CAD programs

[moses1945]

Is there a decent program out there that doesn't cost a fortune? The cost of most is apalling.

[jteneyck]

Is there a decent program out there that doesn't cost a fortune? The cost of most is apalling.

SketchUp.  Absolutely free.

John

[doobes]

3d - Fusion360
2d - DraftSight

Both completely free.

[DaveR1]

I'd also recommend SketchUp. Lots of woodworking-specific help available for it, too.

[BigD]

Is there a decent program out there that doesn't cost a fortune? The cost of most is apalling.

You can get a 2D version of Solid Edge for free. It may have a slightly longer learning curve than some others, but is very complete in what you can do with it.

I used Solid Edge for many years as a Mechanical Engineer and since I retired, I use it to lay out all my projects and am able to do a lot of "what if " versions of my designs so I don't get half way through a project in the shop  and then wonder what it would have looked like if I had just done this or that.

Another plus is it can convert other CAD programs such as Solid Works, AutoCAD etc. into Solid Edge.

[appletonrc]

There is a student version of Creo Parametric that is free. It is a high end cad tool (may a bit much for wood projects but I use it at work)

OnShape is another option and as long as you share your designs with the public it's free. It's done in a web browser.

Tinker Cad is another one that is free. Really aimed at 3D printer designs but it should work for wood projects.

Sketch Up is pretty good too.

[moses1945]

Thanks to all of you for the help.

[Willyou]

I assume the above are for Windows. Anyone have recommended CAD programs for Linux OS?

[appletonrc]

I assume the above are for Windows. Anyone have recommended CAD programs for Linux OS?

I assume the web based ones will work on linux?  Tinkercad or onshape are within a web browser.

[bjmh4]

I assume the above are for Windows. Anyone have recommended CAD programs for Linux OS?

I've found that Draftsight 2017 (sp3) works reasonably well under Linux (available as a .deb or rpm). In fact, for a 2d program it works very well.  Only problem I've had is a printing bug that I got tired of really quick.  I now print to pdf, open the pdf in Evince, and print from there.  Seems to be a problem with wireless printers (I have 2). For 3d, Solvespace and Freecad plus a few others work, but I've heard that Sketchup works under Wine, if you want to go that way.


Good luck!
Bob