Drafting Program?

[Aaron Wilson]

I have an MacMini computer (access to the App Store) and was wondering if someone had a preference on good drafting program/app?
I would like to design an addition to the house (working in a large scall) and looking to design woodworking projects (working in a smaller scale), like a dining room table/board game table... etc.

OR, do you just use good ol paper and pencil?

Any input on software would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

[John K Jordan]

I have an MacMini computer (access to the App Store) and was wondering if someone had a preference on good drafting program/app?
I would like to design an addition to the house (working in a large scall) and looking to design woodworking projects (working in a smaller scale), like a dining room table/board game table... etc.

OR, do you just use good ol paper and pencil?

Any input on software would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Aaron,

By design, do you mean create working architectural drawings or do you mean design the overall size, layout of windows, doors, etc?

I spent years doing scientific, technical, and architectural modeling and rendering in 2d and 3D using AutoCad, 3D Studio Max, and other software so I'm fairly familiar with design by computer. I have used these programs occasionally to design things like my kitchen, decks, and projects.

However, when I designed and built my shop, perhaps an equivalent project (24x62) I did the entire thing on graph paper. I didn't try to put all the detail in one large drawing but did a layout with dimensions on one sheet then other very detailed sheets where needed. Overall, I think this was quicker than using CAD and had some advantages: one, I could work on it anywhere with a notebook of engineering graph paper sheets - I didn't have to be sitting at the computer. Two, as I revised things I made new drawings on other pages and could flip back and forth easily to compare. Three, it was a lot easier to write little notes on the paper, draw lines and arrows, etc. Also, I could make up special symbols easily on the fly for certain types of outlets, wire sizes, etc. And if I wanted to get some approximate measurement from a drawing I didn't need a ruler or go back to the computer - I just counted squares on the graph paper! Since this was a shop, I incorporated tool placement in the drawings after sliding around cutouts on a larger piece of paper. I ended up with about 50 pages of drawings for everything from the walls to the HVAC ducting.

Of course, I didn't have to make drawings that someone else had to use - I did all the planning, design, construction, and wiring myself. If you need drawings for a contractor to use that's another issue.

As for your question, I don't have any idea what a MacMini is but if you want to work in 3D the SketchUp Make program is free and powerful. Unlike drawing with a pencil, though, there is a learning curve. If 2D only, I have no recent knowledge.

JKJ

[Dave Richards]

I would also suggest that you look at SketchUp. It's free for personal use and you can use it to design your addition as well as woodworking projects. It's intended as a 3D modeling program but you could do 2D drawings with it or make 2D views of the 3D model to suit your needs. One thing to check before you go that router is the graphics card in your computer. It needs to be up to the task. If you want help with that, contact me and I'll give you some guidance.

[Bruce Page]

I use AutoCAD for 2D and Solidworks for 3D although I haven't used Solidworks since retiring 6 years ago..

A lot of people use Google's free Sketch-Up program and there are several others available.
Keep in mind that none of them are plug & play, they all require a learning commitment.

[Brett Luna]

I've enjoyed using Home Designer from Chief Architect Software. They have several flavors, depending on how deep you need to go.

[John K Jordan]

...One thing to check before you go that router is the graphics card in your computer. It needs to be up to the task.

Probably should download and run their program, "SketchUp 2017 CheckUp" which will test your hardware for compatibility. Until I updated the graphics driver on my Dell laptop the checkup program didn't even load and run! Everything is fine now.

JKJ

[Dave Richards]

John, you're right about running CheckUp although it isn't without its flaws, it can be helpful. For those using a laptop, check with the manufacture of the computer and see if they offer an updated driver for the graphics card. Probably just a good idea to do that before installing SketchUp.

Bruce, if you're still using Google SketchUp, it's high time you upgrade. It hasn't been a Google product in over four and a half years and there have been many improvements.

[lowell holmes]

I used AutoCad for 40+ years. I have two legal copies of it. I also have SketchUp. It is powerful and not that expensive. You might want to consider Sketchup.

There are also AutoCad clones in the marketplace. The support on them is questionable.

[Bruce Page]

Bruce, if you're still using Google SketchUp, it's high time you upgrade. It hasn't been a Google product in over four and a half years and there have been many improvements.

Ha! Shows you how much I know about it! I never used SketchUp, I used Solidworks for modeling. I find myself now not needing anything more than 2D and I have AutoCAD for that.

[Lee Schierer]

I don't know if it will work for Apple products, but I use a free cad program called Double Cad XT3 for 2D dimensioned drawings.

[Graham Wintersgill]

To expand on Johns answer about graph paper if you have Excel highlight the whole sheet then set the column width to 1 and the row height to 10 then you have a sheet of graph paper. You can then decide on a scale and outline your desired shape by colour filling the cells. Obviously does not handle curves well.

Regards

Graham

[Mike Hollingsworth]

MacDraft for the last 20 years

2D
Very Easy Learning Curve

[Larry Luebbert]

I'm a retired Mechanical Engineer that spent most of my career designing and building specialized machines. Started out on a 6' drawing board and moved into management before CAD became common. Later years went back to machine design using AutoCAD LT (2D). Found an introductory to TurboCad on the net for less than $60 and have since upgraded to TurboCAD 2015 Deluxe via several yearly upgrades. All total I think I have less than $200 in my current copy. If you've been an AutoCAD user it is very easy to move over as it has the same look and feel. Have tried SketchUp and it looks to be a good program if one starts from scratch skills. Got frustrated and went back to 2D. Have seen a lot of 3D designs that a machinist has had to redraw before he could make the parts on his equipment. Unless you have a computer controlled milling machine in your shop your going to essentially be making parts in a 2D world anyway so making designs in that world requires you to think about how the parts will be made (machine setup).

[Dave Richards]

In the end it depends upon who the drawings are for and the kind of information you need to communicate. 2D drawings may be adequate in the wood shop but a 3D perspective view is much easier for most people to understand since it coincides with the way we see the world. If you are making the drawing and building the project, you don't need to include as much information in the drawing because it is in your head. Here's an example 3-view drawing. How much more information would you need to have all the required details? How much more information would your client need to fully understand it? Here's a perspective view of the same piece. Which one would your grandmother be more likely to understand? If you use a 2D drawing program you'll have 2D drawings. If you use a 3D drawing program, you can have 3D and 2D.

I've seen plenty of examples in which various 2D views of the same thing don't agree with each other but it's difficult to catch until you see it in 3D.

[William Adams]

Depending on your inclination there are a couple of (free) options:

- http://www.cenon.info/ --- this as a CAD/CAM app for NeXTstep which switched over to being an opensource Bezier curve drawing app
- http://www.3ds.com/products-services...oad-draftsight --- 2D AutoCAD clone by a company which uses it as an adjunct to their 3D app

The opensource apps such as FreeCAD and BRL-CAD also run on Mac OS X, in the XWindow environment XQuartz --- there's also inkscape which is another Bezier curve drawing app.