Ins and Outs of CADD
Contents
1. TOOL REVIEW PC DRAFT PE Contact www microspot com Cost 39 Type 2D only Vehicle Download System Requirements Windows 95 or newer Documentation 376 page PDF Demo 7 2 MB download zipped Tutorials None User forum No Upgrades PC Draft 299 For more info on the web use our ee oe AOQuiicuink PC Draft PE features a compact toolbar right Clicking on an icon activates the tool clicking and holding triggers a fly out bar with options you create a parts list Changing a dimension on the parts list triggers a cascade of other changes to associated parts in the assembly The promise is seductive but the program has its limitations You can create boxes and cylinders but not lines or arcs Zooming and panning as you work is cumbersome The program shows dimensions of individual parts but not assemblies In any case give it a trial run You can download the program without cost and test it However until you pay the license fee and register the program you won t be able to save anything you draw 3D only design One program is tough to pigeonhole and that s Google SketchUp It s all 3D all the time and as such it stands apart from all the other programs covered here That was the intent of its developers It was created for conceptual design work rather than technical drawing There s a lot to like about the program beginning with its price it s free A fully fu2. TOOL REVIEW The Ins and Outs of CAD Programs By Bill Hylton I don t draw well I know what I want all right but my fine motor skills are deficient It s downright frustrating when I want to draw plans for a new project My lines are inconsistent and wavering always a hair too long or too short I make so many little mistakes that my erasers disappear long before my pencils wear down When I do get done my designs usually need a little uh somethin Something of course that means redrawing the entire plan Here s why I love computer aided drafting CAD In CAD e Lines are always straight crisp and consistent e Drawings are always clean free of blotches and eraser smudges e The scale is always precise and accurate dimensions can be pulled off most anywhere e Dimensions and proportions can be altered quickly without redrawing everything e Elements of one drawing can be copied into a new one in seconds e Full size patterns can be printed and used in the shop I ve been using CAD for over a decade ZITI OTRE ONO EH CRTHON though I certainly don t consider myself proficient I figured out the basics but my CAD skills are still where they were seven years ago Determined to upgrade I recently undertook a review of inexpensive CAD programs meaning those priced under 150 The affordability of CAD is striking to me Bought at a big discount my AutoCad LT98
3. and they do require registration In exchange for your name and e mail address you get a link to a download site or an activation code e mailed to the address you supply After you ve installed the program it will work for two to six weeks giving you time to try it out Be aware that many of these free downloads are huge files If you are on a dial up the free trial may indeed be trying to your patience and modem Alibre Design Xpress is a free but huge download that has good tutorials with whiz bang drawing samples you can spin and roll and turn But hand cutting dovetails may be easier to master than this complex program s many capabilities GSSISHO CAV H Ri lt 0 9O j Seem 7I ABES 6O SS Cums anesras Ro z J uhia ai decorative moldings or embellishments then quickly remove them You can reconfigure legs or feet You can transform an elevation or profile view into a section view slicing through your project to reveal joinery and otherwise hidden features Using a 2D program you also can create pictorial views such as isometric and oblique views While they aren t 3D they do show more than one face of the project and they can be very helpful in conveying what the project will look like This is a solid foundation for anyone new to CAD The general skills you master in 2D will carry into 3D even if switching to a 3D program forces you to learn new terms and
4. because you can reuse old parts in new assemblies 7 y ae ge a Se ee ee me tem em SE Ne wee a Oe ene Se ee Bree ae Meo ener of mens s an et nt pee re me Oe ee d BF s entation 288 page printed manual Orere SketchUp s training materials are tops And everything is free Here s a spread from the User Guide PDF displayed in Acrobat Reader ge Noa nn eng itam mee It is an intriguing concept but from my perspective the learning curve looks awfully steep An oddball program that fits here is Design Intuition It isn t a conventional drafting program but Svoga ita i SO AAC f Bee utorial CDs available for purchase m forums upperspace com 9 FORUM_ID 2 nCAD 3D Max v 17 89 95 DesignCAD 3D Max ships in a conventional software carton replete with promotional visuals and text bites The program and some sample drawing files are on the CD ROM You also get a printed user manual rather it focuses specifically on creating 2D 3D plans and cutting lists for cabinetry While I don t recall parametric being used in any of the documentation Design Intuition certainly has parametric characteristics It draws shapes and though those shapes appear two dimensional on the computer monitor they re really three dimensional Each shape you draw has to be named and given that third dimension As you do this Tool Review continues on page 84 Lis
5. cost about 350 the current version retails for 899 But for less than 150 I can get a different CAD program with far more features CAD FOR THE HOME SHOP Computer Aided Design a k a computer aided drafting has entered the realm of the home woodworker We asked Bill Hylton to take the digital dive and plunge into a pool of consumer level CAD products Judging from the photo at right Bill might have gotten a little too into his work And if I choose the right one I ll be able to access and use all the drawings I ve created since 1998 To use CAD here s what you need besides a computer of course Computer Savvy If you have a Windows based personal computer or an up to date Mac and run the typical assortment of household or business software word processing bookkeeping web browsing then you surely have the requisite computer skills To use CAD programs you need to be able to use the keyboard and the mouse That s essential You also need to understand how to use drop down menus and those buttons labeled with icons Wait til you get a load of CAD icons talk about fleas on a mangy dog Basic Drafting Know how Traditionally shop drawings often called measured drawings are two dimensional and include two or three views the latter usually being the front view or elevation the top view and a side or profile view Depending on the complexity of the object itself add
6. 129 www microspot com 2D 3D 129 95 www gizmolab com 2D 3D 99 95 www imsisoft com These tutorials offer the chance to use the primary drawing and modification tools including SketchUp s patented Push Pull tool which as a woodworker you ll use POWERCAD LT Contact www givemepower com Cost 99 Type 2D 3D Vehicle CD ROM Sys req Windows 95 98 2000 XP 166 MHz or faster Pentium class processor Documentation 658 page PDF Demo 18 6 MB download Tutorials Description of drawing exercise at web site User forum Yes des PowerCAD Classic 299 PowerCAD Pro 595 info on g7 oe the web use our Pale annin to pull out a tenon or push in a mortise You experience the program s inference engine which helps you locate centers midpoints and intersection points Helpful tips pop into view as you work As you draw a box with the rectangle tool for example you re cued when the shape is a square Tool Review continues on page 86 TOOL REVIEW DESIGN INTUITION Contact www gizmolab com Cost 129 95 for license Type 2D 3D Vehicle 2 2 MB download Sys req Windows 2000 XP Documentation 79 page PDF Demo Yes unregistered program works but won t save drawings Tutorials Description of drawing exercise at web site User forum No Upgrades None For more info on the web use our wine motakoen com E gt eau then again when it is at the Golden Mean H
7. c length I look first for an icon If I don t I m sour Diving into that says symbollically Click me the manual or punching up Help to draw a line I click it I move the may turn up an explanation of how cursor to the drawing window and to do it But not always In a few click the left mouse button I move cases I can only conclude it can t the cursor Does a line stretch be done from the start point I let go of the mouse type in a line length INTELLICAD 6 Contact www autodsys com Cost 149 95 Type 2D 3D Vehicle CD ROM Sys req Windows 98 2000 XP Pentium class processor 128 MB RAM Documentation 587 page PDF Demo Yes 30 day time limit Tutorials None User forum Yes Upgrades IntelliCAD 6 Pro 249 IntelliCAD 6 Pro Plus 349 For more info on the web use our AOUIK LINK You can t tell a CAD program by the package label Intellicad 6 sold in three versions uses the industry standard dwg file tormat The standard version is affordable and fully functional AcceliCAD is a more expensive CAD program from Autodsys www woodworkersjournal com AMORE ON THE WEB 88 February 2007 Woodworker s Journal TurboCAD Furnituremaker an add on Shopping Suggestions You have a lot of decisions to make Here are some tips that I hope will help First I ve put a Best Bet symbol on several programs that are on the short list of candidates to replace my Aut
8. ed and persevering Pigeonholing CAD Programs My online search for CAD programs turned up an affordable dozen see the product boxes Let s sort the programs into types first 2D programs About half of the affordable dozen are 2D exclusively and only one can be upgraded to a package with 3D capability But don t look past them Any 2D program enables you to create traditional measured drawings Remember that every museum preserved piece of furniture was built from plans drawn in two dimensions Unlike pencil and paper drafting CAD gives you the ability to draw a two dimensional view of your design then experiment ee ta RO Raden She Devrere sere with it You can quickly and reversibly alter the dimensions and proportions You can add features like doors and drawers Try Freeware First Don t take my word on any of these programs In most cases you don t have to Three programs SketchUp A9Cad and Alibre Design Xpress are freeware There s no charge Simply point your web browser to the program web site and download the program Only Alibre requires you to register before downloading the program What you get is fully functioning and has no time limit on your use of it Free trial versions are available for seven other programs in the affordable dozen reviewed here see the individual product boxes Trial versions typically have a short life
9. itional views might be needed QUIK LINK Quik Link t kes you d directly to the web 1 these pro cts appear No Ue TOOL REVIEW pie cee Rene i dN ema on ra eset Pow WOAL Bie os AURRAK BOG mes ASCAD Contact www a9tech com Cost Free Type 2D only Vehicle 15 5 MB download Sys req Windows 98 ME 2000 XP Documentation Help menu only Demo None Tutorials None User forum No Upgrades A9Cad Pro 29 95 For more info on siewecictenes ie A oh a the web use our Lalean The A9Cad screen strings the toolbars along the top and left margins leaving a large drawing area A lack of how to info is the free program s primary drawback as well a second profile a back or can be determined by measuring oblique or perspective view all of bottom view a section or details the drawing and scaling up from it which are really two dimensional Each view depicts a single plane Missing from traditional shop My point here is that you ve got and taken alone it conveys little drawings is a clear picture of what to know what to draw Without about depth or texture Overall the object looks like In life we that CAD won t benefit you dimensions are shown along with seldom see objects in only two For more on the importance on a selection of other dimensions that dimensions We see two or three drawing see Ian Kirby s Roadmaps help the woodworker build the piece faces from a single vantage poi
10. nctional program is yours to download and use for any noncommercial purpose No registration required Use it for business though and you are honor bound to pay for the Pro 5 version which does have expanded functions 84 3D free 2D 33 While harboring vague reservations about it as a drafting program I find it totally engaging It s fun which was the intent of course Open the program and you discover a person standing in the center of the drawing field beside tricolor X Y Z axes Look at the icons on the toolbar They re rendered in a sketchy style with a hint of depth and shadowing rather than the stark styling of most drafting programs Notice too that the icons are whimsical a pencil draws lines and an eraser removes them That young lady standing in the drawing field by the way is there to provide a sense of scale for architectural design work another whimsical touch Switch to the woodworking template and 3 she scoots away replaced by a framing square Getting started is easy if you view the self paced tutorials that you can view on the web site or download to view off line Each of the three tutorials takes you step by step through the design of a house You repeat each step Do it to your satisfaction before you move to the next step And if need be you can back up a step or two www sketchup com www lemkesoft com For mo CAD Systems for MAC Users 2D
11. nt of Woodworking on page 56 Moreover the views will be drawn to The traditional solution is the scale so dimensions not called out pictorial drawing an isometric Tool Review continues on page 80 BUN FEET SO The World s Best an Bun feet in ek egs ar avaiable in Router Joinery Jigs 4002 Con of BEST OVERA Fine W ANY i king www buybunfeet1 com SBORNE 4x ER LII voce DVD amp CATALOG s3 Products Inc 1 800 849 8876 IIN h 100 66 pow f ois med 1 800 746 3233 Leigh Router Joinery Jigs 4620 GA Highway 123 Toccoa GA 30577 E mail info osbornewood com Circle No 68 on PRODUCT INFORMATION form 78 TOOL REVIEW Best Bet 3D Drafting Program ALIBRE DESIGN XPRESS Contact www alibre com Cost Free Type 3D parametric modeling Vehicle 100 MB download Sys req Windows Xp 800 MHz Pentium 512 MB RAM Documentation 601 page PDF Demo None Tutorials Introduction video drawing exercises incorporated into software User forum www alibre com xpress forum Upgrades Alibre Design Standard 995 Professional 1 495 Expert 1 995 For more info on the web use our Pale Lanni I ee e a Determination Learning to draw with a CAD program can be frustrating and exasperating The programs are enormously complex Documentation tends to be either sketchy or opaque In a few cases it is virtually nonexistent You have to be determin
12. oCAD LT98 or at least to supplement it Second visit the program web sites Many allow you to download a PDF of the user manual Do that open it in Acrobat Reader and judge for yourself the features and how well they are explained You likely will find a link to a user s forum I ve provided web addresses to them as well Visit them even if you ve got to register with the company to gain access The questions asked and the responses given tell you a lot A lack of activity says something too as does the lack of a forum A trial version of the program is likely to be available for download I can t recommend downloading every available trial program you ll be overwhelmed But do try before you buy CAD software should improve your drawing process not create a nightmare A good program can make designing a project as much fun almost as building it Bill Hylton is an author woodworker and a regular contributor to Woodworker s Journal 2 Copyright of Woodworker s Journal is the property of Rockler Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder s express written permission However users may print download or email articles for individual use
13. ograms Alibre s freeware version of its level of program you ll want to Parametric modeling is at the Design software you can have upgrade to more powerful and high end of the CAD spectrum a look costly versions Happily the The end product is I think what Here s an overview Suppose you affordable 2D 3D programs have a lot of people envision as 3D are making a table You draw one upgrades that dramatically expand CAD It s pretty daunting to tackle leg one long apron one short the speed features and capabilities especially if you have no CAD l of their baseline version experience whatsoever Thanks to Tool Review continues on page 82 The NEW Bessey K Body Extende allows you to reach further with every project by joining two K Bodies of any size to fit your needs Look for it where you buy fine woodworking tools BESSEY Bessey Tools North America www besseytools com ir a R se sing Fe amp Circle No 107 on PRODUCT INFORMATION form Woodworker s Journal February 2007 81 82 TOOL REVIEW Best Bet Free Program 5 s Ei Pli S 5 g ane _ wi zhe i m f OR lai OP S i p A Sy Ma d a A Lo E 2 Contact www sketchup com Cost Free Type 3D Vehicle 18 9 MB download Sys req Windows 2000 or XP 600 MH Pentium III 128 MB RAM Documentation 362 page PDF download Demo No Tutorials Self paced tutorials at www sketchup com sid 56 video tutorials at www ske
14. ow cool is that You play with the screen navigation tools pan zoom and orbit Great fun Beyond the tutorials SketchUp has an excellent user manual which begins with a 40 page long A Na The Design Intuition screen display has only a dozen tool icons but it s nonetheless crowded with tabs boxes buttons and sliders conceptual overview something sorely missing from other programs instruction manuals Subsequent sections document all the tools and functions The SketchUp web site has endless FAQs links to active user forums and scores of sample drawings But enough At this point you re asking yourself How do I choose a program How do I pick one over the others Progression to Sorting through the Options The program best suited to you depends on how up to date your computer is how determined you are to master CAD and finally what sort of drawings you want to create Most CAD programs run on Windows based personal computers A few will run on Macs see CAD for Macs page 84 The newer your computer is the more CAD programs you have to choose among and the more efficiently the one you select will run CAD is geometry and the computations required as you build and modify your drawings are endless The faster your computer s processor the better For 3D modeling to run smoothly you should have a 1 or 2 GHz Pentium 4 processor and 512 MB or more of RAM along with a
15. powerful graphics card and high resolution and expansive monitor If you have a five year old computer and upgrading is not an option focus on the simpler 2D programs The more capabilities a program has the harder it will be to master All the highfaluting tech talk about polar angle tracking and Boolean tools is just plain noise to me What I want is to draw is a series of lines to compose a bookcase or a table With that in mind here are CAD functions I consider basic e Drawing lines of specific length and orientation e Connecting one line to another with a good degree of precision e Controlling the alignment of lines horizontal vertical and specified angles Titebond AUTOSKETCH 9 ee Contact www autodesk com Cost 129 ee Type 2D only ae Vehicle CD ROM eee System Requirments Windows XP 300 MHz Pentium Ill or better Documentation 124 page printed ma ik v Hia g safest TE Demo 6 MB download 45 day time limi Tutorials Drawing exercises in manual User forum discussion autodesk conVind Upgrades No AutoCad is a different hon i a For more info on the web use our PafeODSUTNT e Extracting dimensions of lines and shapes as well as distances between points e Stretching compressing or rescaling lines shapes and objects e Saving drawings or selected parts of drawings e Printing out drawings or selected parts of drawings to fi
16. t the sheet to a specified scale or in actual size AutoSketch 9 delivers in a book like carton with lots of descriptive text and images Inside the box is a single CD ROM disk with the program and a printed Getting Started manual e Altering lines by erasing trimming or extending them e Drawing shapes like boxes circles and ellipses e Moving rotating and copying lines shapes and the objects they form Tool Review continues on page 88 _ The Best Wood Glue Ever What makes Titebond IHI Ultimate Wood Glue the best ever Its waterproof yet cleans up with water It allows eight minutes of open assembly time and offers an application temperature as low as 47E Pius it s vastly stronger safer easier to clean up and less expensive than polyurethane glues Titebond Til We see it as a natural progression of tradition and excellence You ll see it as the ultimate wood glue 1 800 347 4583 wuw titebond com Circle No 32 on PRODUCT INFORMATION form TOOL REVIEW economical Deluxe version and y ri peers TT ma AEE aee TAR ieee gt TurboCAD a powerful 2D 3D program is marketed in an a full featured and much higher OEN priced Professional version The blue and white CD ROM is When I open a CAD program for and hit enter Does that result in the first time I immediately try to making a line draw a horizontal line of some If I do have a line I m encouraged specifi
17. tchup com sid 35 User Forum ttp forum sketchup com Upgrades SketchUp Pro 5 495 ety ate ere For more info on gt QUIK L ner g the web use our INK apron the tabletop and one button for attaching the top to the stand Again each unique part is a separate drawing To draw the table in 3D you open a new file and insert each part You copy parts as needed to methodically assemble the table Join a long apron and a short apron to a leg Copy the leg and the long apron and join these copies to the assembly Copy the leg twice more and the short apron CadPro is targeted for the handyman You get three CD ROMs one with the program and manual PDF one with a tutorial video and one with sample drawing files w om dm sia rn rom Z once and use these copies to complete the base Insert the tabletop and the button into the assembly drawing Make as many copies of the button as you need and use them to mount the top to the base If you want to alter the length of the table you go into the long apron drawing and alter the dimensions The program will update the assembly drawing and it will point out that you also need to alter the tabletop dimensions It s a lot of work to create the drawings for all those parts and it takes practice to assemble the parts accurately Advocates of this level of CAD argue that in the long term it s easier and faster to develop projects
18. tools 2D 3D programs Just the idea of 3D is intoxicating The attraction is obvious You can see what the project will look like The best 3D programs allow you to orbit the project in real time circling around above and below it They allow you to print views from various viewpoints Thus you can show your design to a spouse or client and get their approval before cutting a single board Three of the affordable dozen give you all the features and functions of 2D programs DELTACAD PROFESSION IA VERSION 6 0 ome Contact www deltacad com Cost 39 95 k Type 2D only Vehicle CD ROM and they transition to 3D as well Their benefit is that you can focus initially on mastering the basic functions and features of CAD in the 2D realm You ll learn the program and get measured shop drawings at the same time 80386 processor or bettar S Documentation 262 page PDF Demo 6 MB download 4 ime Tutorials Drawing exercise in manual User forum No When you re comfortable DeltaCad delivers on a single CD ROM Upgrades None navigating the 2D realm you containing the program a PDF of the user For more info on SIE can segue into 3D manual and sample files Simple easy the web use our AQUIK LINK fi My suspicion is that once you to learn DeltaCad is a good entree to CAD are comfortable using the 3D modeling features available in this 3D parametric modeling pr
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