Have a look at Turbocad. I bought last year's version, still shrinkwrapped,
on ebay for around $20.

"John" wrote in message
.. .
There has been many posts about cad software in the past. However, many so
callled freeware are crippled commercial demo. Since it takes some effort
to learn a 3D cad software, I don't want to spend a lot of time to
evaluate a demo only to discover the feature I need is crippled.
Therefore, your advice is needed.

I'm looking for a free (or the least expensive) cad program that
-allows exact dimensions to be entered (e.g. a piece of wood that is
3.5-inch by 1.5 inch by 8 feet)
-can output the design with all dimensions labeled, like an archetectural
drawing
-can view, rotate in 3D with simple surface (e.g. wood grain)
-can save/print the design

I checked out google's sketchup. It is easy enough to sketch, and I can
even enter dimensions of object. But that part doesn't seem very well
developed. I could not figure out how to enter the rotation angle of
objects. Plus I don't think it can produce an output with dimensions
labeled. But then, I've only spent 30 minutes playing with it.

What exactly are the differences between a modeling software and a CAD
software?


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