Program for making & printing drawings,blueprints,templates .......

[copperheadroads]

I have been making some drawings of some pickup projects with different pole spacings that I want to print to the correct size & stick to a template & center punch then use my drill press & i tried to find a simple software but everything is way too complex now
any suggestions ............... something simple ,just basic software from 15 years ago LOL .

[Magnut]

Yes, try openoffice.org . It's freeware. The draw program is perfect for what you want to do. You can draw something, then edit the size and position to very exact measurements, sae and metric. It's a snap to use and the learning curve is easy. Once you've made a drawing it's easy to modify and when you print it's perfect.

[Bruce Johnson]

I use AutoCad LT 2000. It's old and much less complicated than the current versions, but it works fine for my needs. I found a new sealed copy on ebay for about $50.

[jason lollar]

I have been using delta cad for the last 15 years- simple 2 D only drafting program and its cheap. It will also save files as DXF or DWG which is important if you ever have something laser or water cut and it will save as a jpg file if you want to be able to share it and it will import those files too. Cool thing is it uses the same type of format and commands as other auto cad programs so if you ever use a vector program in the future it will make sense. Doesnt take much of a computer to run it either
Delta Cad - World's easiest CAD program, CAD software

[peskywinnets]

Anything available that runs on MSDos? (I find that designing pickups with the latest operating systems loses out on the 'aged vibe' & I swear some of the highs ..I think it's eddy currents in the hard drive)

PS FWIW I use Mastercam....but that ain't gonna meet your requirements! The 'welcome' section reads like the service manual for the hubble space telescope.

PPS What year were you born Justin? (why? we share the same birthday....just wondering if we started out life on the actual same day!)

[David Schwab]

I use Adobe Illustrator.

[copperheadroads]

I find Delta Cad that Jason posted works good ....now if i could just get it to print the correct size ,that would be great

[FunkyKikuchiyo]

I've used DeltaCAD and it is a good, easy program. It is light weight and would run on a 10 year old computer with no problems. I use Punch CAD currently just because I like the layout a bit more and more options seem available. It is also pretty good at printing to scale - I don't know how the other ones are at this.

Since getting it, I find that I use it more as a "scratch pad" than anything else. It is easy enough of a program that I spend most of my time thinking about geometry and such things rather than "how do I get this stupid program to do this?" sorts of things, though occasionally it "snaps in" on the wrong places and doesn't let me change it, forcing me to redraw something to get it to stop doing that. Think when MSWord auto-corrects a word to the wrong thing and you can't get it to stop...

I'm told that Google has an open source/freeware CAD program that is decent. I haven't tried it.

[Magnut]

My interest was piqued with the Delta Cad. I got a copy and tried it out. Great stuff! Now I can easily create the .dxf or .dwg files needed by my laser guy. Saves a lot of time and gives me more control.

To print to proper size, choose "print", in that window select "region" then in the lower left of the new window is "print scale", select "1" for a 1:1 ratio.

In the print region window you will also be able to turn on/off layers and define a few other parameters.

[Bruce Johnson]

I draw up my basses completely in AutoCad LT 2000, with all of the parts in layers. Then I print out patterns full size, which I trace (using old fashioned carbon paper) onto MDF boards, which are then cut out and made into the routing patterns and fixtures. For parts larger than the 8 1/2" x 11" size of the printer, I put grid lines on the drawing to allow me to accurately line up several sheets.

For some small metal parts that get patterns of holes, I print out full size drawings on label stock. You can get it in full 8" x 10" sheets. I cut out the pattern with scissors, peel off the back, and stick it right on the metal bar or plate. I make the drawing with centers (cross hairs) at all of the hole locations.

One tip about accuracy: I did some testing on my printers, drawing out lines and shapes to known sizes and then measuring the printed page for accuracy. I found that the accuracy in the cross-wise direction was pretty good, usually within 0.005". However, accuracy in the length-wise direction (the way the paper feeds) can be a problem. It's mostly caused by the paper slipping as it's drawn in by the feed rollers. One solution is to print out your patterns on card stock, the heavier 28 lb paper, rather than standard paper. The rollers grip the heavier paper better and give better accuracy. Likewise, the label stock will also feed better than standard paper. In general, it's a good idea to put a couple of test lines of known length on your drawing, and then check the printed pattern with a ruler before you trust it.

[copperheadroads]

That's a great tip Bruce ,I will be keeping an eye on that .i think my problem is something simple my printed copies come out way too big it must have something to do with scale

[FunkyKikuchiyo]

To what Bruce said, my print outs have been surprisingly accurate. It could just be that my printer is very cooperative (I guess it was bound to happen sometime), but I've been able to spot some very small discrepancies/errors by playing with little cutouts of flatwork, down to a few thousandths.

I also found it helpful to print them at a larger scale just to play with. Get some of these, a bit of patience with some scissors, and you get a nice little dry run before sending it off to the cutter. It has saved my butt a few times...

[David King]

Google's application is called Sketchup. It keeps your drawings "up in the cloud" so you can "always" get to them and rework them from anywhere. I haven't tried to use it much. I'm so much handier with a T-square and a pencil. If I have to do stuff on computer I end up using photoshop because I sort of know how it works. Illustrator has been a complete mystery to me. As a mac-only person I have also had some luck with the old AppleWorks drawing app. However I've spent 20 years trying to understand how to work the damn Bezier curves tool -it's still a complete mystery but it looks like it could do exactly what I want sometimes.

[mickmutante]

I use Adobe Illustrator.

+1, me too. It's great and really precise.

[dpm]

Before I got my CNC router I used to have things printed from .AI files. I'd have larger files printed by a local place in A2 or A1 size and found that they generally had to print an trial at 100% scale, then take some measurements to determine what tolerance their printer was working at. I took to including a known length X and Y axis on each drawing so we could calculate where to go from 100% - maybe 98% or 102%, you get the idea. Granted, on a smaller sheet these inaccuracies would be less relevant. Anyway, what I found was that paper changes size sometimes quite dramatically from print to use. 500mm might turn into 501.5mm over a day or two! How much this will effect things at pickup sizes is difficult to say, but it's something to keep in mind