What Do You Use To Draw/design Projects?

I have a engineer's notebook that I use to jot down stuff I want to remember. I have a couple of those mechanical drafting pencils to sketch/write with.

I've also put a small white board with dry erase markers on the wall near my mill. I like it so much I'm going to put one next to the lathe as well. If I decide I want to capture something on the white board for use/reference later, I use my phone to take a pic. :)
 
Call me old fashioned ----- I have a drafting table that I built myself that has a top surface with a self healing pad and is about 3 X 4 ft and inclinable; add to this a Universal drafting machine with adjustable ball bearing hinge points that is about WW-1 vintage and use mechanical collet type pencils and all the small tools that I bought when I took drafting in high school and junior college about 1963 and 4. I know that modern computer programs can do things that I can't, but I can make drawings with such as line work that makes a drawing much clearer, especially with round objects.
 
Call me old fashioned ----- I have a drafting table that I built myself that has a top surface with a self healing pad and is about 3 X 4 ft and inclinable; add to this a Universal drafting machine with adjustable ball bearing hinge points that is about WW-1 vintage and use mechanical collet type pencils and all the small tools that I bought when I took drafting in high school and junior college about 1963 and 4. I know that modern computer programs can do things that I can't, but I can make drawings with such as line work that makes a drawing much clearer, especially with round objects.

I guess I'm a little old fashioned too, I started my apprenticeship in 1961, (5 years). Fitting and Turning plus the extra year for toolmaking. Tech drawing was the subject I did the best in at trade school, and the one I like the most as well. I scored 85% so was pretty happy.

I still prefer a pencil drawing although these days mostly it's only a sketch at best, most of it is in my head. I might jot down a couple of crucial dimensions, but I am going to get a whiteboard and put it up near the head of the lathe. I'm sure it will be handy.

I'm also not into DRO's and CAD/CAM, CNC. I figure we are hobby machinists, not programmers. Those devices are fine in a production environment, The only electronic device I have succumbed too so far. is a 6"digtal caliper as my eyesight is getting too old to read the vernier any more.

Cheers, Bob.
 
I doodle the part on paper, check my measurements and build it.
For items like bumpers,consoles, dash boards etc. I make templates using cardboard and make changes as I go.
If I'm using the CNC plasma, I HAVE to use BobCad V21 and SheetCam (takes me too long).
If Im building a custom project, I build it from my head as I go. It seems for years now, when I lay down to sleep the current project runs though my thoughts in different variations until I finally fall asleep. Its sort of a curse as I get up early regardless of sleep quality, but have come up with decent ideas. Personal projects are the worst "sleep stealers".
I do envy those with computer skills....Very much.
I also own a nice drafting table with a decent compliment of tools that I use from time to time when I need to outsource something too large for my shop machines.
 
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I guess I'm a little old fashioned too, I started my apprenticeship in 1961, (5 years). Fitting and Turning plus the extra year for toolmaking. Tech drawing was the subject I did the best in at trade school, and the one I like the most as well. I scored 85% so was pretty happy.

I still prefer a pencil drawing although these days mostly it's only a sketch at best, most of it is in my head. I might jot down a couple of crucial dimensions, but I am going to get a whiteboard and put it up near the head of the lathe. I'm sure it will be handy.

I'm also not into DRO's and CAD/CAM, CNC. I figure we are hobby machinists, not programmers. Those devices are fine in a production environment, The only electronic device I have succumbed too so far. is a 6"digtal caliper as my eyesight is getting too old to read the vernier any more.

Cheers, Bob.
It would seem that you and I are living parallel lives! The closest I ever came to a DRO, etc. is a Travadial on my lathe at home. At my business shop I had a DRO on my Induma vertical mill, but that was about 6 years ago, so I'm hoping that it no longer counts.
 
It would seem that you and I are living parallel lives! The closest I ever came to a DRO, etc. is a Travadial on my lathe at home. At my business shop I had a DRO on my Induma vertical mill, but that was about 6 years ago, so I'm hoping that it no longer counts.

I'm sure we're not the only ones, Plenty of people, like us, that like the traditional ways. And then there are those who like to push the boundries and learn new things. And that's fine too. It's mostly the younger ones who have plenty of time. I simply don't have time to learn autocad and the like, but for those who can use it to enhance their career path, yeh, go for it.

Bob
 
Just drew this boring head up in Fusion 360 yesterday. Very nice software and the price is right! A render below and a travel animation attached.

Ted
Interstate Boring Head.png
 

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Some years ago I bought DesignCad 3D but my brain doesn't work in 3D so I now have a much later version of DesignCad 2D. I tend to use it as an electronic drawing board and I find that this suits my needs which is designing scale models of very old traction engines. My current one is an 1858 Burrell with Boydels Patent endless railway.
Brian
 
Other than cost what are some of the differences between SolidWorks and Fusion 360? From reading some other articles online it seems that Fusion has a simplified user interface making it more user friendly to those who aren't SW gurus in the commercial world. From others experience does Fusion stack up against SW as far as features, power, versatility, etc? Or is Fusion just a viable option due to the expense of a SW license? I have access to SW and have a fair amount of experience with the program. Not sure how much longer my access will be as it is through a college VPN that I have to log in to. Feeling out if I should break up with SW and move to using Fusion?
 
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