I’d like to find a software that allows me to make CAD furniture plans to layout my design concepts and instructions, but, I cannot pay a lot of money for it. Any recommendations for the software that would give me the most for my money?
Like Teepee, I recommend SketchUp. However, I can add some useful information that is specific to woodworkers and furniture designers.
Sketchup very easily adapts to woodworking designs… yes, even the free version. It can make detailed 3D renderings that include every traditional or modern woodworking joint. yoou do not have to include joinery tough. You could just design any piece, then worry about how to build it later. Sketchup allows you to import woodgrain textures for most popular species of wood and various degrees of gloss finishes. there are also numerous sketchup models for ancillary materials that furniture designer might want to use: metals, glass, solid-surface, formica, plastics, ,,even bricks concrete and stone.
Because this program is so popular, many users have contributed elements that you can download for free. That means you do not have to draw every element of a design yourself. You can find joints, screws, pocket-hole diagrams, hinges, pulls, latches, drawer-slides, etc. In fact, many manufacturers are now including Sketchup versions of their hardware so you can incorporate it into your projects. You can find simple versions of bookcases, chairs, tables, beds, night-stands, benches & cabinets of every variety. After downloading them, you can modify them to your taste and needs. Once you are familiar with its capabilities, you can design almost anything from the ground up.
Now, there are some convenient added features of the purchased "pro" version of sketchup. However, most woodworkers do not need that for typical "one-off" designs. In fact, you can do fairly sophisticated complex geometry if you know some tricks.
For instance, you can go to woodgears.ca, a website by Matthias Wandell, to see how he cleverly works-around several problems when creating a 3D model of a reindeer. He even has a video on YouTube that explains how he does this with sketchup, then you can see him bandsaw the reindeer. Search for, "Matthias Wandell, bandsaw reindeer / sketchup."
As with most CAD programs, there are a few protocols to learn. Specific to woodworking designs, I recommend that you make each component of your design a separate element. That makes it much easier to modify parts and alter designs.
Fine woodworking, popular woodworking and wood magazine ALL have articles on sketchup for woodworkers now, and there are many free online tutorials specially geared toward woodworking applications of sketchup.
Because you can get a free version, that solves your budget problem. If you work with it a while and decide you like it, you can pay for the pro version later. In the meantime, you will find more free resources and training for SketchUp than any other cad program I know of, and I know basic sketchup is good for most woodworkers, even the free version.
Because of the way sketchup works, you do not need to buy any specialized computer-drafting peripherals such as an E-pencil, electronic pad or touch screen. You can just use the mouse and control commands from your keyboard. That saves money too, since most dedicated CAD programs require those peripherals to operate efficiently. Sketchup is a low-impact, efficiently written code. that means it doesn’t eat RAM or crash your computer like more elaborate programs tend to do. It doesn’t matter how cheap the program is if you need a four thousand dollar machine and two grand worth of toys to make it work. You won’t have that problem with SketchUp.
Sketchup will allow you to import and modify existing models of room environments… even whole cities! You can design your original furniture, then see how it will look in an office, home, submarine or spaceship!
And it’s easy to learn.
I have been a woodworker all my life, most of 60 years now. If an old-fart like me can use sketchup, I bet you can too.