TurboCAD 16 is an excellent package and available from my local Maplin for £7.50.

Like David C – I'm a long time TurboCAD user which isn't expensive if you purchase a slightly older version (I got my current version from Amazon). I started on out a 'freebie' version (v4) many years ago. I usually skip 2-3 versions when updating but TC has developed and improved over the years and looks set to continue to do so. I only use it in 2D mode currently btw (but I pretty much draw everything before machining it now) although 3D is sitting there should I ever decide I need to learn it.

There are other (and possibly friendlier) products around that have come along since, so it's hard for me to say what I would choose if starting over today.

What I will advise you though, is that whatever you choose – make sure a) it is capable of supporting not only your current needs but also any future needs (this may be hard to know right now, so let's call them 'aspirations' instead) and b) that it is likely to continue to be around (and supported) for a good long time. I believe TurboCAD is such a product.

However – my main CAD advice is this.

It takes a good deal of use and practice to become proficient at any form of CAD that's going to be your long term drawing tool. So your investment in time and effort will not be trivial. Take your time choosing your system but once you've chosen, stick with it and overcome any difficulties you might stumble across (they are more likely to be problems you've created rather than actual CAD system issues – at least if you are using a mainstream product).

Its taken me a long time to get to my current proficiency with TC (and I'm by no means an expert). There may well be better/newer CAD systems out there but I'm not the slightest bit tempted by them – and frankly will probably not be until/if the day comes when I need to really do something that TC simply cannot handle.

It hasn't happened yet – so I'll be sticking with the CAD system I've invested so much of my time learning & using.

So choose your CAD carefully for the longer term – and then stick with it.

Regards,

IanT

I haven't used CAD for a while but have used Draftsight free which is quite good. I had to get another freeware to print to make a copy I could scale to fit something. So you might want to check the finer details of a few and how well they will pick up other program's files.

Back in 2000 a CD of the then out of date version of Turbocad came free with PC world and could draw numbers round a clock face or dial either all vertical or all following the curve for a dial. I don't think Draftsight can do that 15 years later and I would be interested to know if the cheap TC sold at some shows will do so now.

Gentlemen,

Based on comments from others on here I trotted off to Maplins this morning and purchased TurboCAD 18 @ £9.99 and

will have it up and running this evening to see what it can do.

Martin P

I work away from home a lot so have plenty of time in the evenings and it will stop me watching telly all night.

On the box its says TurboCAD 18 but the disc and software is Ver 19

Martin P

Thats what I thought.

Hallo Martin,

Have a look on YouTube for the TurboCAD tutorials by Paul Tracey.

Regards,

IanT

Well the thread opener brought up a question which resurfaces every couple of weeks…

So what does the total beginner really need? In my opinion one of the most important point is how easy it is to bring an idea from paper sketch (or off one's head) to the screen. Now it is my firm believe that all these programs like Turbocad, AllyFreeware, DraftSight lack very much in this respect. So I decided to set up a little challenge and hope that some of the supporters of the above (or other similar programs) will throw the gauntlet.

I started, as usual, with a 'design'. Just some lines and data on a Post-it:

Then I tried to convert that to a CAD drawing, using 3 different 3D programs. This remark is important because these programs are usually used to create 3D items, not simple 2D drawings.

The first one is the very small SolveSpace program. This I think was the fastest do do, maybe less than 3 minutes. One of the drawbacks is that the program expects closed forms, because you can't extrude single lines. So they are marked with 'Not closed contour…'. A small nuisance only. Also there is only one line style, although you can change colours. Could be that broken lines are possible also, but I did not find that in short time.

In all cases I did a screen dump directly after drawing, so that's not exactly what you see on a print output.

Next one is from Alibre, the first version which was available for free many years ago. As I did not use this for quite a time, I needed maybe a bit longer, say 4-5 minutes:

Sorry it seems the dimensioning is not very readable.

The third example is from the new Onshape program. This I had to do twice, because I added twice the same dimension and couldn't find an easy way to telete one of them. Surely a problem of insufficient knowledge. For prospective users it could be important to know that Onshape still has no print (drawing) output, although it is promised to come.'very soon'. Time for this maybe also around 5 minutes.

The 'modus operandi' for all these programs is almost the same.

– select line tool and draw an arbitrary triangle and the horizontal line.

– constrain the latter to be horizontal

-select the measuring tool and measure the angles, then giving them the correct values

– measure the base of the triangle and giving the correct value

– if necessary tidy up the drawing by moving the dimensions around

Now I would very much like to see (in pictures and with description) how the same triangle is drawn in Turbocad and especially DraftSight!

Regards, HansR.

Ooooooeer, dare we ask why?

Andrew

"The current version of Turbocad Deluxe seems to be v21 and costs something like £65"

It may well do Muzzer but you can buy a slightly earlier version of TC (which will have almost exactly the same functionality) for a lot less money. I think Maplins has been mentioned – TC v18 for £9.99.

IanT.

HansR,

Draftsight:

Use the @length<angle command to draw the 47.55 line

Calculate the angle and draw the top line @90<175

Calculate angle and draw the bottom line @90<140

Trim the 2 lines where they intersect.

Dimensioning very straightforward.  Just choose the relevant command and select the required lines.

I've no particular axe to grind. I had DesignCAD on DOS and had some training and used Autocad in 2D mode. 3D Autocad I found a bit more of a trial – specifically determining where I was in 3D space. I used Autocad in 2D to generate DXF files for 2 1/2D CNC for a mill.

This is my first attempt at using Draftsight – I needed to search the internet to find the @X<Y command!

Cheers,

Rod

Edited By Roderick Jenkins on 16/08/2015 13:25:30

Edited By Roderick Jenkins on 16/08/2015 13:26:45