What Do You Use To Draw/design Projects?

I am old fashioned, took mechanical drawing in school (50 some odd years ago) and am fairly good at it, have a 3X4 drawing table and a Universal Drafting Machine of about first world war vintage, and all the other accoutrements. I find a hand drawing much easier to read than computer generated drawings, especially when a bit of line work is done; I generally do full size drawings on D size paper, or scale up or down for clarity as needed. I know there are advantages to computer drawings, especially, the ability to peel off details to improve clarity, and especially the fact that my hand lettering is not to a very high standard.
 
I've tried many in the past, from pencil and paper to AutoCad to Microstation to Inventor.

All are good programs, but I've just begun using Fusion 360 and I love it. It does what I want it to do. It has a very intuitive interface that suits me just fine. I think it's the program I'll use from now on.
 
Today I have been using Fusion 360 for every project I do. From my RC Hobby to my bathroom vanity. I slowly converted a mini mill to CNC and did most of the components in Fusion 360 (early parts were designed in Inventor).
Simple to use. All in one package and free for hobbyists. Even would gladly pay if I had to.

I spent my early life as a designer on a drafting board. Moved to AutoCAD then various 3D packages from high end expensive CAD/CAM systems to the norm of the Windows platforms.

Can't say it enough. The product of choice is Fusion 360 today. Can't live without it now.


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Some things I use good old pencil, straight edge, and graph paper. For serious drawings I use Mastercam which I can also toolpath from.
 
I have been designing machinery for 30 plus years. Of course at some point I switched from vellum and lead to the computer. Odd as it sounds, I have managed to use the "same" program ever since I switched. It started out being called Generic Cadd and it morphed over the years with different operating systems...ie dos and all the various flavours of windows. They call it General Cadd now.....I stopped at version 5 and still use it to this day. I am now retired but have a hobby business and I still design all my products with it. Its 2D. Since I started way back when designing on paper...2D is fine for me as I can "see" the third "D" in my head. I don't need the pretty picture pictorial (3P??) on the screen in front of me....my brain can handle it just fine:) I have many times thought about learning a 3D program but I just don't need it to get the job done. I've never been able to get a 3D software salesman explain to me the "design process" in a 3d program. I'm sure it can be done but I don't see how....my problem really....but until I can find someone to explain it to me I don't feel the need to change.
 
I tried Onshape and really liked it a lot but it didn't support Drawings and Cam although it may now support both. The reason I stopped using Onshape was they are too limited to storage available for free. You end up having to make all your drawings available to the public. I now am using Fusion 360 and have grown to really like it and it is a full program with CAD/CAM and Drawing capability. I get by the cloud problem by down loading all my data to my computer in STEP/IGES format which is pretty much recognized by all Cad programs just in case they decide to start charging for the free program later on. I did the same thing when I was using Onshape so I still have all my data available for that program on my computer also.

I am a hobbyist and can't afford a high dollar system. I own Bobcad V25 and I hate it (some people like it) because I learned Cad systems when I was working at Raytheon Company and I was using Solidworks (best ever program out there). I want a good free program for my little hobby shop and for now it's Fusion 360. If I had a business I would buy Solidworks. I say go for the cloud (Fusion 360 or Onshape) but backup all your part files to your computer in a format that can be read by all programs (IGES or STEP).

Good luck to everyone
 
I have been designing machinery for 30 plus years. Of course at some point I switched from vellum and lead to the computer. Odd as it sounds, I have managed to use the "same" program ever since I switched. It started out being called Generic Cadd and it morphed over the years with different operating systems...ie dos and all the various flavours of windows. They call it General Cadd now.....I stopped at version 5 and still use it to this day. I am now retired but have a hobby business and I still design all my products with it. Its 2D. Since I started way back when designing on paper...2D is fine for me as I can "see" the third "D" in my head. I don't need the pretty picture pictorial (3P??) on the screen in front of me....my brain can handle it just fine:) I have many times thought about learning a 3D program but I just don't need it to get the job done. I've never been able to get a 3D software salesman explain to me the "design process" in a 3d program. I'm sure it can be done but I don't see how....my problem really....but until I can find someone to explain it to me I don't feel the need to change.

I understand what your saying here. My office mate was a Mechanical Engineer for 35 yrs and was told he had to start using Solidworks. They sent him to training classes and he just couldn't get the 3D. After a month he decided to retire. I took Solidworks home on Friday and on Monday I took over his design and that's what I did for the next 10 yrs. I had no 2D design experience and I think that's why it seemed so easy to me. Out of the 3 designers we had that used 2D only one finally staring becoming efficient with 3D design techniques. Funny how our minds seem to resist change.
 
I use DeltaCad and have used it for quite a few years. It's only 2D but works for me. I have tried SketchUp several times and find it too frustrating even after watching several YouTube demos.
LaVern
 
I use SolidWorks and still use Cadkey for .dxf's to go to the milling machine, although SW can actually do that. Just convenient to still use both.

Here's the thing: Good old pencil and paper and/or a drafting table are still a means of putting some details and instructions on record, but a CAD system on a computer is truly a time-saving engineering tool. It's because of 3D modeling and assembling, mainly, then you get a quick means of making the drawings. That combined power is huge.

Competitively I don't think a company could survive without it. And personally I would pay for it myself if I had serious projects to do (now that I know how to use it of course.) Or find a way to borrow. Also, one can earn a decent living just by being good at an in-demand CAD program like SolidWorks or Catia, Inventor, and others. One more thing - it would be well worth it to get an old license of something, or use Sketchup or similar, without the need to pay for ongoing support. It pays.
 
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