Requesting a free software recommendation to help with a home project.

[tzframpton]

The area of the forum where you're posting in (Introduce Yourself) does not add to your post count. This is considered "off topic" so people can get a real estimate on contribution level in reference to post count.

 

ReMark has almost 40k posts.... and he's extremely active in the Chat section which do not add to your post count. That makes him in the 100k posts or more range I'm sure.

 

 

PS: Glad you found the CAD project fun.

[Cad64]

  AndyInTampa said:

I do have one more mystery. Why is my post count still zero?

 

Because your thread was located in the community section, where posts are not counted, I have moved it to the Design Software section. Now your post count is 17.

[ReMark]

I use Draftsight from time to time for home projects and 9 times out of 10 my precision is set to no more than 1/16th of an inch when doing architectural time drawings.

[Dana W]

  AndyInTampa said:

I'm also a little retentive when it comes to math, so those little 256ths really bothered me

:lol:Oh, really? I hadn't noticed.

 

Dadgad wants pictures. I expect a narrated HD broadcast quality video with high production values and a Grammy winning soundtrack.

 

If you play with Draftsight more, you will eventually find its own versions of the AutoCad commands that can force your objects to be dead accurate, level, and plumb. For instance, in AutoCad, there is a toggle button at the bottom of the drawing window that turns Ortho mode (Orthographic) mode on and off. With Ortho on, your cursor is more or less limited to moving in only the x and y direction. It is great for guaranteeing, that your corners will ll be 90 deg. MAybe Draftsight calls it Sqrd or something. Try the F1 key and search up on the word Orthographic. It will at least be in the description.

 

Hopefully you have already found that you can draw lines and other objects at specific lengths and angles simply by typing in the distance or angle at the proper time during the command execution.

 

This also applies to polygons. For rectangles you start it at one corner, then type D for dimensions, and it will ask you for the length(x) and width(y).

 

I dunno what Draftsight calls the Offset function, but it is there someplace. Look for a tool button with an icon that looks like a double image of itself, one inside the other. It's great for doing concentric circles, and polygons, or a series of parallel lines and arcs.

 

OK, that's enough. And you call yourself AR. Hah. I am positively OCD at times.

[ReMark]

Draftsight is not all that different from AutoCAD LT.

 

To draw a rectangle or a square use the Rectangle command and the Dimension option. This option allows you to specify exactly the length and width.

 

There is an Orthomode feature in Draftsight too. Look at the bottom of your screen and you'll see a button labeled "Ortho". Pressing this button toggles orthmode on/off.

 

And DS has an Offset command. You can find it on the Modify drop-down menu. The user can specify the offset distance then specify to what side the offset should appear. If you have a box that is comprised of four lines you would have to offset each side then use the Fillet command to square off the four corners. If the box is comprised of a single, continuous polyline then you only have to offset by picking on any portion of the box once.

 

Have you downloaded and read the Draftsight Getting Started guide? It's something like 158 pages long and covers enough of the basics to have answered most of the questions you posed here.

 

You can't just rely upon the hunt and peck method when it comes to using even a simple 2D CAD program like Draftsight. If that is how you are going to teach yourself CAD be prepared for many false starts and a lot of re-work.

[Dadgad]

The first steps in solving any problem are recognition and diagnosis, followed by analysis and rectification.

 

Are you familiar with Khan Academy, no doubt you would enjoy the logic puzzles there.

 

Dana I am really excited for you brother, I love setting up a new shop.

You get a new shop and you were able to spare Tyson and Daisy a stay at the Hearbreak Hotel.

Just in case you might have forgotten any essential tidbits for your renaissance.

Be sure to get the Japanese saw offered with your fret miter box.

 

Andy your post count is actually meant to be the cube root of infinity.

Looking forward to those pictures, as the proof is in the pudding,

and the Tylenol is in the (as yet to be hung) medicine cabinet.

Edited May 29, 2014 by Dadgad

[AndyInTampa]

DraftSight's version of the Ortho command is Ortho. It is a button at the bottom of the screen. Since I didn't know what it was, I didn't activate it. I did input my dimensions directly. I remember my coordinate system from high school, so I was familiar with inputting my entity locations and dimensions manually. That is why my third try went so quickly. I hadn't downloaded the getting started guide. I knew what I wanted to put in places and used the Help function, which sometimes isn't all that helpful. I looked up OFFSET in help, and it wasn't all that thorough an explanation.

 

I've worked with blueprints before, so I am familiar with how they appear and how to read them, but making them was a little more difficult. I probably could have done it faster with a pencil, a large ruler, and a very large sheet of paper, but it wouldn't have been to scale.

 

I'm looking forward to the pudding, but the Tylenol is in the kitchen where most of our pains converge. Nobody said what they thought of the final file I attached. Decent work for a hack?

[Dadgad]

  AndyInTampa said:

Nobody said what they thought of the final file I attached. Decent work for a hack?

 

When all else fails, read the instructions.

I have scrupulously avoided downloading and looking at your latest effort, lest I too

become ensnared in the virtual black hole of imperceptible mind-sucking deviance.

 

This from a guy who once spent about a couple hours trying to find an error of 3 mms somewhere on somebody else's (client supplied)

complex geometry drawing of a large high rise building. I found it. I am not a big fan of OVERRIDING dimensions,

as it is an admission of sloppy work techniques, and inattention to detail.

 

I will savor the pleasure of admiring your draftsmanship, after eating the visual pudding.

Edited May 29, 2014 by Dadgad

[tzframpton]

  AndyInTampa said:

Nobody said what they thought of the final file I attached. Decent work for a hack?

Definitely a good job providing information, although I don't agree with the placement and methodology of your dimensions.

[Cad64]

Off topic discussion moved to chat: http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?86696-New-Shop

[AndyInTampa]

It was requested that I post a picture of the cabinets after installation. Well, here they are. You'll notice how awkwardly I had to take the picture. In order to fit both cabinets in the picture, I had to pull the camera so far back, there wasn't room for both of us.

 

 

They are level and perfectly spaced. The only problem is that on one of the doors, the manufacturer seemed to think it was okay to make it an eighth of an inch shorter than the rest. One of the doors was a replacement I ordered before the installation. Quality control in the assembly process is not on their priority list.

[Dana W]

  AndyInTampa said:

It was requested that I post a picture of the cabinets after installation. Well, here they are. You'll notice how awkwardly I had to take the picture. In order to fit both cabinets in the picture, I had to pull the camera so far back, there wasn't room for both of us.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]49242[/ATTACH]

 

They are level and perfectly spaced. The only problem is that on one of the doors, the manufacturer seemed to think it was okay to make it an eighth of an inch shorter than the rest. One of the doors was a replacement I ordered before the installation. Quality control in the assembly process is not on their priority list.

Hey, I think you have done an awesome job despite our attempts to distract you.

 

On a side note, that is about the worst selfie I have ever seen. At least you have your clothes on. (I think, not trying too hard to make a determination.)

[f700es]

Nice job Andy

[Dadgad]

Bravisimo Andy, well done.

 

I am happy to have LOST the How/Now are they hanging office pool?

 

They certainly make the space seem larger, eh?

 

Next time? Do us ALL a favor (mostly yourself though), forget the old holes, or spackle and paint them (if you must), then start from scratch.

Edited June 2, 2014 by Dadgad

[AndyInTampa]

That wall is getting filled up with toggle bolt wings. I'm hoping there won't be a next time. However, she's complaining about the texture of the walls now. You know what that means. Yep, one of us may be disappearing.

 

As far as the selfie, it's funny you should mention that. I was about to get in the shower when I remembered I wanted to take the picture. I couldn't find a way to keep myself out of the reflection, so I had to put some clothes on.

 

You're welcome.

[Dadgad]

  AndyInTampa said:

That wall is getting filled up with toggle bolt wings. I'm hoping there won't be a next time. However, she's complaining about the texture of the walls now. You know what that means. Yep, one of us may be disappearing.

 

As far as the selfie, it's funny you should mention that. I was about to get in the shower when I remembered I wanted to take the picture. I couldn't find a way to keep myself out of the reflection, so I had to put some clothes on.

 

You're welcome.

 

Welcome to the slippery slope of quasi-cohabitative bliss.

 

I am sure that I speak for the great majority of the forum members, when I say, thanks for sparing us the full monty!

[Dana W]

  AndyInTampa said:

... she's complaining about the texture of the walls now.

Well in that case, here's a couple of birthday gift suggestions for her, along with a link to a youtube DIY video which I am sure you can come up with.

[AndyInTampa]

You misunderstand, Dana. She knows how to do that. It's just that the cabinets will have to come back off the walls again.

[Dana W]

  AndyInTampa said:

You misunderstand, Dana. She knows how to do that. It's just that the cabinets will have to come back off the walls again.

Yeah, well. Was she paying attention when you did it?

 

By the way, do you have any suggestions for stopping one's significant other from taking on DIY projects herself without me needing a lawyer?. It's only that she thinks anything can be fixed with household cement, a hammer, and duct tape.

[AndyInTampa]

  Dana W said:

By the way, do you have any suggestions for stopping one's significant other from taking on DIY projects herself without me needing a lawyer?. It's only that she thinks anything can be fixed with household cement, a hammer, and duct tape.

 

You're on your own there. It seems every time she starts a DIY project, I somehow get roped into it and sometimes it even becomes my responsibility. I suppose if you hack off her thumbs she won't be able to start anything, but that would include dinner, work, and lingerie.