About Cheap CAD Tools

I had a project that needed a large custom-built timing belt pulley. So, in the age of Vibe Coding, “Why not make my own tool to design belt pulleys?”

This led to a deep dive into the design of timing pulleys. My initial tool was basic. This made me realize how much I dislike tools that are an 80% solution. (Inevitably, the end user has to put in the 80% more work to get a useful part.)

My final software design focused on the user interface and tools to generate complete parts. Parts that can be imported into CAD or directly 3D printed. But, also support for exporting intermediate files (for custom CAD solutions).

I came away with a CAD tool design philosophy:

• Make useful parts
• The UI is completely focused on making these parts
• Support useful parametric opinions
• Have exports for jumping-off-points to make custom designs
• Use a browser-based web design that’s portable between CAD software packages

I’m now looking at other CAD Tools, I always seem to have a need for.

The timing pulley generator is in the Beta now, so it’s all free. Try it out and hit the ⚠️ to enter bugs or feature requests.

-Chris Myerchin