Carpentry and Woodworking - Free or inexpensive project design software?

I have an idea to build a custom hutch to put on my desk to hold audio/video equipment, computer periferals, books, etc. I've run out of patience and graph paper! Is there an inexpensive or free software program to draw scaled rough plans with out there anywhere?

Thanks,
Mike

Mike,

I build cabinets and furniture for a living, and have been looking at different programs for a while now. My criteria was to be inexpensive and easy to use for a non computer guy like me. Most programs are thousands of dollars, and are way too expensive for a small shop like mine, or for the average DIY homeowner. I have run across a couple of relatively inexpensive programs that you may want to look into.

I have not tried these programs myself.

http://www.cabinetplanner.com/index.html
Sells for $79.95 and allows a short free trial.
This is probably your best bet out of this list.

http://www.softwareforwoodworkers.com/html/order.html
Probably not what your looking for, but I added it anyway.

http://www.cabinetpro.com/
These are more expensive, but one edition caught my eye at around $650

http://www.ecabinetsystems.com/
This is a cabinet cooperative. They give you the program for free, but they do require that you are in business as a cabinet shop, and you buy cabinet related products from other coop members. I received a CD from them recently, but have not tried it yet. Probably not for you, but why not have a look at it anyway.

I hope this helps. A google search for cabinet programs may give you some more to try.


Good Luck!

You can download a free trial of a program called SketchUp, which is a scaled down professional CAD program. The free trial works for 8 hours, so it should be enough for one project at least. It is available at www.download.com, search for Sketchup. I haven't personally used it but I've heard very good things from a few friends about ease of use. Hope that helps.

Hi Mike

Try "FreeSerifsoftware.com". They have "DrawPlus 4" for free. I have not tried it, but it's a graphic design program, and it should do what you need.