Don, I am not suggesting that you do learn Solidworks. I was just responding to your post, not sure what you were asking, so I posted "my" experience with it.
Solidworks is an extremely difficult CAD system to learn. I use it because I used it on a daily basis at work. I had it ON at my desk every day all day.
It is a computer HOG, so all the engineers had the newest most powerful computers in the company.
Learning Solidworks for a hobbyist would be a daunting task.
I learned it in the Dussault classroom, with phone support, having Dussault support at my office side by side and with 10 other engineers to ask questions of and over 12 years of daily use. I also have experience with several other CAD systems including Autodesk Mechanical Desktop and Unigraphics.
I don't remember what I pay for it - $50 or $99 but yeah - that is what I use.
There are a few limitations, but for the most part it it just like what I was using at work, but updated.
Solidworks does have a machining module but I have not played with it. I can just as easily STL of DXF into Aspire and machine from there.
Most of my CAD design for machining is done in Aspire.
Aspire is very very different than Solidworks.
Solidworks is mechanical
Aspire is artistic
Fusion is very very similar to solidworks - both are fully parametric. Both are fully functional.
Fusion is a steep learning curve, but Solidworks is even steeper.
Fusion and Solidworks function with some different design strategies
Once you get used to one of those strategies and you switch over to the other there is confusion. That is what happened to me with learning Fusion. I knew what I wanted to do but trying to get Fusion to do it was not clicking in my Solidworks head. Constraints was one, mates was another.
At the time I have Fusion the cost was $500 for the year. I was selling more at that time and my work paid for it easily. At this time I am not selling, but I still do design my kitchen cabinets and have my entire house in Solidworks. I also want to start designing a building a CNC lathe, which means I may be adding in hundreds of items. Going into McMaster you can download all the nuts, bolts, screws, washers, bearings, and anything in their catalog.
At work I designed Jigs and Fixtures for machines. I had a Studer S33 grinder that I designed the entire machining envelope in Solidworks so I could see the interaction of the grinding wheels inside the machine with some movement
So, aside from making money via use of Solidworks the Makers addition will allow me to completely design my CNC lathe without adding any cost because of limitations.
