Is it possible to get a group together and form an online class / user group to learn say TurboCAD? We might limit the size to 6-10, have weekly “classes” with some kind of online interface; maybe a community college might have an instructor or perhaps someone here.
I have some experience with class organization, schedules, etc and would be willing to put in some time and effort organizing.
I need to start @ very basic level – like do I draw pieces 1 dimension, 2, 3? If I draw 1 dim. how do I represent joinery?
I have been “learning for about 10 years but I think I need instruction or Dummies level text unfortunately those text are not available for inexpensive software (TurboCAD, DeltaCAD, etc)
Replies
There are good tuts out there. For now, consider using the TurboCad forum.
http://www.imsisoft.com/support/forums.asp
Take care, Mike
Do none of your local colleges offer such a course? Do you have any 2D line drawings to follow as examples? Sounds like more a case where you may need to learn some drafting standards and not so much a problem with learning the software. What type of pieces are you trying to draw most commonly?
I absolutely would benefit from drafting training! I took "mechanical drawing" in high school ( a long, long, time ago) so I have an understanding of elevations; top, front, side. I have succesfully drawn some simple plans for projects like shaker style tables, desks, simple boxes, etc.
I successfully taught myself to be very proficient in CorelDraw but have been stymied by TurboCAD. Part of the difficulty is the instructional materials that have been available and partly because I do not understand aspects of the software as layers, scale (not as simple as my architectural rule), etc.
I have looked into classes at community colleges but haven't had success.
I have also used the tutorials from CADCourse, Mr. Cheke's website and IMSI Forums. I have learned but still want to run my Windows XP Laptop through my planer.
Thanks for your comments.
Scale factors for correct plotting can be a nuisance, but most set up base templates for different sheet scales once, and don't change them too much. I presume your goal is to produce accurate drawings for building purposes and not become a CAD expert. It is a great tool. When I draft for woodworking I usually only show enough so I can build the project. If you like, I will try to help you out. Do you have any projects that built you wanted to use CAD to design but didnt. That might be a start.
Thanks, I bet there are others on this forum who would also appreciate help!
One of the problems with Junior/Tech College is that they tend to be training commercial draftsmen and that means Autocad. What you learn re: one Cad is not directly transferable to other CAD programs. I am power user on Autocad and could never reorient my ways to Turbo. I tried 3 different versions. Wanted to because of much lower cost; but all I got was pizzed.
"But still want to run my lap top through my planer". Thanks, that gave me a chuckle. Just go with the grain when you do ;-)Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Take a look at my post in http://forums.taunton.com/fw-knots/messages?msg=34146.32 . I'm not a Turbocad user but could participate in something similar for Sketchup. The online tutorials for Sketchup are great but we could certainly share models and information. I'm certainly willing to answer questions as best I can.
Regards,
Bob Babcock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T09szaK_S2o
Lots of sketch-up help out there...youtube, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Google-SketchUp/
Do a search and you will find more than you wanted to know about.
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