Free, simple, online CAD program?

[8mmFan]

Happy Saturday, everyone. Just kind of grasping at straws, here, but I thought maybe some of you more engineering/construction-oriented types might know: is there a good, simple, CAD program somewhere online that would be good for designing a work bench?

I am going to build a workbench that will hopefully have spots integrated into it for my router, table saw, and miter saw. Kind of hoping to just be able to draw it out on a simple program, so that I can change this and that before starting the build.

8mmFan

[Paper Puncher]

You can try Sketchup free. Learning curve isn't to bad

[fc60]

Greetings,

I tried FreeCAD. It takes a bit of learning; but, the price is right...

https://www.freecadweb.org/

Cheers,

Dave

[GL49]

Are these similar to AutoCad in form and function? I use autocad at work almost every day for electrical drawings, anybody have any experience comparing these programs?

[Mal Paso]

Full AutoCad you can live inside and just send out for pizza and mountain dew.

Sketch Up may still be free online but they charge for everything else.

AutoCad Lt is more than I want so I bought a stand alone copy of AutoSketch.

[Beerd]

What's the company policy on using your office computer during lunch?
..

[megasupermagnum]

Google SketchUp will do what you want. It's a little different from the normal commercial CAD software, but it doesn't take that long to figure it out. To be honest, I think the best thing for building a bench is a notebook, pencil, and ruler.

[dverna]

Google SketchUp will do what you want. It's a little different from the normal commercial CAD software, but it doesn't take that long to figure it out. To be honest, I think the best thing for building a bench is a notebook, pencil, and ruler.

Agree. By the time you figure out how to use new software, you will have your project sketched up and have it 50% complete.

[gwpercle]

It's impossible to design and draw anything with a sheet of paper , drafting triangle , T-Square straight edge and Architects scale .
Don't even try that method .
Although I've designed and prepared building plans for five story commercial buildings in that manner you don't want to try it .
CAD drawing is the only way it can be done today . Pay CAD for the software , you will be much happier with the end results .
Old school drafting is just so ...old and difficult to do ... who needs it .
Gary

[gwpercle]

Google SketchUp will do what you want. It's a little different from the normal commercial CAD software, but it doesn't take that long to figure it out. To be honest, I think the best thing for building a bench is a notebook, pencil, and ruler.

You wouldn't believe how many houses I've drawn plans for on notebook paper ... more than a few !
Gary

[jim147]

You might check the 3D printer subfoum

[David2011]

For the past year and a half I’ve been doing exactly what you want to do. I designed the shop and all contents with SketchUp. The shop was challenging because I had limited space and wanted a useful loft upstairs for the reloading room. I had to fight for an inch here and a half inch somewhere else until there was standing headroom. All of the shop furniture was designed in SketchUp as well with a goal of making all of the feed surfaces the same height. I can draft with pencil and paper but with the nonstandard plywood thicknesses CAD made everything come out exactly as intended.

[dverna]

I don’t know how we managed to build large manufacturing plants when I was a working engineer in the 70’s. Sure am glad we were too dumb to know CAD was necessary...yet we got the job done.

Now, we need CAD to build a workbench. Progress...it is astounding.

[Rcmaveric]

FreeCAD or TinkerCAD. I use FreeCAD now.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

[Mal Paso]

I don’t know how we managed to build large manufacturing plants when I was a working engineer in the 70’s. Sure am glad we were too dumb to know CAD was necessary...yet we got the job done.

Now, we need CAD to build a workbench. Progress...it is astounding.

I used to have a Bruning Drafting Machine in the front room, that's how we did it. Got to have something to make drawings that others can understand. CAD just rolls up easier.

[Rcmaveric]

For Carpentry work i use graph paper.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

[kevin c]

I went to middle school (so long ago that it was called junior high school) back in the day when shop was still offered, and learned the most basic elements of drafting. Forgot it all and went white collar and miles away from designing anything for fifty years.

Retired now, and actually building stuff from scratch for fun. Over the past year, I've built shelving, 20 rolling tables and a couple hundred wall frames (props) for my action shooting club (it's a big club). No plans except in my head. Sure, I screwed up a lot, but adjusting on the fly for the prototypes was part of the fun (production was standardized on templates and uniformly cut stick lumber and ply).

Ironically, a member asked for plans for the tables. THEN I wished I had a drafting program: doing it freehand was messy and time consuming.

[slim1836]

I started as a draftsman in the early 70's using ink on velum or mylar and retired as a construction inspector in 2019 never having the opportunity of learning autocad.

Once I get my place in the country built, I've got a Plasmacam table and have to learn the programming. Should be fun building trinkets to sell.

Slim

[8mmFan]

Thanks for all of the great replies, guys! I will check out a couple of the recommendations. Very much appreciated.

8mmFan

[David2011]

I don’t know how we managed to build large manufacturing plants when I was a working engineer in the 70’s. Sure am glad we were too dumb to know CAD was necessary...yet we got the job done.

Now, we need CAD to build a workbench. Progress...it is astounding.

You probably had skilled model builders making an accurate model of the plant to make sure everything fit. I knew people that did exactly that.

Need? No. Every time I go to buy material it’s a different thickness, though. In the 1970s when I was drafting a good portion of NW New Mexico for a power line using a drafting machine and a pencil, 3/4” plywood was 3/4” thick. That’s no longer true. Now I can change bits and pieces of a drawing instead of redrawing the whole thing to accommodate whatever thickness the store has at the moment. The router table I recently built had almost 200 wood parts in it. Twelve drawers, a fully adjustable fence, integrated dust collection and other niceties were incorporated. Not exactly a simple build. CAD helped considerably with the 1/2” ply being 0.473” thick.

There’s no need to belittle new methods. Where would our craft here be without new methods? I took a slide rule class in high school. It was good enough to send men into space and land on the moon but it’s obsolete. Paper and pencil won’t be obsolete any time soon but it’s not the “only way” just because it’s how things were done in the past.