Drafting/Drawing tool needed.
trooks
Posts: 228
The project I am working on would benefit greatly and move along more quickly and smoothly if I can find a good drawing/drafting/editing tool. From grade school on all my homework got points off due to my penmanship(or lack thereof.) It really trips up the creative flow when I have to pause and decipher my notes.
I had very basic drafting program back when my under-the-desk-small-refrigerator-size computer ran with a 286 processor. In those days disk were either hard or floppy and there were not yet diskettes. I started searching for the drafting program I had back then. One of the first boxes I opened had all my templates from vacuum tubes up through transistors and then into programming and process control.
Then it dawned on me that the very small box on my desk does not even have an opening to stick anything other than, well, stick drives. Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most.
I know there are loads of things out on the net that would make my day and my project flow much finer. The main problem is that I am only batting a little over 600 when it comes to getting stuff from the web. I either pay for some stuff and never get it or it takes weeks or more and then turns out to be not what I really needed or thought I was getting.
I need suggestions based on first hand experience for a basic drawing/editing program. I could get by with an etch-a-sketch controlled by my mouse if it has a minimal tool box.
Thanks for your patience in having read this post and copious thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Tim
I had very basic drafting program back when my under-the-desk-small-refrigerator-size computer ran with a 286 processor. In those days disk were either hard or floppy and there were not yet diskettes. I started searching for the drafting program I had back then. One of the first boxes I opened had all my templates from vacuum tubes up through transistors and then into programming and process control.
Then it dawned on me that the very small box on my desk does not even have an opening to stick anything other than, well, stick drives. Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most.
I know there are loads of things out on the net that would make my day and my project flow much finer. The main problem is that I am only batting a little over 600 when it comes to getting stuff from the web. I either pay for some stuff and never get it or it takes weeks or more and then turns out to be not what I really needed or thought I was getting.
I need suggestions based on first hand experience for a basic drawing/editing program. I could get by with an etch-a-sketch controlled by my mouse if it has a minimal tool box.
Thanks for your patience in having read this post and copious thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Tim
Comments
If you only want to do 2D drawing then I would look at Draftsight, it is free.
If you want to do 3D drawing then SketchUp Make is worth looking at.
If you want to do advanced 3D parametric modeling then look at SolidWorks, if you are a Veteran you can get it for $20. If an educator or student you can get it for free, otherwise it will cost you at least $4,000.
Cubify Design is another 3D parametric design program similar to SolidWorks that is worth considering if you don't qualify for the Education version of SolidWorks.
http://extensions.sketchup.com/
has sells good drafting "tools" will sell you some, I am sure. A good drafts board may run you up to $100, or more.
If you want to naviagate to a higher level, AutoCAD is the standard, and AutoDesk sells other related products for Plant engineers; like piping, plant layout, electrical layout, and
reactor layouts.
http://zyzmog.blogspot.com/2011/11/draftsight-3d-how-to.html
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=draftsight+3d&gbv=2&oq=draftsight&gs_l=heirloom-hp.1.4.0l10.7490.12718.0.18039.10.7.0.3.3.0.141.769.3j4.7.0...0.0...1c.1.3q7cJXiFhfM
http://cadblog.info/2012/02/24/draftsight-tutorials-creating-isometric-drawing/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duB7LMlmwNI
http://www.upfrontezine.com/tailor/tailor17.htm
http://www.upfrontezine.com/tailor/
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/f39/draftsight-free-2d-cad-10258/
Rick
Second, I fear I may have been a bit imprecise in describing what I am looking for. It has been a point of much derision from my friends that my mouth(and fingers) often get into motion before my brain is fully engaged. Getting older has done naught to help with that condition.
What I really need is something to doodle with and add cryptic notes as some semblance of explanation of what I was thinking. Sometimes my doodles and notes are so cryptic that even I have to puzzle over them when I come across them later. There again age and pain meds have even make things foggier.
I did mention etch-a-sketch with typed notes so what I seek is really 2D only.
By the time my friend finished explaining his idea to me I already had a fairly good flow chart of what the electronics involved would have to do and in what order. We banged our heads together and came up with what we considered a comprehensive description of the concept with a basic flow chart of how the electronics and mechanics would work to give us what we wanted. We sent that off to a patent search firm.
We got our monies worth from the search firm and are now working to get around the 'prior arts' that we believe are being used in a new and useful way.
My notebook is now almost full of doodles with almost illegible scrawl mixed in. Some pages are marked over with a big X but can't be torn out because stuff on the back side of the page is still useful. I waste a lot of time flipping through the notebook looking for things and find there is no room to add more notes where they are needed. I need an electronic notebook with an icon on my desktop that I can click on when a new revelation pops into my head.
Tim
'Getting older sucks but it still beats the alternative.'
Meaningful file names and a nice folder hierarchy can help but thinking up file names all the time is a pain and a folder hierarchy does not always easily represent how you mind works or how your projects hang together. Folders just make things harder to find!
Be sure that whatever drawing you use save text based files so that you can search for keywords within files easily. Be sure sure to add "tags" and "keywords" to whatever you are drawing so that you stand a chance of finding it with a text search.
Inkscape is a very nice free program for drawing all kinds of stuff with http://www.inkscape.org/en/about/
Edit: Just a reminder, but as soon as you move from paper to computer you will need to think about backups. Files on computers have a habit of disappearing without notice.
For 2D drawings, the manual drawings can be in Orthographic or Isometric dimensions. If you are to the level of making a patent, logically, I would invest in some software to
produce the drawings. This makes it easier to accomodate parts, the numbering of electronic parts and mechanical(tolerances). A blow - out diagram is benefical to the overall scheme.
Gook luck!:cool:
Thanks for the Good Luck wish.
My personal theory of life is that good luck is when preparation meets opportunity and bad luck is when inattention meets a pitfall. If I had met this opportunity a couple of decades ago I would have been much more on top of my game. But then again all the neat stuff I now have available would not have yet been invented. As in Casey and Kildare, we have a pair'o'docs.
I should have mentioned that my partner that is working on the mechanics of the system already has a good 3D drafting system that he uses in his profession. So when the time comes to file for a patent the ball will be in his court.
The thing that is holding up the mechanics of the system is his not having small enough tools to build a working model of some of the mechanisms and my inability to make the modules communicate via RF.
In my search for a drawing/annotating tool I automatically bypass anything 3D and anything that also includes painting options or will not auto wrap text in a box. Being able to cut and paste small parts from other drawings is almost a necessity. In the worst case I want the ability to simply create a library of components to paste in as needed.
I have given quite a few programs a couple of hours testing and given up due to either cumbersome or hard to grasp operations that I feel I need as a minimum requirement. All I need is to draw electronic circuits with proper labeling of components and the ability to add descriptive notes. I will not be doing circuit layout. Layout and build will all be farmed out to professionals once we can get some financial backing.
I also pass on anything that requires me to have an account or join a specific group. I even went and looked at MS products since I once had MS Draw but it has also gotten way too cumbersome in the decades since I used it. I think I had a PS/2-40 at that time.
I will continue to check out suggestions posted here but will start searching the archives for what I consider good logic drawings and will be contacting the originators for info on what program they use. So be forewarned.
Tim
"I was but a child walking the beach and being awed by a pretty shell or shiny pebble while an ocean of truth lay in front of me" - Charles Darwin
Erlend
I used to design homes remodels and drew up plans on paper for building permits. I can't say that I have ever found a computer drafting application that isn't in some way very fiddly. And then to get what, you expect from one, the you have to really learn the details.
It might be the progmmer's solution of windows and menus that annoys me. I'd rather a big blank piece of paper and a few tools.
--markM
In reference to the first problem, I would recommend Smithy Lathe products. Smithy is reasonable in price, has a good support team, good tools, and owned by John Deere.(That's a plus)
In really small stuff, That would be specialized. HobbyLobby may give a good direction in reference to that.
In reference to the second probem, Parallax has a great forum with the wireless section, and alot of contributors to that section has a lot of expertise in the RF arena. I am
not that familiar with their wireless products, so I can not help you much with that.
I hope your product(s) sell and make you millions!
part out, once you have made the original model. I suggest using the Thomas Registry to locate any subcontractor/manufacturer in
North America. Hope this helps.
The enhanced S Pen offers more ways to get things done than ever before. Jot down phone numbers, contact info, even text messages and Samsungs handwriting-to-text engine automatically converts your notes to text. Save time by hovering S Pen over the screen and pressing the button on the side to bring up the Air Command menu. It gives you quick, easy access to incredibly helpful functions.
http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-tab/SM-P6000ZWVXAR-features
You can also draw and save it. I've used it to make simple schematics.
Many thanks to Y'all for your many suggestions.
I have decided to go with diptrace.
1.) Because it was free at the basic level.
2.) "
3.) It had the best tutorials of all that I checked out.
4.) It has all the libraries that I could possibly use.
5.) It is intuitive enough that I my even consider doing my own layout later. ]8-O>
Now if I can just figure out how to mark this thread solved....
Tim
- sometimes I think I am a wit... my friends agree that I am at least half right...