computer drawing programs

[artj]

I am looking for a SIMPLE furniture design computer program.  A free2D program  would be great.

[Don_M]

I’ll throw in my $ .02 in - recognizing this is not exactly what you are looking for – but I use AutoDesk by AutoCAD almost exclusively. It is not free, and it has a pretty big learning curve (but it is powerful). I love the layering feature and editing options (and admittedly I am probably only using about 20% of its capabilities). But you also get good CS with the purchase. Of course, now there are youtube tutorials that help w/ most questions. I am convinced I could not have pulled off my Bombe chest design w/o it. (https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5...+plans.pdf)
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[jteneyck]

I’ll throw in my $ .02 in - recognizing this is not exactly what you are looking for – but I use AutoDesk by AutoCAD almost exclusively. It is not free, and it has a pretty big learning curve (but it is powerful). I love the layering feature and editing options (and admittedly I am probably only using about 20% of its capabilities). But you also get good CS with the purchase. Of course, now there are youtube tutorials that help w/ most questions. I am convinced I could not have pulled off my Bombe chest design w/o it. (https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5...+plans.pdf)

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Those are one impressive set of drawings, Don.  

2D works for building a piece, but 3D is so much better for me during the design phase.  

John

[fixtureman]

I have been playing with Free Cad and it seems to work pretty good

[Gary G™]

I don’t consider AutoCad’s products to be simple.
High quality but not simple.

[BrentDH]

You should at least consider Sketchup (or maybe called Make now). The base version is free and I have found no need to upgrade to the pro version that they charge for.  It is not 2D and I am not sure I would call it simple, but it is very useful. If you are building something for someone else a 3D model is much easier for most people to visualize.

There are hundreds of video instructions on YouTube.

[jteneyck]

You should at least consider Sketchup (or maybe called Make now). The base version is free and I have found no need to upgrade to the pro version that they charge for.  It is not 2D and I am not sure I would call it simple, but it is very useful. If you are building something for someone else a 3D model is much easier for most people to visualize.

There are hundreds of video instructions on YouTube.

I looked at the current free version of SketchUp again the other day.  It's so much more difficult to use compared to the Make2017 version I use that I'm not sure I could use it.  I guess I would if I had to, but it makes more sense to me to download a version of Make2017, which is still available through 3rd parties.  SketchUp is not hard to learn if you follow a tutorial, incredibly frustrating if you don't.  As you said, it's designed to be used as a 3D program, but you can use it in 2D mode.  The best of both worlds for me is to design in 3D and then use the views feature to look at it in 2D from the front, top, side, etc. and print those views, too, when it comes time to build.   

John

[Mainelywoodworking]

If you just want a simple 2D drawing program, take a look at InkScape.

If you want 2D/3D with assemblies, that's all web based so you don't have to download anything on your computer, check out Onshape.

If you want a more traditional 2D/3D similar to AutoCAD / Fusion 360, I'd give Solid Edge Community a try.

I've used AutoCAD for many years and to me it's pretty powerful and eventually became quick and easy to use, but I just let my AutoCAD LT subscription run out and I have no plan to renew it. I also deleted Fusion 360 because when I cancelled my AutoCAD subscription, my entire Autodesk account got cancelled. They make you download so much junk on your computer and I will never download another product from them again.

I have Carbide Create for my CNC machine and it's okay for a simple 2D visual, but you can't really draw anything too complex.

I had looked at SketchUp (which is no longer free as mentioned above), then I looked at the new free "SketchUp" and also some of the older versions. I also considered nanoCAD and FreeCAD but both seemed very clunky and outdated compared to the options I mentioned above.