Best (cheap/free) Homeshop CAD Program?

[Bill Space]

Years ago I was pretty comfortable with a 2D CAD program called DesignCad.

Would like to find something for home/hobby use today.

Do not want to make the necessary time investment to learn something that is free today, but could either disappear tomorrow, or become expensive.

Curious what members here are using...

No experience with 3D CAD. Probably only need 2D. Perhaps 2D is archaic now?

Willing to learn...:)

Recommendations/insight highly appreciated!

(I did try the search function but came up empty handed. Perhaps I need help there too?)

[Matt Day]

Sketchup will be the clear winner most likely. Do a search on it, tons of threads here and tons of information and tutorials available online.

By the way, this thread
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?263102-Sketch-up-vs-autocad
Was started today, and has a lot of information for you to review.

[Lisa Starr]

I use the free version of DraftSight. It is missing some features, but is very usable and allows for various methods of entering/displaying measurements etc.

[Lee Schierer]

I use a free version of Double Cad XT (http://download.cnet.com/DoubleCAD-XT/3000-18496_4-10907980.html), which has few if any limitations. It works similar to Autocad.

[Bill Space]

Sketchup will be the clear winner most likely. Do a search on it, tons of threads here and tons of information and tutorials available online.

By the way, this thread
https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?263102-Sketch-up-vs-autocad
Was started today, and has a lot of information for you to review.

Thanks Matt. I saw that thread. Seems like those products are more focused towards the pro. Not sure if I like the idea of web based software, free or otherwise.

The choices out out there are almost overwhelming, hence my question related to Home shop hobby type use.

I understand as a veteran I can get solidworks for $20. That could be another option.

Bill

[Steve Milito]

Why not stick with DesignCAD or entry level TurboCad?

[Bill Space]

Thanks Lisa and Lee,

For some reason Draftsight did not keep my attention when I looked at it some time ago, for reasons I do not remember. Will look again.

Lee, I am am going to check out Doubke Cad XT after I post this reply.

Perhaps I should have titled this thread “What CAD program do you use in your home shop?” Best is so relative. Poor choice of words on my part.

Bill

[John Sayen]

Thanks Lisa and Lee,

For some reason Draftsight did not keep my attention when I looked at it some time ago, for reasons I do not remember. Will look again.

Lee, I am am going to check out Doubke Cad XT after I post this reply.

Perhaps I should have titled this thread “What CAD program do you use in your home shop?” Best is so relative. Poor choice of words on my part.

Bill

Sketchup. There are a ton of videos online to learn it, and a great sketchup for woodworkers book for $20 on amazon.

It’s free, for now.

[Keith Hankins]

I would first ask what you want to do. If it's simple drawings, sketchup can't be beat but there is a learning curve no matter what you want to do. fusion 360 is a great one too. If you were thinking of cam in your future, f360 is better.

but again, no matter what, you will have a learning curve.

[Bill Space]

I would first ask what you want to do. If it's simple drawings, sketchup can't be beat but there is a learning curve no matter what you want to do. fusion 360 is a great one too. If you were thinking of cam in your future, f360 is better.

but again, no matter what, you will have a learning curve.

Keith, I am one of those guys who buys tools before he needs them, and always finds a use for them afterwards!

So I can’t answer your question directly, but do understand the advantage of a software program over pencil and paper...

Bill

[Bill Space]

Why not stick with DesignCAD or entry level TurboCad?

Steve,

A couple years ago I actually bought a newer version of DesignCad. I think it is the 3D version. It was not expensive, but I found it cumbersome to relearn and decided at the time to spend the learning effort on perhaps a better or more up to date software.

Did nothing since then hence hence the current question.

Bill

[Grant Aldridge]

I've used sketchup a good bit, but since I've gotten my iPad Pro (9.7" with Apple pencil) I've been playing with Shapr3d and it's pretty nice! Started out bumpy but they've done some updating and it's on track with sketchup for my purposes now

[Tim M Tuttle]

For woodworking I would recommend 3D over 2D. For 3D I would recommend Fusion 360 over SketchUp. The initial learning curve for Fusion is a little more steep than SketchUp but once you get going it's a lot better than SketchUp IMO. Also, their licensing blows SketchUp out of the water. For a hobbyist, Fusion 360 is a free, full featured version. You only have to start paying for it when you get over $100k in revenue. SketchUp free is garbage unless you have zero desire to make printable plans.

[Grant Wilkinson]

I use the free version of Sketchup, which is still available for download. Dave Richards has 2 e-books available for woodworkers that are excellent. He takes the reader from very basic stuff to complex pieces. Well worth the low cost.

[Mike Kreinhop]

Thanks Matt. I saw that thread. Seems like those products are more focused towards the pro. Not sure if I like the idea of web based software, free or otherwise.

The choices out out there are almost overwhelming, hence my question related to Home shop hobby type use.

I understand as a veteran I can get solidworks for $20. That could be another option.

Bill

As a long-time AutoCAD user at work, I looked at SOLIDWORKS for my personal use and wanted to take advantage of the veteran's discount. Unfortunately, it is not available for the Mac. Instead, I decided to give SketchUp a try and installed the free Make 2017 version. As others stated, there are lots of free tutorials on YouTube and I was able to learn the basics in less than a day.

The non-web version of SketchUp, Make 2017, is still available for download:

https://www.sketchup.com/download/all

I am building a miter station in my basement shop based on the Jay Bates design. I bought his SketchUp plans and modified the design to fit my shop and needs. In order to ensure the station fit, I had to have a scale drawing of my shop with the existing equipment in place. It took me two weekends and a few evenings of learning as I went with SketchUp to create a scale layout of my shop and add the equipment. Some of the equipment model files are available for free download on the 3D Warehouse associated with SketchUp, but some, such as my Minimax SC2 and workbench, weren't. Fortunately, my Dewalt miter saw was one of the models available. I was able to create a working model of the Minimax saw and place it in the shop layout so I could see where to place the equipment and which parts of the miter saw station would fit. For the workbench, I created a 3D block to represent it.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4772/25951637707_7771c359a1_c.jpg

[Mike Kreinhop]

SketchUp free is garbage unless you have zero desire to make printable plans.

I have no problem printing plans from the free SketchUp.

[Richard Dooling]

Hi Tim,
Do you think Fusion 360 will remain free for hobbyists? SketchUp has been awkward for me coming out of 3D Studio Max but I'd hate to put in the time if Fusion 360 goes to a pay version.

[glenn bradley]

SketchUp free is garbage unless you have zero desire to make printable plans.

No problem here either. What's the issue?

[Bill Space]

I am leaning towards SolidWorks which apparently is available on a DVD to veterans at a cost of $20.

Not sure this is the best solution, but might work for me, all things considered...

Certainly a complex individual issue. No doubt there.

Actually I don't mind spending $20 to prove myself wrong...:)

Bill

[William Adams]

Note that that license for Solidworks is a one year license, and has to be renewed (for the new version) each year:

https://store.solidworks.com/veteran/default.php?command=Step1

Note that it's their Student version, and may have the same non-commercial license limitations (which is why my copy only gets used by my son for his schoolwork --- I can't be bothered to learn software which has licensing issues if there's any other choice).

Eventually I'll find the time to learn to use Solvespace if I need more 3D modeling than OpenSCAD affords.

[Greg R Bradley]

Several people left ProEngineer to found Solidworks. It was the original "cheap" 3d CAD at $3995, which was about the same as AutoCAD2d at the time and 20% the price of ProEngineer. That ended when Dassault bought them 20 years ago, who have CAD products where a typical small customer is spending $100,000+ per year on licenses.
They have some strange policies.
I bought a company that had 4 Solidworks licenses. Since the previous company closed, the licenses went "poof - gone".
Another one had 3 licensed Solidworks designers and we added a student working as an intern. It got ugly when his student copy was communicating "home" thru the same IP as the licensed copies. Nearly required getting an attorney involved when all licenses were disabled stopping work.
I've played with Solidworks on and off for 30 years and would need to spend an entire day working on it to not be completely frustrated. Don't think it is going to be stupidly easy like SketchUp.

I think you will find the Veteran copy is like an Educational copy, designed to teach you the program so you can get a job using it at a customer that is paying Dassault $$$$$$.

[Tim M Tuttle]

Hi Tim,
Do you think Fusion 360 will remain free for hobbyists? SketchUp has been awkward for me coming out of 3D Studio Max but I'd hate to put in the time if Fusion 360 goes to a pay version. . I sure hope so. I think Autodesk hit a homerun with their approach for licensing Fusion 360. it's been out a while and they havent changed so hoping they stick to it. Or at least make it a monthly subscription so it's a little easier to swallow. I really like Adobe's subscription setup. It allows people to start professional services for this kind of stuff without a massive investment. I, for example, started filming my projects for YouTube, made a website and want to sell plans. Back in the day I would have to buy Photoshop ($600), Premiere Pro ($1200), After Effects ($600), SketchUp/Autocad ($700-3000), and MS Office ($350 ish?). That's a lot of money. With subscriptions I can go all in for about $100 a month and don't have to worry about upgrades.

There is no way in hell I am going to spend $700 on SketchUp so I am going all in on Fusion and, honestly, I think Fusion is a better program.

[John Sayen]

Which resources do people recommend to learn Fusion 360?

[Grant Wilkinson]

Nice job on the shop model, Mike. I did something similar, but not near as nice. Like you, I can print from Sketchup.

[Randy Heinemann]

As others have said, DeltaCad is an inexpensive 2D program. It is also the easiest CAD program to learn that I've ever used. However, if you think that, sometimes you may need a 3D drawing, then SketchUp would be a good choice. It's free and there are a lot of resources available to assist in the learning process if needed.

[Tim M Tuttle]

Which resources do people recommend to learn Fusion 360?
Lars Christensen does almost daily videos/streams on Fusion. The majority arent tailored to woodworking but they are definitely informative. - https://www.youtube.com/user/cadcamstuff

A couple of weeks ago Jay Bates did an hour long video showing how he built a table in Fusion. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J22j8RfETjs

Paul Jenkins has done a few videos on Fusion. His arent in depth but you can pick up a few things.

Those are the ones I have watched. I am sure there are more. - https://www.youtube.com/user/vikingcode