3D cad for piping and systems recommendation

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the search for a suitable 3D CAD software for designing piping systems, particularly for small-scale industrial gas projects. The user has experience with 2D CAD but is new to 3D CAD, expressing interest in Solidworks despite its high cost and exploring AVICAD with the Mech-Q plugin due to budget constraints. There are inquiries about the effectiveness of AVICAD and other recommendations, with mention of TurboCad as a low-cost option, although the user struggles with its 3D features. Clarifications about TurboCad's pricing reveal confusion over its versions and costs, with a mention of purchasing it from a certified vendor on eBay. Overall, the thread highlights the need for affordable and user-friendly 3D CAD solutions for piping design.
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Hi everyone, as the title says, I am looking for a 3D cad to help visualise designs in piping systems and cut down errors.

As a short background, I work in a small company which occasionally designs industrial gas pipings for pneumatic systems, gas delivery systems (to a lab, workshop, etc), and basically assemblies of gas systems. As we only do small scale projects so far, I have only ever used 2D cad, and have absolutely 0 experience with 3D cad (aside from sketchup, but it's more of a sketching and layout tool anyway).

I've done some googling, and I'm impressed with Solidworks' demo for oil and gas LINK. However, SWX is expensive, and being in a developing country doesn't help much with my budget. I'm also looking at AVICAD with the Mech-Q plugin, but I haven't been able to find any reviews or anything.

So does anyone have any experience with the AVICAD? I'm looking for more info before I sink my time to learning it. Or do you guys have other recommendations for it?
 
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I don't know about the others. I bought TurboCad because it costs about $35. Apparently it will do just about anything that any other program will, but I'm having a hell of a time learning the 3D aspects of it. That's because of my own limitations, though, not those of the software.
 
Thanks for the reply. How did you get Turbocad for $35? The cheapest option they have right now is the 2D only, and it's at $150?
 
I might be confused about the price. It originally got my attention because it was $35, but that might have been the 2D version. The 3D might have been $65; I can't really remember. Anyhow, it was on eBay from a certified vendor. (ie: it's under warrantee and I get free tech support.)
 
I have Mass A being pulled vertically. I have Mass B on an incline that is pulling Mass A. There is a 2:1 pulley between them. The math I'm using is: FA = MA / 2 = ? t-force MB * SIN(of the incline degree) = ? If MB is greater then FA, it pulls FA up as MB moves down the incline. BUT... If I reverse the 2:1 pulley. Then the math changes to... FA = MA * 2 = ? t-force MB * SIN(of the incline degree) = ? If FA is greater then MB, it pulls MB up the incline as FA moves down. It's confusing...
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