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pyotr filipivich

on Sun, 28 Feb 2021 15:07:13 -0500 typed in
rec.woodworking the following:
On Sun, 28 Feb 2021 08:59:16 GMT, Puckdropper
wrote:
pyotr filipivich wrote
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.

But you can't pick up the pad and spin it around to see it from all
angles, including the inside, and looking through the model. That's
incredibly useful.

True. Which is why you need to learn to visualize the back side -
or visualize how the 2-D drawings come together to make the 3-D
object.

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.

I "need the line" if it's part of a component. Spinning the model, in
normal modes and X-ray makes the "what's this line doing here" far
easier than a 2-D sketch.

Add the ability to add components, other furniture, or perhaps the
room itself, makes even yellow sketch pads pale.

Technology is often better than "GET OFF MY LAWN!". ;-)

And how many are so dependent upon the technology that without it
they're stuck?
I mean it isn't like in my Dad's days. _We_ had Rocks.
--
pyotr filipivich
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