue.

If you have CAD files to offer

Go to the Gauge 3 Members Messaging Service (MMS) home. If necessary log yourself in, then go to Files then Design Data Sharing & Resource Lists. There you will see a PDF document describing in more detail how this will operate, the file types that are acceptable, and a model of the catalogue showing you the information required. This file is not editable, but if you send me the necessary information about the files you are offering, I will add them to the catalogue.

If you want to see what is on offer

Patience! We intend to publish the first edition of the CADShare catalogue before the Annual Show and AGM on 18 May, and it will be announced on the G3 MMS and in the Summer 2024 Newsletter.

If you have questions

Contact me

The future

CADShare is only the first of a set of proposals that are being worked on. Others include:

Parts – many of us have parts that we won't use, through shortage of time, change of interest, or perhaps we acquired them when we could to make sure they did not disappear forever. How about being able to pass these on to other members who can and will make good use of them?

Services – do you have skills such as machining, 3D printing, laser cutting, designing that you can offer to other members?

If you have any thoughts about these, please let me know.

 

[753]

An excellent idea, should give members more access to tech especially 3D printing.
Maybe a request area where members seeking a particular part can post.

Mike

[IanT]

Mike

It is very easy for Members to make any such requests via the Messaging System, either to all subscribers or privately direct to individuals (via the Directory).

There is a new Topic Hashtag called #CADShare to highlight any such requests (& any subsequent replies...)

Regards,


IanT   

[John Candy]

I have a large collection of STL files (prepared using OpenSCAD) covering a wide range of items (from loco fitments, through carriages, wagons and large buildings, down to smaller scenic accessories).

Some have already been pledged to third party 3D printing enterprises but those which I am prepared to offer as "freebies" will be added to www.gauge3.info when I have time to spare to organise the files and compose sets of 
instructions.
As examples of what will be added are the GWR Siphons, etc., SR bogie luggage van and items of GCR and LNWR rolling stock.

Regards,
John.

[Nick]

John,

That's great. Send me the details of your public offerings and I'll catalogue them.

Nick

[cabbage]

Ok how big a hard disc do you have? The LMS LEGO directory holds "a few" files...

All the programs that I write are under GPL2.0. The source code is Open.Scad,you may alter it as you wish -but it MY program. Any modifications should include the name of the original programmer "ME".

It is nice to know that you are taking up what I originally proposed in 2018.

Regards

Ralph

[IanT]

"CADShare will be a catalogue of CAD files available on request from other members that you can use for your own, non-profit, purposes"


Think of CADShare more as the 'Yellow Pages' Ralph (rather than as a Telephone Exchange).  It's simply a way of letting Members know that something is available from other Members, so there is no need for them to "re-invent the wheel" that someone else has already designed.

Provided you have a hard disk large enough for your designs (which I'm sure you do) then that's all the mass storage required. In terms of your 'conditions of use' - you can set them out directly to anyone requesting your assistance at the time.

Whilst you were clearly ahead of the times back in 2018, not so many G3 folk had access to 3D Printers or CNC machines then. I've only had my Sovol 3D Printer since about 2020 and the CNC Router only arrived a few months ago. It wasn't until I had the printer that I really needed to learn 3D CAD, I been quite happy with 2D for many years before that. So all this new 'Tech' does take time to get absorbed and reach a usable level of maturity.

All Nick needs from you is a list of what you have available and your permission to publish it in the CADShare Catalogue. After that anyone who needs your help will be able to contact you directly.

Regards,


IanT

[cabbage]

Ok - that is reasonable. On request I will supply source code.

IanT you are right about disc storage. The NAS has four WD RED drives at 4TB each...

Regards

Ralph

[cabbage]

Have nick send me an email and I will ship him back the directories dump
Regards
Ralph

[Nick]

Ralph,

Please review the first post in this thread and the file referenced there. That is intended to show what information is required, where to send it and how it is organised in the catalogue. But if you have any questions, you can contact me directly.

Nick

[cabbage]

Excuse me...

But the information has been provided to IanT as a 12 page PDF directories listing file. What you do with it now is your affair.

Personally and Professionally I do not like "push" based systems.

Regards

Ralph

[John Candy]

Nick,

Like Ralph, I don't like "push" based systems and suggest that for my offerings you simply provide a link to gauge3.info with a general description that it contains a selection of rolling stock and other items, leaving it to those interested to investigate. I really don't want to have to deal with email enquiries as I already have enough on my plate.

Regards,
John.

[IanT]

Some members may well not want a lot of additional emails John but they can set their MMS profile to manage what they receive from MMS choosing to receive individual messages (as they are sent), a 'Daily Digest' of messages (just one email a day) or even just 'Special Notices' from the Committee (and I'm not sure we have ever sent any Special Notices in the past two years).

Indeed, it may be worth noting that by setting your profile preferences to 'Special Notices' you will not receive any emails normally but can still go and read any messages or topics when it suits you, directly on the MMS site. In this respect, MMS would then be very similar in use to any other website.

What MMS does provide is a reasonably secure space for Members to communicate with other members that wouldn't otherwise be available. The 'Directory' can be searched to find a Member for instance and to send them a personal/private email. The reason MMS was originally set up was because (during Covid Lockdown) there were emails being sent out by people to long (completely open) lists of members that was very far from secure and open to abuse.

When discussing CADShare, we were aware that most members would not want their contact details made public, nor indeed some willing to provide their work outside of the Society prefering to work just with 'proven' contacts. Everyone is different in their preferences of course. As CADShare will contain not only design info but also contact info, it will not be made available outside of the membership for these reasons.

We will of course have some designs that will be made public (with the consent of their owners) but they will need to be limited in number and well 'curated', if only because of storage and other admin constraints at this time.

Regards,


IanT