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Permalink Reply by Don Goguen on April 21, 2011 at 12:33am

I use AutoCad for laying out ideas and drawing up plans but only because it is what I use for my work as well.  For someone looking to get into 3D on the cheap, I would suggest Google Sketchup.  It is very powerful, does an excellent job with 3D rendering and is relatively easy to learn.

While not rocket science, I have found that many peoples expectation of drawing software discounts the learning curve.  Such as is the case with AutoCad.  It can be daunting to learn as there are several ways to do most tasks.  I'm an old timer and work alot with the command line.  This aids with drawing faster but it takes some time to learn all the commands.  Often one disappointing area is the expectation of speed.  I have found that for simple drawings, it is faster to draw them out by hand.

All that said however, it can be a very useful tool.  I use it for working out ideas and esspecially dimensions.  It is helpful for printing out parrt templates for cutting like headstocks.  I'll draft out side views to calculate neck angles and to figure out how to get proper string height with the hardware I'm using.  Overall, it helps me visualize my ideas.

There are some other open source Cad programs out there but I don't think any of them can come close to the level of support Sketchup has online.  There are lots of tutorials and user groups for it.  Give it a shot.

Don

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on April 21, 2011 at 8:37am

Blimey..that's a bit High Tech! I do actually use computer drafting, but only because I've used it for my day job for the past 20 + years..but I've always relied on a 2B pencil on a roll of greaseproof kitchen paper for sketches.

 

I use MacDraft, very simple 2D drafting so can't comment on what's available generally for the PC. I only make drawings if it's a really unusual build such as a resonator and I need to get the components and action bang-on first time,  or if my client has got very specific requirements for neck width & taper etc..otherwise I hold up a stick of wood next to a box, mark some things on it with a pencil and have at it with the sharp tools, doing my design work with a chisel and saw.

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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on April 22, 2011 at 2:51pm

The design software I most frequently use is MS Paint. I usually have a second instance of it running and if I need a measurement, I re-size the drawing to the number of cm or inches I want, fill it with an odd color, and cut and paste it to my work drawing. You can see some of the drawings I've done by visiting my personal page on CBN.

 

Other people use some drawing program from Google, but don't like having to learn new software if the old stuff can do 90% of what I want it to do. Yeah, that's it: Google Sketchup.

 

-Rand.

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Permalink Reply by Little Soul Eric on April 22, 2011 at 7:50pm

cheers for all the info guys!!

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Permalink Reply by Mark Bliss on April 23, 2011 at 3:24am

I've been trying to learn the basics of Sketch-up in some rare spare time. Not so much for drawing my own plans, (And not just in the CBG world oops, I mean nation.....) but to make them better quality presentations to share plans and ideas. Its a pretty cool program once you get a feel for the basics, but I am always pushing for more detail and tricks, so it continues to confuse and astound me. The stuff people do with it amazes me. The price is right, (Free), the instruction videos are right there integrated and awesome, but I remain an old luddite and resort to pencil and paper (and a few antique drafting tools at times.) I am still determined to get better at it though.

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