Puckdropper on Sun, 28 Feb 2021 08:59:16 GMT
typed in rec.woodworking the following:
pyotr filipivich wrote in
:


For one off drawings, it is a toss up: doing it manually or
learning CAD. The main advantage to CAD is that you can make
revisions a whole lot easier. You don't have to make a complete new
drawing.

If you really learn a CAD system, it becomes a "very easy" means
of getting a "drawing" on "paper".
But even then, you will start with a proverbial sketch on a
cocktail napkin. (In my case, it was a hospital cafeteria napkin. I
solved Bill's manufacturing problem with one easy setup. He looked at
the sketch, said "that's it - sign and date it!" For all I know it is
still in the archives.)

I had a semester of mechanical drafting in high school. I'm SO glad I
did. Even though most stuff is done with Sketchup, the ability to grab a
piece of paper and use "that looks about right" for my dimensions is
perhaps the best skill I learned in high school. You can almost always
borrow a pen/pencil and something to write on.

The cool thing is that the skills can transfer. Working with faces and
edges in Sketchup directly links back to "do I need this line?" and
"what's this line doing here?" from mechanical drafting.

CAD Class test: take this sketch, make the drawing. As I
completed it I asked myself "Can I make this?" {Is everything here to
make it to spec?}
That tour as a machinist lead me to consider "how to hold this
casting for 'finishing' work."

--
pyotr filipivich
This Week's Panel: Us & Them - Eliminating Them.
Next Month's Panel: Having eliminated the old Them(tm)
Selecting who insufficiently Us(tm) to serve as the new Them(tm)