Easy to use CAD?

[Ellen Benkin]

Is there such a thing? I've been looking for a CAD program for people who don't what to spend a lot of time learning to use it. I did a search here and didn't find anything that I would consider "easy". I am proficient with a computer, but not with design programs and I'm not very good at design either. I have little patience with programs that require a steep learning curve. I want to more spend time building projects out of wood and less time on the computer. I'd even take programs that give me canned solutions that I can modify to avoid having to start with a blank screen.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[Jim Becker]

There is no such thing as a CAD program that doesn't require some time to learn, but I happen to like DesignCAD. I've owned it for years and it's very functional and reasonably priced at under a hundred bucks. While I've moved to SketchUp! for most of my drawing now, I have a lot of things in DesignCAD and would not hesitate to use it if I felt I could do what I want in the other program.

[Ellen Benkin]

Thanks, Jim. I'll try DesignCAD.

[Dave Richards]

Ellen, as Jim said, they all have some learning curve. I have an ancient copy of Anvil 1000. It's a 2D CAD program that I think must have the shortest learning curve of them all. It is not pretty as far as the GUI is concerned but it is all business and works fine. The entire program and a bunch of drawings fit on a single 1.44Mb floppy and will run from the floppy if desired.

[Mike Wilkins]

A recent past issue of Fine Woodworking magazine had an article about the current crop of CAD design programs available. Cannot remember which was the aurthors' preference, but worth a read.

[Doug Shepard]

Both FWW and another mag (maybe Wood?) had CAD reviews in the last 6 months or so. I think both had the same two listed as being top picks. Based on the reviews, I finally ordered TurboCAD last weekend. I think the other one that both mags liked was DesignCAD? Turbo should show up in the next few days. I'll let you know my first impressions when I get it installed and play with it a bit.

[Frank Pellow]

Thanks, Jim. I'll try DesignCAD.

Me too! Now to find out what sort of extra cost will be entailed to have it shipped to Canada.

[Don Selke]

If you have no experience in CAD I would find out if a tetorial is available for the software you are buying. I was stuck on Design CAD and could not figure certain things out until I purchased the tetorial. The tetorial made the whole learning process easy, I really think it is worth the extra cost. Sketchup is just too expensive for my budget.

[Keith Outten]

Dave,

I also own Anvil 1000. I thought I was the only one left in the world that still owned Anvil but I must admit I use AutoCad every now and then at CNU.

[Dave Richards]

Wow, Keith, and I thought my brother and I were the only two in the world still using it. For a 2D CAD program, don't you find it easier to use than the others? I know it's not much to look at but it certainly gets the job done.

[Ken Salisbury]

Easy CAD is an oxymoron

[Keith Outten]

Dave,

The DOS based version of Anvil that I have is lightning fast considering that it was made in the days of 486 computers. Ram in those days was $100 per meg and most CAD programs were slow even when you added a math co-processor. Using Anvil on new machine it is so fast you can't even see the menus change and redraws are just as quick. Once you have memorized the menu system the keystrokes are the most efficient way to go and the Windows based CAD programs all seem very slow compared to Anvil.

Anvil 1000 was the best CAD program in the world. NASA killed the program when they selected AutoCad to be the standard for all drawings and made all contractors move to AutoCad. I was working for a NASA contractor at the time and our drafting lab had both programs in use. One of our designers using Anvil could produce more drawings than all the AutoCad users combined. Anvil was also much cheaper to purchase and required less computer horsepower in those days. Often a superior product will lose in the marketplace, Anvil 1000 lost a race it should have one easilly. I wonder if someone offered the Government 10,000 free copies of AutoCad ?

[Dave Richards]

Keith, you're right about the speed. I also like that it doesn't install anything when it is used so you can take it on a floppy, run it on someone else's computer and when you pull the disk, there's no trace of it.

My brother gave me a copy of it. He worked for a place that used it and said the guys who had tablets were amazing with it. Later, he went to work for a company that sells big machine tools. One of their big customers is Harley-Davidson. A few years ago, they wanted a machine to mill the paint off the edges of the cylinder fins. Because the CAD file for the cylinders was done in Anvil and my brother was the only one at his company who knew it or could work with it, it fell to him to write the program for the milling machine so it could run around each fin and cut off the paint without taking off the metal.

I expect that just like a lot of software, the GUI on AutoCAD and others had a lot to do with Anvil's downfall. I guess Anvil is still around but the GUI has been upgraded to look more like the others.

[Tomas Vargas]

Have you tried Spaceclaim ?


It´s 3D, not too expensive, and you can design with 2 basic commands, pull and move.

[lowell holmes]

Sketchup is free. There are two tutorials called Sketchup for Woodworkers. The one at Popular Woodworking is $50. I have used cad for 30+ years and the Popwood tutorial is the easiest one I've ever used.

The other Sketchup for Woodworkers is free and as far as it goes, it's easy as well. It's not as complete at this time as the Popwood tutorial, but probably will be. Google Sketchup for Woodworkers to find it.

Free software and free tutorial is as cheap as it gets.

Sketchup is a serious cad program. It does a lot of things well.