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?



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

John (in ) said:

| 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?

John...

I've been using DesignCAD (and its DOS predecessor) for my woodworking
projects and I think it works fairly well. It's not free; but the last
time I checked, the price was under US$100, which seems like a good
price for what I got.

I will warn you, from both personal experience and hearsay, that any
richly-featured CAD package will present a significant learning
curve - probably more or less in proportion to the number of
capabilities built in...

[No afiliation with the publisher, etc.]

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

John...

I've been using DesignCAD (and its DOS predecessor) for my woodworking
projects and I think it works fairly well. It's not free; but the last
time I checked, the price was under US$100, which seems like a good
price for what I got.

Morris, is that by IMSI? I bought my first CAD program, IMSI Designer for
DOS in the Fall of 1985.



I will warn you, from both personal experience and hearsay, that any
richly-featured CAD package will present a significant learning
curve - probably more or less in proportion to the number of
capabilities built in...

Totally agreed.

IMSI now owns Designcad. They bought it a couple of years ago. According to
users, it was a better program before they got a hold of it.


"Leon" wrote in message
. com...


John...

I've been using DesignCAD (and its DOS predecessor) for my woodworking
projects and I think it works fairly well. It's not free; but the last
time I checked, the price was under US$100, which seems like a good
price for what I got.

Morris, is that by IMSI? I bought my first CAD program, IMSI Designer for
DOS in the Fall of 1985.



I will warn you, from both personal experience and hearsay, that any
richly-featured CAD package will present a significant learning
curve - probably more or less in proportion to the number of
capabilities built in...

Totally agreed.

"CW" wrote in message
ink.net...
IMSI now owns Designcad. They bought it a couple of years ago. According
to
users, it was a better program before they got a hold of it.

IIRC IMSI was pretty basic. I used the arrow keys to draw lines. ;~)

BTY Autodesk sent me a tacky renewal letter stating that I could upgrade to
2007 for 4 or 5 hundred dollars until next spring, subscribe for about the
same price every year or do nothing and be on my own. So much for customer
support. You would think they would support their high priced products for
more than 2 product changes.
I finally down loaded IntelliCAD as you suggested and found it to be darn
near exactly like AutoCAD LT. There are a couple of commands that I could
not find, in particular the Tracking command. Other than that my next
upgrade will probably be to IntelliCAD. Thanks again for that suggestion.

Tracking is a feature that I, and many others, have been wanting for some
time. I'm sure they will get to it eventually. They do seem to be good about
honest improvements rather than just upgrades for the sake of money.

"Leon" wrote in message
. com...

"CW" wrote in message
ink.net...
IMSI now owns Designcad. They bought it a couple of years ago. According
to
users, it was a better program before they got a hold of it.

IIRC IMSI was pretty basic. I used the arrow keys to draw lines. ;~)

BTY Autodesk sent me a tacky renewal letter stating that I could upgrade
to
2007 for 4 or 5 hundred dollars until next spring, subscribe for about the
same price every year or do nothing and be on my own. So much for
customer
support. You would think they would support their high priced products
for
more than 2 product changes.
I finally down loaded IntelliCAD as you suggested and found it to be darn
near exactly like AutoCAD LT. There are a couple of commands that I could
not find, in particular the Tracking command. Other than that my next
upgrade will probably be to IntelliCAD. Thanks again for that suggestion.

"Leon"
snip
I finally down loaded IntelliCAD as you suggested and found it to be darn
near exactly like AutoCAD LT. There are a couple of commands that I could
not find, in particular the Tracking command. Other than that my next
upgrade will probably be to IntelliCAD. Thanks again for that suggestion.
I've been using AutoSketch 9 from Autodesk for my woodworking projects. For
$120 it works great and I can import/export DWG files.
I also agree with you and Morris about 3D. I don't need it.

Dave

CW (in et) said:

| IMSI now owns Designcad. They bought it a couple of years ago.
| According to users, it was a better program before they got a hold
| of it.

I upgraded from the MSDOS-only 2D predecessor to DesignCAD in 1999.
Other than some DXF file interchange issues with a CAM package, I
haven't had any problems with it - and haven't had any motivation to
do subsequent upgrades.

Probably doesn't reflect well on me, but I've never used it in 3D
mode. I'm just too used to drawing additional 2D views. :~|

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto

"Morris Dovey" wrote in message
...
CW (in et) said:


Probably doesn't reflect well on me, but I've never used it in 3D
mode. I'm just too used to drawing additional 2D views. :~|


Me too I dont do 3D however I will do Isometric drawings for that fixes 3D
appearance. I do not really need the perspective views.

"CW" wrote in message
IMSI now owns Designcad. They bought it a couple of years ago. According
to
users, it was a better program before they got a hold of it.

IMSI is not unlike Intuit and Roxio ... they acquire then extort, instead of
develop and add value.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 5/6/06

Quite true. They hired a new CEO about a year ago and they listed as his
main asset was that he was an experienced corporate raider.
"Swingman" wrote in message
...
"CW" wrote in message
IMSI now owns Designcad. They bought it a couple of years ago. According
to
users, it was a better program before they got a hold of it.

IMSI is not unlike Intuit and Roxio ... they acquire then extort, instead
of
develop and add value.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 5/6/06

"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

If you have had drafting training and are familiar with AutoCAD, IntelliCAD
is very inexpensive by comparison at about 1/8 the the cost and operates
almost exactly like AutoCAD.
CAD is still IMHO aimed at a target market and is not the type software that
a computer company would load on to every computer that they sell. The more
you know about drafting to start with the easier any CAD program will be to
learn. If you cannot spell, a word process will have a bigger learning
curve. If you cannot count, a financial program will have a steeper
learning curve. If you cannot draw with a pencil exactly what you want a
CAD program to do, well, you know the drill.






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?


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Go to www.cadstd.com. Download the free trial version. It's kinda simple
and straightforward, a simple drafting program. But it will make drawings
(with dimensions). If you like it, the full-featured version is only $25.

Here's the thing. If you can make a drawing with a T-square and a pencil,
you can learn every feature in this program in about an hour (except for the
3D). The program won't make you an expert, but it will enable you to
produce nice, accurate, to-scale drawings in less time that you could do it
with a T-square. If you want more, you're probably going to have to pay for
more.

BruceT



"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?


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"Bruce T" wrote in message
. ..
Go to www.cadstd.com. Download the free trial version. It's kinda simple
and straightforward, a simple drafting program. But it will make drawings
(with dimensions). If you like it, the full-featured version is only $25.

Here's the thing. If you can make a drawing with a T-square and a pencil,
you can learn every feature in this program in about an hour (except for
the 3D). The program won't make you an expert, but it will enable you to
produce nice, accurate, to-scale drawings in less time that you could do
it with a T-square. If you want more, you're probably going to have to
pay for more.

I downloaded it and could not find any hint that it supports 3D. Do you mean
it takes more than an hour to find the 3D features?



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"John" wrote in message
.. .

"Bruce T" wrote in message
. ..
Go to www.cadstd.com. Download the free trial version. It's kinda
simple and straightforward, a simple drafting program. But it will make
drawings (with dimensions). If you like it, the full-featured version is
only $25.

Here's the thing. If you can make a drawing with a T-square and a
pencil, you can learn every feature in this program in about an hour
(except for the 3D). The program won't make you an expert, but it will
enable you to produce nice, accurate, to-scale drawings in less time that
you could do it with a T-square. If you want more, you're probably going
to have to pay for more.

I downloaded it and could not find any hint that it supports 3D. Do you
mean it takes more than an hour to find the 3D features?

I just checked the program again, and it enables one to create isometric
(3D) projections. I have never used the feature, as I see no point to it.
I started my career as a draftsman many, many years ago, so I am quite
comfortable with 2-dimensional drawings. If 3D is really important to you,
then I don't think Cadstd will be your cup of tea.

BruceT

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Cadstd does not have 3D. Isometric projections are 2D line drawings. Other
than visualization, there is little use for them. True 3D models are a
virtual part. They can be rotated and any side or feature can be measured.
3D solids have mass and a center of gravity. The advantage to the woodworker
are that a project can be entirely built on the computer, including all
joinery, before a physical unit is made. 2D prints can be generated from the
solid model with a few mouse clicks. No need to draw several views. I too am
a board trained draftsman, although it has been years since I've done it
that way. I do most all projects in 3D now, using 2D only for flat layouts.
The learning curve is steep. Probably more than most hobbyists would be
willing to deal with but, for those that do, it can do a lot for them.


"Bruce T" wrote in message
...
I just checked the program again, and it enables one to create isometric
(3D) projections. I have never used the feature, as I see no point to it.
I started my career as a draftsman many, many years ago, so I am quite
comfortable with 2-dimensional drawings. If 3D is really important to
you,
then I don't think Cadstd will be your cup of tea.

BruceT

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Tue, 6 Jun 2006 16:20:46 -0700, "John" wrote:

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.

There is definitely a dimensioning capability. It doesn't seem to
like to do things on a fine scale, like to put a 3/8ths roundover for
example. I also ran into problems trying to do miters, but again I
didn't play too much.


-Leuf

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?


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

John wrote:
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


Hey John

I was looking for a cabinet (plus) software program that is free or
very inexpensive and I found a free (full) program.
http://www.ecabinetsystems.com/ . The learning curve is a little high
but you cant beat the features - 3-D drawings w/ wood type and cut
list, floor plans can be drawn, I recommened the program, I just fill
out the form and I got a Cd in the mail 3-4 weeks later.