Shopsmith Forums

... if you are in the market for a simple to use 2-D cad program you may want to give DeltaCad a try. And it won’t break the bank at $39.99. Although not refundable. While I think that DeltaCad’s home base is right down here in Seattle, I have no stock or interest in the company. Just a great little program, will even read 2-D AutoCad files if that’s of interest.

While I have used a couple of other drawing packages, any drawings I do now are DeltaCad. Just for fun will attach the .dc drawing of the OPR Sled which I just updated on that post. And the pdf. It looks like DeltaCad has been mentioned a time or two on the forum but several years ago. But still alive and well and the owner – author seems to take an active interest in the product. I know I have had a question or two and gotten a response right back.

Back to the drawing package. What I like, it is easy to print your drawing. It will print based on your printer or your can do “actual” size which is great for templates. Or a scale thereof. After the tutorial you are a certified expert. Or maybe not, while it is simple to use there is actually quite a bit to it. There is some good stuff on Youtube if you want to explore further or advance your skills. And there is always the DeltaCad site: http://www.deltacad.com/

Enjoy.

I guess not on the .dc file. Maybe a virus check program as will not allow upload to the forum. Another time.

Wonderful program! Used it for years! Almost no learning - if you have sketched on paper, you can quickly use this program.

THUMBS UP !!! In my shop - preferable to the free 3D program/

Exactly. I posted in the Beginning Woodworking thinking might be of interest to guys (and gals) just starting. But what made me think about it was a pencil sketch posting. That's usually the way I start but clean it up with DeltaCad. Then do an AsBuild at the end for the record and maybe a few notes. Always some changes from original design but the best part is I can always find it.

I used it for years as CAD for my CNC and it is great and easy to use but I have moved on to SketchUp which is free for general drawing and Aspire which costs a ton of money but integrates the CAD and CAM functions for CNC.

My favorite PAST use for Delta Cad was when trying to design a corner cabinet that would fit in our dining room rear corner. It had to fit between the corner and a window on one rear side. Since this was the situation, I had trouble using my old trig skills to compute the frontal width.

All I had to do was draw a triangle using the known measurement. Just entering the width of the limited (window) side and duplicating the other back side at 90 degrees, instantly gave me the frontal width. No figuring needed.

front = 1.414 x side.

JPG wrote:front = 1.414 x side.

I believe Charlese was saying that one back side was a different width than the other. Is not the formula for equal dimension sides?

jsburger wrote:

JPG wrote:front = 1.414 x side.

I believe Charlese was saying that one back side was a different width than the other. Is not the formula for equal dimension sides?

Than Front(squared) = sidea(squared) + sideb(squared).

I did not 'see' unequal sides mentioned. He mentioned 'duplicating' the sides.

JPG wrote:

jsburger wrote:

JPG wrote:front = 1.414 x side.

I believe Charlese was saying that one back side was a different width than the other. Is not the formula for equal dimension sides?

Than Front(squared) = sidea(squared) + sideb(squared).

I did not 'see' unequal sides mentioned. He mentioned 'duplicating' the sides.

Yes he did say 'duplicating'. I just thought that since he said he was having trouble using the trig formula that something was odd with the dimensions.