It may be my age -- I'm 53 -- or that I've been on crutches the past two months, but I'd begun to wonder if I was getting too set in my ways to keep up with the march of technology. I don't have a cell phone; I don't have an iPod; I believe that portable devices that take photographs and play games should not be called telephones. I do, however, have a clock radio. Maybe it's time, I thought, to learn something really new and different. As soon as I master walking to the bathroom under my own power, I'm going to do something really out there.
So while most self-respecting men my age are buying red convertibles, I decided to learn a CAD program.
My friend Luis is a little Mexican guy who's a very stylish tennis player. He's also spent most of his professional life using a CAD program called Vectorworks, and after he showed me what it can do, I knew I had to have it; no matter that it costs as much as a decent table saw or that my computer skills have been unfavorably compared to our cat's.
There were a few problems right away: my operating system was too old, and I needed more memory. My computer had the same problems. My issues can't be fixed, sadly, but I can update the computer: just needed to throw a few hundred more bucks at it. Of course, all the other software I'd been running on my ancient system had to be updated, or purchased anew. My real beef with technology is that anything purchased in 2002, which seems like yesterday to me, is now laughably out of date, a relic. We live in a time when the elders no longer have currency -- kind of like furniture makers.
But now I have Vectorworks up and running. Yesterday I spent four hours drafting a section of a molding that might have taken me a minute-a-half -- tops -- at the drafting table. I think with another month of practice I can get it down to three hours. But I'm determined to learn this, if for no other reason than to prove I'm not to old to learn and to change.
Next time I'm going to buy the convertible.
Great post, Steve! you made me laugh out loud with the parallel between you and the computer.
ReplyDeleteI like trying new stuff on the computer. Fortunately I have a friend more affluent than I who upgrades his machine probably once a year, and he passes along his old to me in trade for woodworking, so I'm always pretty current (with hardware, anyway). I find it really stimulating to at least try to get proficient at SketchUp, or PhotoShop or whatever. Sort of mental gymnastics just to keep limber, even if it doesn't end up actually useful.
I hope you're a mac guy! You certainly seem like one (and I mean that kindly)...
I've tried a lot of CAD programs over the past decade or so and most of the time I use a basic 2D program that is an updated version fo the first DOS based program I started with. I've found that anytime a really good simple program surfaces it is bought out by a competing company and then often deep sixed.
ReplyDeleteMy first program was Generic CADD which was DOS based and a very simple 2d program. It was eventually bought by Autocad and turned into Autocad LT which was supposed to be a window version of the same program. Needless to say they messed with it too much and I didn't find it to my liking. Eventually I think someone else bought the rights to Generic CADD and came out with Visual CADD which is a good windows version of Generic Cadd. The development of this program stopped several years ago at Version 5 (currently still available at https://www.caddvillage.com/caddvillage/Catalog/feature.asp).
Several years ago Sketchup caught my fancy for simple 3D models. It is REALLY easy to learn and very intuitive but I don't like the fact that you can't stretch things like you can with a 2D program. For example: draw a frame and panel door at one size then decide it really should be 3 inches taller. With 2D programs you just strech it 3 inches taller and you're done. With Sketchup you can't do this. You can scale it but tht makes everything larger. A 2 inch wide rail becomes 2" times whatever your scale factor is. Still Sketchup is a very good program to do a quick 3D model of something to see what it will look like from any view.
Lately I purchased Alibre Design (http://www.alibre.com) which does 3D models that can be stretched - they call it parametric dimensioning. What this means is that when you draw a part for something, say a door stile, you can define the length as "=door height". The door height can be defined as "=cabinet height - top thickness - base height" (or whatever). If you do this properly you can have everything defined based on the overall dimensions of the piece so if the customer says "I'd really like this 3 inches shorter to fit the space" you just change the height and the program changes all the parts to make it work. From the 3d drawing you can print out cut lists, individual part drawings, exploded drawings, etc. It is very powerful and takes a while to learn but there are some very good Cd tutorials that can be purchased (get them to throw those in if you decide to purchase the program) and there are also tutorals available online (http://www.instructables.com/member/woodknot/) from a woodworker/engineer who uses it. It's a relatively inexpensive program for what it can do and there is a free version available that you can try out.
I believe Vectorworks has similar features to Alibre. I think the most important part of any CAD program is the instruction manual or tutorials or whatever they have to teach you how to use the darn thing. There are lots of good CAD program out there but if you can't figure out how to use them they are worthless. Alibre even has a version intended for woodworkers but I believe the only thing this version has that the professional version does not have is a sheet layout program. Since I don't work with sheet goods this isn't necessary for me so I got the professional version.
I'm still a bit of a tecno-phobe and have yet to delve into the CAD world, but I've gotta say the ipod is probably my favorite new tool. easy to wear, ear buds go easy under ear protection. great on shuffle mode (like the best dj ever) even better I load books or the many cool npr podcasts. into it once a week and those tedious jobs just slide by. Plus no more waiting for a story to end before starting a power tool.
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