amsterdam84 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I've been looking for a way to mount a CD player under the dash. The plastic cases I've seen on Ebay and such look good but they require you to have them more or less mounted up front where it is easily seen. So I startet looking for a hinged plate that you could bolt it to and swing it from deep under the dash to an easily reachable spot. So when I tried to find a hinge or spring setup like that, I cant! Now I want to design it but cant find any software that you can link parts together to see if they work together. The hinge type will probably be a scissor type. Anyone have an idea of what I'm trying to say? Thanks in advance Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wiles Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 that kind of software is like autocad's mechanical desktop or autocad inventor i think or some similar product and it costs thousands of dollars to buy and has a huge learning curve. the only other option would be to draw it and animate a gif it but you'd have a hard time if its a complex hinge, seeing as you'd have to draw each frame and you'd have to know how it would move, because of course it wouldnt automatically calculate and show its movement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsterdam84 Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 Well, I just happen to have Autocad. I use it for school so I've used it for a bit, just not in 3D and animation. I can create the parts if I knew dimentions and such, though I want to make sure the parts will rotate and properly and have the reach I want. Your right about the learning curve. I can do fluid power schematics pretty quick and I have done some 2D ISO drawings but nothing 3D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsterdam84 Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 Looks like I have some research to do on animation for autocad. Thanks for your help Allan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallaby Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 I have a degree in autocad also For what you are doing, it would probably be faster to calculate everything on paper using a compass to plot the arcs. The other option is to cut strips of construction paper or thin carbboard and use thumbtacks to establish pivot points. You can easily see if things aren't working right, and reposition the tacks until it works. Once that part is done, you have a perfect full scale template to use for making the finished metal piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsterdam84 Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 LOL I did the cardboard thing. Funny thing is it worked, but in the opposite way I had intended. The part I had designated the mount would move farther than the deck housing. So it may work, just have to think a little more. I did the basic drawing on Autocad not to any particular scale, just to get the basic sizing and see if I can imagine the way the parts would interact. Found out that my imagination must be broken so I had to print them off and cut it out of cardboard. Then I went back to autocad to get some even numbers out of the distances between hole centers. Next is to see if there is any panels underneath the dash that I can use to make a trap door to have it pop out of. Perhaps next weekend I will go back. I tried to set the base timing and ended up killing the battery so I had to pull it and charge it at work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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