I've Been Drawing My Patterns On Paper Need Help Learning Cad

[Blackey Cole]

Back in the early 80s I took a mechanical drawing class and did well. But, it was all paper, pencil and ink then. Plus my first 15yrs in the Air Force my job required reading blueprints of aircraft parts and at time draw up repairs on metal. So drawing on paper isn't that hard for me but paper patterns get lost, destroyed or just plain wear out. I do this as a hobby now and the best templates I'll have will be out of metal flashing, it's thin and very easy to work with put metal can discolor the leather my second choice is X-ray film been using my moms old back X-rays then mine but now X-ray film is recycled and images are either printed out on regular paper or sent digitally.

So I want to learn how to draw in a cad program. Iirc I have turbo cad on my windows machine, I also have a couple of Wacom tablets a Intuos 4 and a Cintiq I use for my photography. I tried to use the turbo cad a couple years ago and could get more than a box the right size. What I would like to do is draw items in cad each piece would have its own layer(s). If print it it could be just a cutout pattern or a full pattern with stitch lines etc.

Do any of you use cad to draw your pattern? If so would you be willing to mentor me. Mt items are stuff I use a make for cowboy action shooting. Some will be digitized copies of work I want to do out of Leatheworkers and Saddlers Journal and other patterns that I have purchased for my own use. If it is something I'll make several of I may send the pattern off to have a plastic template. If it is easier than me cutting one out of lexan or poster paper. One reason is to have different overlays for a basic object. Like loading strips : have a basic size that works for every loading strip we use 38, 45 and WBAS which has 12 ga and a place for a 1911 mag on one side the other has ten 45 loops or maybe the mag will be on that side depending on how much room 6 12ga loops take up. But the 38 & 45 have ten on each side maybe eleven on the rifle side for rifle reloads on the clock during a stage. Another would be belts Sumer would be buscadero other hunter style with or without loops then the different size loops. Just hide the layers you don't need. I can use photoshop but it isn't made for cad work. If I send the cad file any errors are my fault not someone who is trying to interuporate what my idea is. The second is anytime I need a pattern I can just print it out on mt photo printer for a one off or to use as a guide for poster paper or lexan.

Let me know if your up to mentoring someone in cad drawing using turbo cad preferabilly.

[Dwight]

Blackey, . . . I too used to do a lot of drawing, . . . as a maintenance planner / scheduler for a 45 man mechanical / electrical maintenance shop in a UAW factory. I used both a $29 drawing program, . . . and a light version of Auto Cad.

BUT, . . . when I began trying to put those skills to use in the leather work, . . . quite honestly, . . . it was far more trouble than it was worth.

What I do now is work up my patterns using legal size manila folders, . . . pencil, eraser, rule, . . . and one of the best friends anyone drawing ever had, . . . an Epson digital scanner.

You can digitize anything you want in a heartbeat, . . . scan it, . . . save it, . . . send it, . . . pull it up and modify it, . . . and without the Auto Cad learning curve.

May God bless,

Dwight

[JLSleather]

Yeah, I had my turn back when, with the 2B and 4H pencils, gum eraser, all that. Talk to the kids in drafting class now days, and their mouth falls open as they say "You used actual PENCILS?!"

Tool and die work for about 100 years, so I learned a good bit of cad When my 'allowed' copy of AutoCad became obsolete (doesn't work with newer operating systems) I was done - NOT paying that kind of money to upgrade.

Still, I 'get' the value of cad. Graphics programs can be made to work, just like the 4H pencil. Drag a line, "smoosh" a curve ... But it's guess work. In a cad program, I want that line parallel and offset by 3/16, a few clicks and I'm good.

Never messed with turbo cad though. AutoCad mostly (because that's what Frigidaire / Electrolux used). I've seen some others, and some still in the old industry are now using Pro-E and Solidworks.

A tutor would only be useful, I would think, if they are local to you. But if you have the program, I wonder if you couldn't hire a couple of your patterns digitized - complete with layers. From there, you may be able to alter those drawings to suit the next idea?

[Blackey Cole]

Well I guess I'll have another go at it trying to find you tube tutorials and such. I want the dad drawing in case I want to send it out for a template to be accuractly made. Plus I want to learn to use the program for designing things. It is a lot easier to make a change on the computer when you know how than to make it on paper especially when the first try didn't work like you wanted to.

Also, I was going to try and print on laser clear plastic sheets to use to layout on leather. I can get way more accurate on computer than paper. I want to be able to draw by pen tablet or by selecting an object inputting size measurements and input location.

[Deanimator]

While you certainly can use CAD to do this kind of work, that may actually be overkill, depending upon what CAD program you use.

I do my design work with Corel Draw, which is a vector graphics program. It's a lot easier to learn than a lot of CAD programs.

Regarding hand layout, if you have the talent, there's nothing wrong with it. Some of us simply never have, don't now, and never will. I'm one of them. On the other hand, I can use Corel Draw to create a rectangular primitive and add nodes and curves to end up with a creditable holster pattern.

What I create using Corel Draw (or what somebody else could do with a CAD program) is endlessly modifiable and re-producible.

My last CAD experience of any substance was with AutoCad 12 for DOS. People with more recent and extensive CAD experience should have few problems.

[jstar61]

I have had to get more involved in CAD at my work, and I found this tutorial site helpful.

http://mycadsite.com/tutorials/index.htm

[rlpullman]

All of my patterns are in cad format. I spent over twenty years working as an engineering technician and drafter, so doing the patterns in cad is natural to me. I suggest you download a copy of Draftsight. It is a free drafting program by the same company that has Solidworks. It is almost identical to AutoCAD, and fairly easy to learn. If you have experience as a drafter, then moving to a cad program should be easy. It is just a matter of learning the software. Some of the benefits of using cad for patterns, is the ability to reuse geometry from one pattern to another or new pattern, the ability to scale the pattern, and with a large format printer or plotter you can print out large patterns in one piece.

[jstar61]

rlpullman, thanks for the heads up on Draftsight.

[Blackey Cole]

I finally got my laptop up and going, switched it from win 8 to win 7. Download both draft sight and Inkscape plus photoshop for my photography. I will need to go through the tutorials next week or so and see if I can make heads or tails out of it. One thing I want to do is select an object draw it roughly out the tweek it's size by changing the properties to the exact size and placement. That'll save a bunch of time. Then get that object perfect then create a new layer for the next object ie layer one is the belt layer two would be a series of bullet loops in one caliber layer three a series of bullet loops in another caliber. My first project will be loading strips or stage strips. I'll have three variations one in 38/357 another in 44/45 and the last for WBAS which holds ten rifle rounds, six 12 gauge and and a 1911 mag. All will use the same base leather stock which is doubled over with a loop like a dog leash. The the first two will have ten rounds on each side the pistol in two groups of five and the rifle side would be all ten then maybe an additional loop separated from the ten for rifle reloads. The last I'll have to design to see which side will have room for the mag. The reason for using the same base for all three is once everything is tried and true I'll have a plastic template made up or a clicker die for cutting them out. The cad file would be the layer for the base that I would send to have it made. No chance of a mistake if I send them the cad file with the correct measurements.

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

Well, on my cards it says, "done the old fashioned way". The fact is that I have done all of the above in my life, having been a draftsman, seat system engineer, race car builder, automotive decorating engineer to name a few, however; since each saddle I make is a creation of it's own, I still use paper and pencil, or when I can get it, mylar film and pencil. I have a set of patterns I made when I first started, and I use them to make the beginning of a pattern, from there I cut, shape, add, change and generally massage each pattern to suit the style and design of each particular saddle. Sometimes I have been known to cut up a box that is lying around or any piece or stiff paper, or piece of scrap leather in reach at the time I am making what ever it is I am making. I make notes on them that makes them unique to the particular saddle I am working on, and yes I do have a pile of them lying around. Never know when some old design will lend itself to a new saddle. Anyway, bottom line is that it is nice to have a starting place for a pattern, but; for me that is what it is, a starting place, not the end result.

Bob