Playing with QCad

Want to design your own teardrop or tiny travel trailer. You can do that in 2D or 3D. We keep our secrets in here!

Playing with QCad

Postby CPlater » Sun Aug 16, 2009 2:37 am

Finally was able to make a breakthrough on making curved lines with QCad. My current plan is to build a Weekender on a 4x8 TSC trailer but seeing the curved one on the web site I figured it would be a good way to learn about the program if I had an actual task in mind.

This first successful attempt at using the spline function to round off the sharp corners.
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This one I remove the straight lines to better see the profile. You know, it doesn't look bad.
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This guy is the basic weekender stretched for a 10 foot trailer and rounded. It's not without charm but not nearly as "right" as the 8 footer.
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Now I need to figure out how to enlarge the drawing to full size to cut out the profile. I wonder if there is anybody out there that will plot full size drawings to use as a template.

Courtney
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Postby Carter » Tue Aug 18, 2009 4:29 am

Courtney

If Qcad will allow you to pick points you can layout the full size without full scale drawings. Draw a 6" grid over your design. Pick each point your design curve intersects the grid and record them. Cover your work bench with kraft paper and lay out a full size 6" grid. Transfer the points you recorded to that grid. Use a spline, a flexible yard stick, strip of flexible thin plywood, etc to connect the dots. I used the floor of the trailer as a work bench. Laid out the inside curve points of my sidewall perimeter, put deck screws in at those points and bent the strips of Luan around them to make a "Glue-Lam". You can't see the grid in the picture. If Q cad can't pick points send me a file (dxf, dwg, igs, many others) and I'll send you back a pdf with that information. Should only take a few minutes to do in Rhino.

Jim
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I need a new Avatar. I'd put my dog up there but she doesn't look much like me. She's the skinny one.
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Postby CPlater » Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:38 am

You mean something like this?
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I think that's what the boat makers call lofting. Thanks for the suggestion.

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Postby Carter » Sat Aug 22, 2009 11:08 am

you're welcome
I need a new Avatar. I'd put my dog up there but she doesn't look much like me. She's the skinny one.
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Postby afreegreek » Tue Feb 02, 2010 2:05 am

CPlater wrote:You mean something like this?
Image
I think that's what the boat makers call lofting. Thanks for the suggestion.

Courtney
yup, exactly.. the list of numbers that give you the points is called a "table of offsets" it's cool how you can turn a list of numbers to points on a grid then into a smoothly curved 3D shape.
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