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Is there a decent program out there that doesn't cost a fortune? The cost of most is apalling.
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(08-28-2017, 04:16 PM)moses1945 Wrote: Is there a decent program out there that doesn't cost a fortune? The cost of most is apalling.
SketchUp. Absolutely free.
John
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08-28-2017, 07:30 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-28-2017, 07:31 PM by doobes.)
3d - Fusion360
2d - DraftSight
Both completely free.
chris
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08-28-2017, 07:55 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-29-2017, 05:14 AM by DaveR1.)
I'd also recommend SketchUp. Lots of woodworking-specific help available for it, too.
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(08-28-2017, 04:16 PM)moses1945 Wrote: 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.
There is a fine line between woodworking and insanity - sometimes I am not sure which side of the line I am on.
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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.
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Thanks to all of you for the help.
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I assume the above are for Windows. Anyone have recommended CAD programs for Linux OS?
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(08-29-2017, 06:21 PM)Willyou Wrote: 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.
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(08-29-2017, 06:21 PM)Willyou Wrote: 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
