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Beginner needs advice on which CAD program best for finish carpentry/cabinetry design and building

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beginner cabinetry cad finish carpentry learning curve
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3.8K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  wallmaxx  
J
#1 ·
Hello,

I am preparing to begin utilizing CAD in my small finish carpentry/cabinetry business. Customers are requesting digital drawings more and more often. Can you recommend programs that will be most useful for a beginner CAD user to assist with kitchen/bath, built ins, etc and also will provide accuracy in regard to measurements? Looking for something with a reasonable learning curve that will produce esthetically pleasing 3d drawings but also accurate cut lists, etc.

Thank you!
 
J
#3 ·
I need something more sophisticated than that- basically looking to find out which mainstream CAD programs have the easiest learning curve. I have experimented with autocad but was a bit frustrated. Wondering what people's experiences are with learning sketchup/home design/smartdraw/wooddesigner
 
#5 ·
If you're doing millwork profiles to show what you can do with how you jig up your own equipment....or if you're looking for a program that you can import .dxf of various trim and specialty work....Sketch-Up is the fastest learn and gives you something to export to your primary design CAD. I use SoftPlan and have since version 9. It would be ideal for your layouts and turning those into fully annotated sections and elevations. It's as precise as you wish it to be....but it's still pricey and a worrisome learning curve especially while trying to incorporate it into your business....on the fly.

SoftPlan would be a terrific product for whole house work given everything it has to offer....but I prefer to sketch out in Sketch Up and then zap it to SoftPlan as the two work very well together.

I think...if I were in your situation....I'd go with Sketch Up which will do what you need in order to present a digital representation of what you plan to do for your clients. The results are very pro looking with the various Ortho formats so you can be as precise as you wish to be again....but in a smaller scale and price than a full blown residential design product like Softplan. I present about a dozen 3D representations a job now to show something more than a 2D elevation or a sliced wall without any depth.

Good luck in your search!

Dan Turner, CPBD
Conyers, Ga 30012
 
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