If you want free then draftsight would be the obvious choice for 2D drawing – installed on your PC so no issues with using a cloud based system and anything you draw is yours with no access by anyone else.

Mark

Hi Peter, sorry I can't help but I would be interested to hear of anything cheap (or free of course) for Apple Mac as well, I assume you have a PC..

Thanks

Garry

+1 for Fusion. Professionally developed, fully featured and free. Also includes full 3D CAM for CNC – if you get that far. And you can generate 2D drawings etc. You own your own work and nobody can see or share it, so don't believe the silly myths about cloud storage. It's no more open than online banking.

Tried FreeCAD about a year ago and wasn't impressed by the frequency of crashes. It was a work in progress and perhaps in a year or so it will be fine.

Onshape is also free and is perfectly secure although you may struggle to get a complete engine on there without exceeding the free limits. The features are being added to all the time and are becoming quite usable now. I believe they will soon release the feature to create 2D drawings from 3D CAD models.

Murray

I use TurboCad 21, much better than TotalCad 2D-3D I had before.

As David says, an older version of Turbocad can be inexpensive and do everything most folks want and then its easy to upgrade to a later version if you want to.

Neil

To be fair, all CAD programs worth using are going to be an uphill struggle to start with for someone with restricted computer knowledge or skill – trust me, I know and I've tried loads. The one I've settled on is QCAD by Ribbonsoft.com. Yes, it's free/shareware, but it's the equal of many other programs that I've tried and does just what I want it to do, simply and intuitively, once you are over the initial getting-to-grips stage. It's free to download and if you like it and want more bells and whistles, you can upgrade to the professional version for very little money. I did and I'm very pleased with the results. Oh, and by the way, it's available for Windows, Linux and Mac as well.

(No connection, just … the usual.)

A the end of the day, try a few (or lots) and see how you get on – you're bound to find one that suits you in the end.

John

Now back in the UK and back online!

Edited for afterthought!

Edited By John Hinkley on 24/07/2015 14:32:33

Designspark Mechanical is a cut down version of Spaceclaim Engineer which is a mid range 3D CAD application like Solidworks etc. It's available from RS Components but it's "defeatured" from the original and I see they are trying to get you to buy add-ins with extra features. These are things that the likes of Fusion give you for free.

Note that many CAD programs now boast of the free models they offer for all sorts of components. These are freely accessible anyway and can be browsed and opened from within any modern program. There are quite a few sources but Traceparts seems to be the most professional and comprehensive. 3D Content Central looks similar although I've only just signed up with them. In contrast, despite all the hype, Grabcad files seem very patchy and amateurish and are more about appearance than function from my own experience.

Fusion stores your work in the cloud, rather like Google Drive, Microsoft One Drive, Dropbox etc. The software is installed on your PC and operates there. Onshape in contrast does the graphics work in their servers and you are effectively just controlling and viewing from a remote terminal. This means you can use it anywhere you can open a browser including iPads, iPhones and Linux. Both can store almost any other file format as well as CAD documents so you cab store data sheets, specs, spreadsheets etc.

I'm sure it's true that technically the system admins could go in and view your work but why would they, without sounding amusingly self important? And unless you are uploading "dodgy" content or classified secrets I can't imagine what you would be worried about. There are special websites for that kind of activity…

Murray

Agreed. My problem is that, having got used to Autocad in the 1980s and Solidworks in the 2000s, I very quickly get frustrated with other systems I try because I have difficulty oing what I do almost intuitively on my known systems.

Russell.

I also agree with John and Russell.

In particular, my experience has been close to Russell but not with autocad first (I used a very different "high end" system that was much easier to use and driven from icons as most modern systems are today). Once you get to grips with a good system, you will be loath to change (even excluding the problems with data migration) but then I use it for a living which gives me a slightly different take on things to a hobby user.

Mark

Hi Jeff,

The Creo elements programme is nothing like the old Pro E. Creo is based on Co Create

It was only a merger between the 2 companies, I agree that the original Pro E was very difficult to learn but very powerful and accurate Creo is [ I dont think ] anywhere near as steep a learning curve [still quite involved ] Creo is without doubt even more powerful but more user friendly.. Ive never used Solidworks but it seems very popular [ Im a SOLIDEDGE fan ] Siemens Solidedge is mid range like Solidworks. Siemens high end would be NX , but like the full version of Creo, I would need to sell the house to afford it.

It really is a case of whatever the individual is most comfortable with.

Can't afford Catia – but I don't do body in white either!

Anyway, the quest was a simple CAD system and none of this is really relevant is it? All that is required is a simple system to do some sketches on and check for problems without drawing it by hand. Perhaps also do some geometry to work out port positions and timing gears etc. and such?

Mark

I should have added that the Turbocad thing should do if you want to pay – at least you will always have the software on a disc at a fixed release point.

Edited By Mark C on 24/07/2015 19:55:22

Turbo cad does not work if you want to export it to the laser cutting men. If you import turbo cad drawings into Autocad (which is industry standard) the ends of the lines don't meet up, this might be the reason laser cut software won't have it. I use Draftsight 2D, can't fault it.