I use two CAD programs. Turbocad Pro and Intellicad. Turbocad will do an
excellent job for you and the 2D version is free. It's relatively easy to
learn (no CAD is easy but this one is better than most). No bill of
materials though. The other is Intellicad. An AutoCAD clone, it is, like
AutoCAD, harder to learn but has the advantage that tutorials for AutoCAD
are prevalent all over the net and are applicable to Intellicad. It will
also run LISP routines (automation). Free LISP routines are all over the
web. There are additional bill of material add ons available for it.
http://www.intellicadms.com/store/default.asp

http://nct.digitalriver.com/fulfill/0002.16



"Michael Press" wrote in message
...
I'm looking for opinions/suggestions for a 2D CAD program that's
inexpensive (yeah, that's vague, but figure $100) and useful for
designing furniture. This is purely weekend hobby work, but I'd like
precise drawings of my designs. I also imagine that it would be
useful to generate a bill of materials, a cutting list, maybe a "map"
of cuts on a sheet of plywood.

I'd also appreciate links to CAD reviews from a hobbyist woodworking
point of view. (This article is what got me thinging -
http://www.woodcentral.com/bparticles/cad.shtml)

I'm a computer programmer, so I'm not afraid of a steep learning
curve.

Thanks,
Michael