Drafting Program

[barryu]

I saw a reference to a computer drafting program in a thread a long time ago and my searching skills betray me. Can anyone suggest a simple drafting program (translation: cheap) to draw and plan my projects? :dontknow:

 

[DaveO]

Google's Sketch-up is as cheap as they come...free.
http://sketchup.google.com/ I don't know how simple it is. I have messed around a bit with it, and haven't done very well. But there is tons of info on the net about using it, so with the proper inclination and desire I would think that anyone could figure it out.

HTH,
Dave

 

[ErnieM]

I've tried most of them and found them all frustrating. Then I found DeltaCad. I've been using it for two years now with no problems. It's a rather barebones 2D CAD program that has all the features I need and a pretty short learning curve. The program is $39.00 but you can go to their website and download a fully operational demo program for free.

I've transfered all of my harpsichord plans to it (including string lengths) and find it exactly accurate. If you try it and have some questions feel free to contact me and I'll help as much as I can.

Their web site is http://www.deltacad.com

Ernie

 

[barryu]

Thanks Guys, I'll try them both.:icon_thum

 

[MikeH]

I've used Sketchup for a couple years now and once you get the hang of it, it's a powerful program. Give it a try.

 

[gdoebs]

I've used QuickCAD from Autodesk - they no longer make it. Now I use Sketchup. This software rocks! There are great blogs on it (Design. Click. Build at Fine Woodworking), and podcast that show you anything from the basics to designing Windsor chairs. They are various plugins available for it that do some cool things. My favorite is the Cutlist plugin. You can find it over at Lumberjocks. It'll give you total board feet by material, layouts, parts lists etc. The guy who wrote it is great and takes suggestions. I've been testing it on my Mac (which it seems to work pretty well).