Technical Drawing/Drafting Software

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aheg1220

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What software do you guys use to create technical drawings and plans? I've searched around on the internet, but I cannot find a free program for my Mac that will let me create technical drawings.

I'm getting kinda tired of not being able to read my own handwriting and drawings. *club*
 
Most home shop people can't afford the really good programs like Inventor and Solidworks so they use the free versions of Alibre and Sketckup (google) for 3D and for 2D there is a free program from Solidedge which is as good as there is in that type.
 
Hi Loose nut, if you read original question carefully, you will realise that aheg1220 is not asking "which CAD?"
he is asking "which CAD for Mac?" ... and that is his problem :p
My advice (seriously) would be - get yourself PC for CAD work ;D
It would seem that even Linux has better choice than Mac ???,
but I know that Mac owners can be very emotional ;) about their choice of OS,
so I better go back into the crevice I normally sit in ;D

Chris
 
Thanks for the help, guys.


Unfortunately getting a PC specifically for CAD work is not an option.


For now I'll just stick to Sketchup or real drawings.
 
Hi aheg1220, I'd give DraftSight a try as Ken suggested. I've been using the PC version and as a 20+ year AutoCad user I can say that it's almost identical.

And you can't beat free.... ;D

Cheers

Jeff
 
I looked at Draftsight, but it's a Beta version and was put off by the license agreement.
 
TurboCAD is a great program and can be had for around $AU130 it operates on both Windows-V17 and Mac-V5. Some of the 3D features such as threads and springs require a work around but considering the price..........................Of course the full bells and whistles version is $AU1500.

Best Regards
Bob
 
Having been an Autocad user for many, many years along with other quite sophisticated Cad modeling programs I look at some of the programs that people suggest in these threads.
I read about Draftsight and went to their site to have a look-see. It sounded pretty good so I downloaded it to take a better look.
In my opinion for a 2D program it's very nice. It's very close to Autocad. It also has a PDF step by step instruction manual.
With that said, for a beginner it's still a large learning curve. Learning to work with the icons, what they do and where they are located takes some time.
When I get time I'm going to play with it and I'll report back what I find out.
gbritnell
 
I have been using AutoCAD since R1 - (I know, I'm showing my age) and I just downloaded and checked out Draftsight - I am very impressed. I am a big command line user and so far every operation mimicked AutoCAD nearly perfectly - as a matter of fact, I prefer Draftsight interface to ACAD LT 2011 which I use at the office. I think the interface is extremely intuitive and very easy to use for AutoCAD users. I still have to verify compatibility of the DXF exports with my CAM program to be sure it will work for CAM and CNC work in my basement shop.

I also took DoubleCAD for a test drive last week and although it got rave reviews, it was not stable and was a bit quirky. It took me 3-4 times as long to draw some simple parts in DoubleCAD as it did in either AutoCAD or Draftsight.

I suggest you just download Draftsight and take it for a test drive - you have nothing to loose.

Enjoy!
 
Thank you guys for all the help!

I downloaded Draftsight and I really like it, even though it's a bit overkill for my needs. If I need anything "dumber" I'll use Sketchup or Open Office.
 
Glad your'e sorted, I may have a look at Draftsight myself.

Vic.
 
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