My old mentor still swears by his drafting machine, and I'm starting to see why.

I learned on a traditional drafting board in trade school, but now everything's digital. I mean, drawing lines by hand made you really think about each move, not just rely on undo. Do you ever mix old manual techniques with your CAD work?

3 comments

3 Comments

park.adam1mo ago

Wait, people still start with pencil and paper? That's wild to me. I tried sketching a simple bracket design by hand last month and it took forever. I actually caught myself tapping the desk where my undo key should be. It felt like going back to a flip phone after years with a smartphone. But I get it, you can't just copy-paste parts, so you really have to know your measurements before you put pen to paper.

val4061mo ago

Those old drafting machines had a real physical feel... what part of your workflow do you still start with pencil and paper?

laura2111mo ago

I always start new product ideas on paper, but not because of the physical feel. It's just faster to get the messy thoughts out before I open any software. My sketchbook pages look like chicken scratch that only I can read.