CAD Drawing Software

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I often get asked what software I use to create my design drawings. I use AutoSketch. It is from the same folks at Autodesk that sell the popular and powerful AutoCAD program. However, AutoSketch is much less expensive. Even so, it is an extremely capable 2D drawing package. Version 9 is available online directly from Autodesk for $129. It can also be found at retail outlets like CompUSA or Office Depot.

Recent update: AutoSketch 10 is now available!

Buy now from the Autodesk online store.

Link to AutoSketch 10

AutoSketch provides a very comprehensive feature-rich set of 2D drawing tools for creating professional quality precision drawings. There is a tutorial for getting started and all kinds of help pages on individual topics. AutoSketch also has a large library of predefined symbols that can be drag-and-dropped into drawings. The ready made symbols cover a huge range of topics such as electrical, mechanical, architectural, industrial, business and so forth. Custom libraries of parts can also be created by the user. Parts are always defined in terms of "real world" units of measure like inches or millimeters. The drawing package automatically takes care of any scaling factors needed. AutoSketch also has some powerful pan and zoom capabilities that are very handy to operate with a multi-button scroll wheel mouse.

A collection of the my rocket designs is presented below. All of these drawings were created using AutoSketch.

20 pages

View Coldfire design drawings

Link to Coldfire construction photos

Click here to see Angelfire design drawings in a PDF file.

8 pages

View Angelfire design drawings

Link to Angelfire construction photos

19 pages

View Starfire design drawings

Link to Starfire construction photos

3 pages

View Wildfire design drawing

Link to Wildfire construction photos

1 page

View Vulcan design drawing

Link to Vulcan construction photos

2 pages

View Nike Dart Design Drawing

Link to Nike Dart construction photos

1 page

View Scorpion design drawing

Link to Scorpion construction photos

By the way, here are a few hints for creating an accurate nosecone drawing. Start with the definition of an Ogive nosecone. A good reference is this web page by David Stribling. (Or see the March/April 2006 issue of Sport Rocketry Magazine, pages 18-19. It has an article about nosecones that was also written by David.) In AutoSketch you can draw circles with the radius and geometry as shown in David's figures. Then use the "Trim Edge" tool in AutoSketch to eliminate the part of the circle that you don't want. Keep just the portion of the arc that represents the profile of the nosecone. It's really easy once you know how!

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