Popular Woodworking 2003-06 № 134, страница 67

WHERE TO BUY QUICKCAD

QuickCAD is easy to find from most software retailers.You can purchase it online from a variety of merchants, including Amazon.com ($47), Gateway.com ($46) or from the manufacturer at Autodesk.com ($49). These prices were correct at time of publication.

Creating a Cutting List

When I begin to illustrate a project, I start with simple, dumb lines. You know the drill - point A to point B. Once I have all the lines down, I group them into meaningful objects. In other words, I create parts that are this wide by that long with this size tenon on that end. Once I create the objects on the screen, I add dimensions, and then begin to manually transcribe that information to a cutting list. With QuickCAD, I can embed all of that information within the individual parts and then ask the program to spit out a cutting list. All of my professional software combined can't do that for me! Here's a brief summary of how it works:

QuickCAD asks me to create "fields" for the drawing I'm working on. Following the standard Popular Woodworking format, I tell it that I'm interested in assigning each part a name, the number of times it appears in the project, its overall dimensions prior to machining, and a wood species. Because QuickCAD is a two-, rather than a three-dimensional drawing program, and doesn't (yet) have a mind reading button on the toolbar, I need to manually enter parameters such as thickness, quantity and species. QuickCAD does the math on the length and width by calculating the "extents" of the piece or the full size of the board I need, including things like a tenon. No wonder I've long ago forgotten where I put my pencils.

Mission Accomplished

By time I picked up Carah and Dan at the airport, I had a nice collection of construction draw-

Once the calculations are done, QuickCAD allows you to print out a complete cutting list.

ings, colored isometrics, full-scale patterns and a cutting list waiting for them on the back seat of the car. They'll be starting the project in a couple weeks. In the mean time, I'll be enjoying my payment: Maine lobster.

Time to Share

At Popular Woodworking, we're always looking for ways to share information with fellow woodworkers. While we can't loan out the latest dovetailing jig to every reader, we can lend information electronically on our web site.

Rather than leading readers through a course in the mechanics of using the tool, we decided to relate the saga of Carah and Dan's dresser to illustrate a real-world application of CAD. We're posting the drawing files, produced in QuickCAD, on our web site. As with any general computer-assisted drawing program, QuickCAD's focus must be narrowed to fit the needs of

After manually entering certain parameters such as thickness, quantity and species, QuickCAD can calculate the length and width of each piece in your drawing.

the user. In these prototype files, we've preset many of the parameters that will make the software more woodworker-friendly. I hope they will serve as templates for those thinking about making the leap of faith from pencil to keyboard. The experienced CAD user can also tell us where we can make improvements. Hit us with your best shot. We're learning, too. PW