Design Intuition Software

[Frank Hagan]

Does anyone here use "Design Intuition" found at http://www.gizmolab.com/index.html ? It seems geared toward woodworking.

I downloaded the trial because the full package is the right price for my hobbyist heart ... $130 ... as opposed to the more expensive packages like Sketchup at $495. I see that Sketchup has been purchased by Google, and they have a free version, so I'll try that as well. But I doubt I would ever pay the $495 price for a cad program; unlike the pros here, I would never use it enough to make it pay for itself.

So I'm on the lookout for a dumbed-down woodworker's CAD program. Any other recommendations?

[Jim Becker]

For all practical purposes, the free version of SketchUp! is the same as the $500 version. Only some of the export options are unavailable, etc. You cannot beat "free"...and it's far easier to use than CAD. IMHO...and I use both, although I only start up the CAD package when I need to view or manipulate old drawings... Everything new gets done in SU.

[Aaron Beaver]

I tried that program and just didn't like it, but I was looking for something that I could show everything, dadoes, cuts, dovetails, etc. I was also looking for something that would allow you to dimension to all those dadoes, etc. That program allows you to put the pieces together but not much in the way of showing individual connections. I found SU to work great for that. Its been a while (6 months) since I tried it and they said they were working on things like that but didn't know when they would get them into the software.

If you don't need real detailed drawings (like I do) it may work but I found SU to be much more useful for what I wanted.

[Frank Hagan]

I downloaded the free version of Sketchup and I'm impressed. I'll have to play with it a bit, but it seems to be pretty fully featured.

[Larry James]

I downloaded the free version of Sketchup and I'm impressed. I'll have to play with it a bit, but it seems to be pretty fully featured.

I Have Design Intuition - free Sketchup is light years ahead of DI.

Larry

[Frank Hagan]

It looks like it ... so I'll play with Google Sketchup (free version).

I hate these programs, but I have to admit that Sketchup is a bit easier to use than the standard CAD program. It will still take me a while to get to where I can do anything with it, and I'll probably quit before I master it and simply go back to the drawings on graph paper I've always used. But at least I'm not out $$$ when I fail!

[Larry James]

...It will still take me a while to get to where I can do anything with it, and I'll probably quit before I master it...

Frank,
I agree, the learning curve is steep for CAD programs. I found the video tutorials very helpful, but there are so many it is hard to remember all the steps. I started over and now watch one video, mostly tools at this stage, and practice using that tool until I think I can remember how and when to use it. Have no problem with grouping or layers, but gave up on components for now. My current project is trying to draw the outside shell of my house, using some of the videos from here. Hang in there.

Larry