Are ther any decent CAD programs?

[Steve Campbell]

Are there any decent CAD programs?

I am wanting to try my had at drawing a trailer I want to build. I am tired of "pencil, eraser, ruler, eraser, drafting board, eraser, protractor, eraser, etc!!!



Not looking for top of the line. Just something user friendly, around $200, something I can "play" with.

 

[Steve Campbell]

OK, so I can't spell...

you don't have to ignore the thread for that reason.

 

[TurboWolf]

AutoCAD LT

Steve,



I use AutoCAD LT at the office. A little more than your looking to spend ($400). But it is fairly easy to use and transfers to most other formats. I am sure something exists that is less expensive with about the same features, just not familiar with it. LT was very pricey at one time and seems to be getting less expensive recently. So someone must be getting into their market share.



Scott

 

[rspinks]

One design office I worked in used software called Generic Cad, it went for $150 Cdn I think. It was limited to 2D but worked fine for basic drawing and dimensioning.

 

[dresslered]

I would suggest you giving Visio a look. It is much simplier to learn how to use than most CAD packages, but it is still very powerful. I've designed mechanical fixtures to a . 001" using it and they the finished product came out as planned. It can also inport/export to CAD packages are well as others programs.



Visio use to give away demo disks which were more than enough for most people, but now that Microsoft owns them, I think that the freebies are all gone. A trailer design would be extremely easy because you can just enter the dimensions of the shapes that you desire and see how it fits your floor plan.