Thanks john and Greg anything that helps get the mesage across better as got to help and also if you have time on your hands you can learn a little about modelling and get the creative juices flowing.
Thanks again for the input guy

Another free package is from Autodesk: 123d
http://www.123dapp.com/

It works just like their inventor product; I found their beta a bit clunky in performance. It’s interesting in that you kinda build out material and then apply manufacturing process to do things like drill holes or extrude or skin. So, in addition to getting a CAD drawing that’s usable for other stuff, you also learn more about manufacturing processes and the language used.

Also if you are a student, faculty, possibly unemployed, veteran, Autodesk has some interesting programs to get their professional software for free.

Also, truespace3d by Caligari, though now owned by Microsoft, is free.
http://download.cnet.com/TrueSpace/3000-6677_4-...

I’ve been using truespace for about 15 years. There is also the open source package Blender, which when I played with it a few years ago I found it not intuitive: http://www.blender.org/

Neither truespace nor Blender is going to get you manufacturable models, but if you have more of an artistic bent they aren’t a bad way to go for submissions and visual proofs of concept.

If your looking for just a 3D program I’ve used Maya, Lightwave, But lately I’ve been using Modo but only for modeling. I love it

Can you guys drop in some links for others! I had a little play with SketchUp about a year ago.

SolidWorks and Autocad /Autodesk seem to be the most common ones, Pro Engineer is the one preferred for more ‘structured’ minds. I have used a rather inexpensive (and buggy) ViaCAD with some success, but has anyone tried Google’s free offering SketchUp? (a paid more ‘pro’ version is also available).

At the very least is a way to get your feet wet in this area, and some prototyping houses are starting to directly support it.

I think Autodeask Inventor is really easy to use. JMO.

I use solid works Philip Look for you tube tutorials.

Can anyone recommend a good [free or paid] 3D CAD program that’s easy to use? I’ve been working with computers for over 30 years and still can’t get a handle on CAD! It’s mind “bottling”!

The free is the difficult part. All 3D CAD drawings you will need to buy program for full function. SolidWorks seems to have parts of this for free but, not able to manipulate full program. The 3D drawing is alot cheaper than engineering CAD drawing for manufacturer.