Practising on CAD.

Chippy123

Are there any sites that have detailed drawings(plans,front/side views, maybe isometric) that I could print and work from to improve my CAD skills??

I am already pretty good on CAD but need more variety....am thinking anything from house plans, to electronic gadgets, maybe things like aircrafts,cars,bikes.

I am scrolling around looking for things now and can find houses and the like easily but hard to get more.

djwinger

From an experienced draughtsman, I don't think these things will improve your skills that much. You can re-draw images 'til you're blue in the face but unless you're actually progressing and learning new commands and new ways of approaching design problems, your skills won't get much better.

What you really need are real-world situations. To start you off, you can complete these projects (don't worry about the 3D ones) http://www.cadtutor.net/tutorials/autocad/index.php?category_id=5


If you want something more advanced and challenging I can give you a made-up project if you like? Basically you need to take this image into AutoCAD and scale it to the correct size. The only indication of size given is a scale bar in feet which is imperial; but I would like you to work in metric. Make sure your drawing is set to the correct insertion scale (Format > Units).

After that you're free to re-create the drawing in whatever way you see fit. After which you can post a detailed description of how you achieved the end result - including how you drew each object. This way, me and other experienced draughters on here would be able to offer tips on alternative methods and timesaving techniques for drawing these things.

You may also want to record the time taken for your own records (you don't have to post it) and then have another go using the new techniques and compare.

Nemanja91

planahome.ie has a lot of house plans

Mellor

djwinger wrote: »

You may also want to record the time taken for your own records (you don't have to post it) and then have another go using the new techniques and compare.

quick test for the OP, how would you record your time.

KAGY

djwinger wrote: »

From an experienced draughtsman, I don't think these things will improve your skills that much. You can re-draw images 'til you're blue in the face but unless you're actually progressing and learning new commands and new ways of approaching design problems, your skills won't get much better.
<snip>

Would definitely agree with this, it's the technique behind the finished drawing rather than the end result. Looking at a drawing on the web, you wouldn't even know if detailed view came from paperspace or if the CAD monkey just copied and scaled a part of the drawing.
But to answer your original q, check out the various county councils e-planning sites. Some of them scan in every submission including drawings (I know longford does)

djwinger

Mellor wrote: »

quick test for the OP, how would you record your time.

I know you said OP, but just in case, was that directed at me?

Mellor

Directed at the OP.
To see how aware of the software he is

djwinger

Cool, glad I didn't answer

JLF

Chippy123 wrote: »

Are there any sites that have detailed drawings(plans,front/side views, maybe isometric) that I could print and work from to improve my CAD skills??

I am already pretty good on CAD but need more variety....am thinking anything from house plans, to electronic gadgets, maybe things like aircrafts,cars,bikes.

I am scrolling around looking for things now and can find houses and the like easily but hard to get more.

hi chippy123 If you want to improve your cad skills move to 3d cad software e.g archicad,or revit as theres only so much you can do with 2d cad ,best of luck:)