Living Hinge Design

[TimBobTastic]

Hi Everyone

Ahead of ordering my shiny new laser I thought I would start looking at some design aspects. I am really interested in making use of a living hinge to wrap a number of my box designs.

I would be really interested to know what software other people use to design living hinges. I have the makings of a fully parametric model in SolidWorks (busy lunch times at the office) but realise not everyone has access to such tools, and if we decide to go self employed will not be able to afford to purchase such luxuries for a lonnnnng time.

Thanks for your input

[Daven]

Best is AutoCAD - you can sometimes pick older version up cheap on the bay but there are a couple of free CAD programs out there too like Draftsight and DoubleCad.

Cheers
Dave

[Matrix]

DesignSpark Mechanical is free from RS - a parametric modeller based on the pro' SpaceClaim software. Not used it a huge amount yet, but so far I've found it pretty easy going compared to some of the other 3D software I've used. Not sure what the rules are if used for commercial work, so you might want to check the licence restrictions. You will need to give them your e-mail details etc, and, be warned, they'll send you several marketing e-mails every week! But it's totally free to download to give it a try.

Disclaimer: Just to be up front with you all - Matrix (the company I work for) have a partnership with RS to sell our electronic gizmos. This post is just my humble opinion, though, - and, of course, it'll cost you nothing to check whether I have been brainwashed by our sales team!

[TimBobTastic]

Hi Matrix.

Just had a quick look at DesignSpark.... Its rather good for freeware... I can see me spending some time looking into that one... thanks for the info.

[Daven]

Just installed DesignSpark - as far as I can see you can't open existing DXF files but it did save a simple rectangle ok and opened in LaserCut ok. It did not automatically join the rectangle so the file was 4 separate lines - not a major issue if the draw order in continuous.

Looks interesting though.

Cheers
Dave