Good Free 2D Cad Programs?

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Wug
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Good Free 2D Cad Programs?

Post by Wug »

Hi,

Are there any simple, free 2D CAD programs for Windows?

A naive search on sourceforge wasn't very helpful. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks,

Mike
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Joseph Osborn
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Wug
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Post by Wug »

Thanks Joseph,

Has anyone used any of those programs?

Mike
macfrank
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Post by macfrank »

Alibre & Cocreate are free, but the programs are internet tethered to a degree. I didn't like either one all that much, but they worked. Of the two, Alibre is probably the best (easiest to use, least annoying)

Stay away from BRL-CAD; it's basically a DOS program with a primitive GUI-Shell.

If you are a student or a staff member/educator at a school or university, you can get Rhino3D for a pretty good price. It can be used as a 2D CAD program (just limit your drawings to one plane).

Are you looking for a CAD program because you need to do accurate dimensioning or just a vector based program that lets you scale your drawings? If you only need a vector program, Inkscape is free and adequate.
Wug
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Post by Wug »

Thanks macfrank,

I have Inkscape but it isn't accurate enough and frequently locks-up.

I need a program with real dimensioning that supports circular arrays. Something equivalent to an old DOS version of Autosketch would be fine.

I'm not sure if if I have enough computer to run large programs.

Thanks,

Mike
macfrank
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Post by macfrank »

Wug wrote:T
I need a program with real dimensioning that supports circular arrays. Something equivalent to an old DOS version of Autosketch would be fine.
I'd almost forgotten about CadStd. It is pretty easy to use and doesn't have huge computer requirements. The "Pro" version has more features and seems like a good deal for $40.
Wug
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Post by Wug »

Thanks again macfrank,

I just downloaded CADStd. Hopefully it will work.

Mike
Wug
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Post by Wug »

Thanks macfrank,

CadStd did everything I needed it to do.

Mike
macfrank
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Post by macfrank »

Wug wrote:Thanks macfrank,

CadStd did everything I needed it to do.

Mike
I'm glad it worked. It's a pretty nice, basic CAD program, even in the free version.
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