CAD Forum

Glenn Schroeder wrote: ↑Fri Feb 17, 2023 9:14 am Would you mind explaining the process?

1) 2) 3)

File, Options, Mail, Editor Options (button), Advanced, Uncheck 'When selecting, automatically select entire word'.

We received a drawing from a potential client last week. I hadn't gotten around to looking at it yet, but I did after seeing an email from our construction supervisor this morning. He said he can't read the dimensions. So I took a look. I can see why.

They're yellow. On a white background.

Die hard AutoCAD user.

Sounds like Solid Edge default assembly path finder behavior. White text on bright green background.

Frederick_Law wrote: ↑Mon Apr 24, 2023 10:26 am Die hard AutoCAD user.

I figured it was probably done in AutoCAD.

bnemec wrote: ↑Mon Apr 24, 2023 11:07 am Sounds like Solid Edge default assembly path finder behavior. White text on bright green background.

image.png

Not anymore. in 2023 it is black text on a bright green background

KennyG wrote: ↑Mon Apr 24, 2023 2:33 pm Not anymore. in 2023 it is black text on a bright green background

who has the thing with bright lime green highlighting? IIRC hot or selected edges went obnoxious lime green too, or was it that fuzzy blur around selected parts in the view port that were green? I remember going through and turning all that crap to more reasonable settings.

I hate that with my current setup, when the internet goes out, my only remaining source of entertainment is my phone. I don't even have an FM radio to listen to.

SPerman wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2023 7:52 am I hate that with my current setup, when the internet goes out, my only remaining source of entertainment is my phone. I don't even have an FM radio to listen to.

Good point. I should carry PSP.
Google Play Book keep books on the device so you can read without internet.
Did that on the plane.

SPerman wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2023 7:52 am I hate that with my current setup, when the internet goes out, my only remaining source of entertainment is my phone. I don't even have an FM radio to listen to.

How do you work on 3DXP when that happens?

The executives telling us we need to be back in the office full time to build "synergy" and "comradery", while slowly outsourcing more of the IT/Engineering jobs overseas. May have to post here before long: https://cadforum.net/viewforum.php?f=31

jcapriotti wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2023 3:11 pm The executives telling us we need to be back in the office full time to build "synergy" and "comradery", while slowly outsourcing more of the IT/Engineering jobs overseas. May have to post here before long: https://cadforum.net/viewforum.php?f=31

I plan to retire in five years. In about two years I plan to campaign heavily for them to get someone in here to take over when I leave.

Glenn Schroeder wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2023 3:27 pm I plan to retire in five years. In about two years I plan to campaign heavily for them to get someone in here to take over when I leave.

Start now. It will likely take them a couple of tries to find your replacement. Will likely take a couple people as they will not be to your level of efficiency and will also go through a couple of candidates. Unless you want to work part time for a couple years after retirement. If they think they can just hire someone when you leave take a four week vacation and don't look at email or answer phone.

bnemec wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 10:05 am Start now. It will likely take them a couple of tries to find your replacement. Will likely take a couple people as they will not be to your level of efficiency and will also go through a couple of candidates. Unless you want to work part time for a couple years after retirement. If they think they can just hire someone when you leave take a four week vacation and don't look at email or answer phone.

All good points, but

1. I think getting someone in three years before my planned retirement is about all management will go for, and I'm not sure they'll go for that.

2. Unless the policy changes, me working part time after retirement isn't an option. It could change, and if it does I'm certainly open to it.

3. While I of course don't agree with everything they do, I have a good relationship with management, so I don't want to take a long vacation just to see what would happen. I think they know anyway.

In the 3d printer slicer software I've used for the last several years, CTRL-D is "Duplicate".
In BambuLab, CTRL-D is "Delete"

Fortunately CTRL-Z works reliably.

SPerman wrote: ↑Wed Jul 12, 2023 4:20 pm In the 3d printer slicer software I've used for the last several years, CTRL-D is "Duplicate".
In BambuLab, CTRL-D is "Delete"

Fortunately CTRL-Z works reliably.

Meanwhile in outlook, ctrl+F is forward instead of find...
line break in word is shift+enter
line break in excel is alt+enter...
ugh..



Out of topic... how is Bambulab printer?

We are planning to get a X1C as a "downgrade" replacement for our Stratasys uprint which is going to EoL soon..

I love it. I have one if not both of mine running almost daily. I would highly recommend one. I've retired the other two printers at work. If it ever reaches the point that this printer can't keep up, I will buy a 2nd.

I didn't think I would be as thrilled as I am with the AMS, but it means never having to worry about a print running out of filament, and being able to run spools all the way to the end. I'm going to try a print this weekend using support material and see how that goes.

I've made one major change, and that is to switch to a glass bed plate. Flexible bed plates are great, right up until they flex, and your part is shaped like a banana. I can get PLA and ABS to stick to glass, and I can get it to release with a quick trip to the freezer.

SPerman wrote: ↑Wed Jul 12, 2023 8:58 pm I love it. I have one if not both of mine running almost daily. I would highly recommend one. I've retired the other two printers at work. If it ever reaches the point that this printer can't keep up, I will buy a 2nd.

I didn't think I would be as thrilled as I am with the AMS, but it means never having to worry about a print running out of filament, and being able to run spools all the way to the end. I'm going to try a print this weekend using support material and see how that goes.

I've made one major change, and that is to switch to a glass bed plate. Flexible bed plates are great, right up until they flex, and your part is shaped like a banana. I can get PLA and ABS to stick to glass, and I can get it to release with a quick trip to the freezer.

A while back I watched a video of a guy printing PLA directly on glass. I was having trouble getting it to stick to the glass without some type of glue or hairspray. In his video, he said to clean the glass with soap and water, then with distilled water. I was using rubbing alcohol, and apparently it leaves a residue. But once I did as he instructed I could get the PLA to stick to the glass, just wiping down with a cloth with distilled water between prints.
Just thought I'd pass that on as an option to explore.

mattpeneguy wrote: ↑Thu Jul 13, 2023 12:38 pm A while back I watched a video of a guy printing PLA directly on glass. I was having trouble getting it to stick to the glass without some type of glue or hairspray. In his video, he said to clean the glass with soap and water, then with distilled water. I was using rubbing alcohol, and apparently it leaves a residue. But once I did as he instructed I could get the PLA to stick to the glass, just wiping down with a cloth with distilled water between prints.
Just thought I'd pass that on as an option to explore.

Thank you for distilling that information!




I'll be here all week.

I use hair spray for PLA and glue stick for ABS. I can print a PLA box the size of my CR10 print bed and it will be dead flat. I can't say the same for ABS, but It's given me the best results of anything I've tried. At least anything I've tried that is easily removable.

Is there some reason not to use glue or hairspay on glass?

SPerman wrote: ↑Thu Jul 13, 2023 2:02 pm I use hair spray for PLA and glue stick for ABS. I can print a PLA box the size of my CR10 print bed and it will be dead flat. I can't say the same for ABS, but It's given me the best results of anything I've tried. At least anything I've tried that is easily removable.

Is there some reason not to use glue or hairspay on glass?

No, just that hairspray gets everywhere. It's also good if you'd like a smooth surface on the part at the bed/glass interface. If you are switching often, then you're probably setup right.
I haven't attempted to print ABS in years, mainly because I don't have an enclosed printer anymore. But when I did, I used acetone and left over ABS slurry to adhere the prints. I never tried glue stick for ABS, but I've had good results with it for other materials.
Any reason not to use the glue stick for both PLA and ABS? That way you don't have to clean off the glass when you switch between materials.

I think I've had better luck with hairspray and PLA, but I can't say for sure. The hairspray doesn't add significant texture to the bed, which gluestick can, especially after repeated applications.

I printed some PETG+ parts a long time ago, and had the most success with gluestick on blue tape. Parts of the blue tape had to be replaced after every print, because it was difficult to remove the part without damaging the tape. This was before all of the fancy new chemicals and surface materials.

The machine shop we use cannot tap 5mm threads in aluminum. I've tried to explain to the boss that machine shops all over the world manage to do it successfully every day. I'm currently modifying all parts with 5mm threaded holes to 6mm threaded holes.

SPerman wrote: ↑Tue Jul 25, 2023 10:17 am The machine shop we use cannot tap 5mm threads in aluminum. I've tried to explain to the boss that machine shops all over the world manage to do it successfully every day. I'm currently modifying all parts with 5mm threaded holes to 6mm threaded holes.

Is the translation "We don't have a tap for 5mm threaded holes and don't want to buy one, so closest we can do is 6mm."?

SPerman wrote: ↑Tue Jul 25, 2023 10:17 am The machine shop we use cannot tap 5mm threads in aluminum. I've tried to explain to the boss that machine shops all over the world manage to do it successfully every day. I'm currently modifying all parts with 5mm threaded holes to 6mm threaded holes.

Sounds like you need to use a different machine shop.

They've tried more than one brand of both roll taps and cutting taps. I think the z axis on that machine has too much slop, and they don't want to use a tapping head, or take any other measures to compensate.

DanPihlaja wrote: ↑Tue Jul 25, 2023 11:14 am Sounds like you need to use a different machine shop.

Unfortunately the relationship is complicated. They rent space in our building, and some of the other owners have had a relationship with him for over 10 years. In most aspects, this is a very symbiotic relationship with benefits for both of us. I just wish they would fix this issue instead of making excuses.

I just figured out it will be a minimum of 42 parts that have to be revised. Potentially 10 more if they want to go full throttle with the stupidity.

SPerman wrote: ↑Tue Jul 25, 2023 11:16 am I think the z axis on that machine has too much slop, and they don't want to use a tapping head, or take any other measures to compensate.

And changing pitch from 0.8mm to 1.00mm will help?

How many holes to tap? Tap by hand?

Time for a grumpy old man rant.

Customer service is dead.
UPS: I've had a package at the local hub since Sunday morning that was supposed to be delivered on Monday. I literally cannot talk to a human. I spent 10 minutes going through their voicemail system, only to be given the same information on the tracking website. Eventually, after me saying "agent" about 20 times, it said, "I cannot connect you to an agent." I filed a lost package claim, that was closed instantly, but with no information.

USPS: I shipped a registered letter 2 weeks ago. It has been "awaiting delivery signature" for 10 days. I called and they said someone would be back in touch in 24 hours. I called a couple of days later and was told the case was being "escalated" but after several days they still haven't contacted me. They did give me the phone number of the post office that has the letter. No one ever answers that phone.

SPerman wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 7:38 am Time for a grumpy old man rant.

Customer service is dead.
UPS: I've had a package at the local hub since Sunday morning that was supposed to be delivered on Monday. I literally cannot talk to a human. I spent 10 minutes going through their voicemail system, only to be given the same information on the tracking website. Eventually, after me saying "agent" about 20 times, it said, "I cannot connect you to an agent." I filed a lost package claim, that was closed instantly, but with no information.

USPS: I shipped a registered letter 2 weeks ago. It has been "awaiting delivery signature" for 10 days. I called and they said someone would be back in touch in 24 hours. I called a couple of days later and was told the case was being "escalated" but after several days they still haven't contacted me. They did give me the phone number of the post office that has the letter. No one ever answers that phone.

@SPerman, Have you asked ChatGPT how to solve these?

SPerman wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 7:38 am Time for a grumpy old man rant.

Customer service is dead.
UPS: I've had a package at the local hub since Sunday morning that was supposed to be delivered on Monday. I literally cannot talk to a human. I spent 10 minutes going through their voicemail system, only to be given the same information on the tracking website. Eventually, after me saying "agent" about 20 times, it said, "I cannot connect you to an agent." I filed a lost package claim, that was closed instantly, but with no information.

USPS: I shipped a registered letter 2 weeks ago. It has been "awaiting delivery signature" for 10 days. I called and they said someone would be back in touch in 24 hours. I called a couple of days later and was told the case was being "escalated" but after several days they still haven't contacted me. They did give me the phone number of the post office that has the letter. No one ever answers that phone.

SPerman wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 7:38 am Time for a grumpy old man rant.

Customer service is dead.
UPS: I've had a package at the local hub since Sunday morning that was supposed to be delivered on Monday. I literally cannot talk to a human. I spent 10 minutes going through their voicemail system, only to be given the same information on the tracking website. Eventually, after me saying "agent" about 20 times, it said, "I cannot connect you to an agent." I filed a lost package claim, that was closed instantly, but with no information.

USPS: I shipped a registered letter 2 weeks ago. It has been "awaiting delivery signature" for 10 days. I called and they said someone would be back in touch in 24 hours. I called a couple of days later and was told the case was being "escalated" but after several days they still haven't contacted me. They did give me the phone number of the post office that has the letter. No one ever answers that phone.

I know this is weeks too late, but it might help next time. I can't say whether or not it would have helped in this case, but if you run into that situation again try hitting zero on your keypad. Sometimes that will bypass the automated options and connect you to a real live human (who may or may not actually help).

Hitting zero was like saying "operator." "I need more information"...."I cannot connect you with an agent."

On the USPS issue, after several days with no information, I issued the customer a refund. A couple of days later, the post office said the letter was lost. A couple of days after that, the customer said the package had been delivered, and he would re-send payment. And a couple of days after that he said I must have gotten a refund for the post office, so he didn't need to send payment. (The item wasn't insured.)

With all the online cloud integration, everyone got their head in the cloud.

Frederick_Law wrote: ↑Fri Aug 25, 2023 3:44 pm With all the online cloud integration, everyone got their head in the cloud.

Except for when the cloud is down, then they got their head in the fog.

Company fonts and mandating their use in documents.

Do we really need to "brand" everything we do in documents and drawings? Our "previous" company had a company font that they put into all of our office templates. I refused to use it in engineering drawings and documents but it still crept into a few.

Then we get sold off to an investment company, which got us a new company name/brand......and.......wait for it........new company font. Of course they are mandating we use it in all of our documents. We are no longer allowed to have anything with the old company brand on it which means the old company font is no longer installed or available. So guess what happens when you open those old documents. It's not always pretty.

We have users that edit downstream PDF documents.......and can't edit text anymore.... The worst part is since we got purchased by an investment company, they will sell us in a year or two and whomever else buys us will likely dictate a new font.

Just copy and rename Arial to the missing font name.
And ALWAYS embed fonts in PDF.

Our parent company has 2 fonts.
There is document for sentence and paragraph. How many space to use etc.

Incredible some one got time to type it all out .....

Frederick_Law wrote: ↑Tue Aug 29, 2023 5:25 pm Just copy and rename Arial to the missing font name.
And ALWAYS embed fonts in PDF.

I'll have try the Arial trick......although I guess it will look different....at least it may allow editing.

As for embedding the font, it appears that Bluebeam does show the fonts are embedded, they display correctly. It's when you go to edit the text directly in the PDF, not the original file. It needs the original font to do the edit since you are typing new characters. Maybe a Bluebeam thing although I see Adobe users mention the same issue.

There is a special place in hell for people who hide staples under shipping tape to kill the edge of my knife.

When, (somehow) "System Options; Sketch; Overide dimensions on drag/move" and you were'nt aware of it and start accidently dragging/moving... (WTH)
It would be nice to have a RED or YELLOW "WARNING" that it is "ACTIVE"?

zxys001 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 02, 2023 11:09 am It would be nice to have a RED or YELLOW "WARNING" that it is "ACTIVE"?

Would be nice if SW doesn't change options setting on upgrade.

Frederick_Law wrote: ↑Mon Oct 02, 2023 11:46 am Would be nice if SW doesn't change options setting on upgrade.

PDM does it all the time.
If a new unwanted option is added the whole user DB is set to enabled by default.

Let's bring this back, New option to lock everyone out is on by default: Safety first.

Lack of support for older devices. I can run ancient PCs and software but new devices are getting more difficult.

My dad has a first gen ipad mini. Apple will no longer allow to install the latest iOS. That's fine, but I need to put some apps on it, a pdf reader and Google Drive so he can read pdfs on it. Can't install from the Apple store, says they don't support the iOS version it has. That's fine too, except you can't get the old versions of these apps that do work. Perfectly good iPad that now I have to see if I can hack some apps into the thing.

jcapriotti wrote: ↑Mon Oct 09, 2023 12:02 am Lack of support for older devices. I can run ancient PCs and software but new devices are getting more difficult.

My dad has a first gen ipad mini. Apple will no longer allow to install the latest iOS. That's fine, but I need to put some apps on it, a pdf reader and Google Drive so he can read pdfs on it. Can't install from the Apple store, says they don't support the iOS version it has. That's fine too, except you can't get the old versions of these apps that do work. Perfectly good iPad that now I have to see if I can hack some apps into the thing.

Same thing with ancient PC.
No drivers for new printer. Try to find one with parallel printer port. Even one with USB port may not work.
New software? Unless you can program it yourself, no way.
Get on to internet? More like a inter-wall

I don't miss the days when anti-virus updates came in mail on floppy.

You could download old app installations for iPhone and Android, if you know how and where to look.
Might need Jailbreak and Root.
Just like you keep all those floppies.

Frederick_Law wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 8:58 am You could download old app installations for iPhone and Android, if you know how and where to look.
Might need Jailbreak and Root.
Just like you keep all those floppies.

Floppies....now that is ancient. I don't have any PCs that old but I do have some 10+ years old, one running a PDM test vault.

Back to the ipad, it's 10 years old. I just want to run the old software that was available for the device at the time it was current. Nothing fancy and its still a good and fast device with the few apps on it. I shouldn't have to "jailbreak" it. I just want to install old apps on it like an mp3 player or book reader, pdf reader, etc.

It's an apple product. They've always told you how you could use their hardware. The disappointing part is that microsoft has now adopted the same model.