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Woodturning CAD
TurboCAD.
TurboCAD is a computer aided design or drawing program, there are 3 versions Pro, Deluxe (formally called standard), and Designer,
Designer is the baby (cut down) version of the group, which I don’t have experience of, I suspect its more designed for producing 2D working drawings though it does have some basic 3D functions,
Deluxe (standard) can do 2D or 3D, it uses polygon surfaces for 3D, and there is an extra option for smoothing, it is a very capable and inexpensive program, I started out drawing with the standard version, as it was called back then, for Woodturning design work it is fine, its main limitation as far as showing off ones drawings, is in materials (finishes), it cannot add wood grain, brushed metal, Glass, etc, if that is not a concern, it can readily be used for producing production drawings and 3D views for woodwork, mechanical, and to a certain extent Architectural.
Pro is the top end of the product list, it uses solid object modelling,which allows for such things as Blending the edges (rounding or chamfer), shelling (creating a hollow item from a solid, though how well shelling works depends on the design), volume, materials (wood grain etc.), and a host of other tools, it ain’t cheap, but going the way I did, first with standard, made it less expensive, as IMSI (the producers) have good upgrade options, almost all the drawings on this site are done using Pro.
For anyone thinking of using a Technical drawing program, TurboCAD should in my opinion be considered, *IF* you can supply the time to learn it, it is a complex program, and as with all program like this, it has a learning curve that can be quite steep at first, the best suggestion I can make is get hold of an old version of standard / deluxe off E-Bay, if you like it but wonder what extra’s there are in Pro, then try the free pro trial, but at 15 days you may not have time to explore it properly if you work full time, so better to get to know the interface and tools, using Deluxe first in my opinion.
One of the good things about TurboCAD is its community, It has a great and friendly forum, filled with both professionals and amateurs, who are always willing to pass on their experiences, and offer advice and help if anyone is stuck, whether the question is from an experienced user or a new user.
It does have one limitation when showing wood grain, its native wood finish is limited to 3 colours, base, ring and grain, which can look very unrealistic at times, as you will have noticed if you’ve looked at my turning designs, there is another option though, and that’s to wrap a bitmap image of a piece of scanned wood or veneer, this produces a lot more natural colour variation,
Andy
TurboCAD is a computer aided design or drawing program, there are 3 versions Pro, Deluxe (formally called standard), and Designer,
Designer is the baby (cut down) version of the group, which I don’t have experience of, I suspect its more designed for producing 2D working drawings though it does have some basic 3D functions,
Deluxe (standard) can do 2D or 3D, it uses polygon surfaces for 3D, and there is an extra option for smoothing, it is a very capable and inexpensive program, I started out drawing with the standard version, as it was called back then, for Woodturning design work it is fine, its main limitation as far as showing off ones drawings, is in materials (finishes), it cannot add wood grain, brushed metal, Glass, etc, if that is not a concern, it can readily be used for producing production drawings and 3D views for woodwork, mechanical, and to a certain extent Architectural.
Pro is the top end of the product list, it uses solid object modelling,which allows for such things as Blending the edges (rounding or chamfer), shelling (creating a hollow item from a solid, though how well shelling works depends on the design), volume, materials (wood grain etc.), and a host of other tools, it ain’t cheap, but going the way I did, first with standard, made it less expensive, as IMSI (the producers) have good upgrade options, almost all the drawings on this site are done using Pro.
For anyone thinking of using a Technical drawing program, TurboCAD should in my opinion be considered, *IF* you can supply the time to learn it, it is a complex program, and as with all program like this, it has a learning curve that can be quite steep at first, the best suggestion I can make is get hold of an old version of standard / deluxe off E-
One of the good things about TurboCAD is its community, It has a great and friendly forum, filled with both professionals and amateurs, who are always willing to pass on their experiences, and offer advice and help if anyone is stuck, whether the question is from an experienced user or a new user.
It does have one limitation when showing wood grain, its native wood finish is limited to 3 colours, base, ring and grain, which can look very unrealistic at times, as you will have noticed if you’ve looked at my turning designs, there is another option though, and that’s to wrap a bitmap image of a piece of scanned wood or veneer, this produces a lot more natural colour variation,
Andy
Page updated
January 2007