Drafting

As a junior high school student back in 1977 I learned drafting for the first time.  Back in those days it was with T-squares and set squares.  Later, as I moved on to high school in 1980 I took a number of drafting courses, including architectural and mechanical drawing.  At that point we moved up from T-squares to drafting tables and machines.  Originally I thought I might go to University and study to become an architect.

But, then I graduated from high school in 1981, and went to work full time in the family Plastic business the next day.  In 1989 I purchased the company from my father.  And in 2020 I sold the company and retired.  I never did get around to going to University, but used my drafting skills through my entire working career.

Of course in later years drafting went digital.  The drafting table that we had at the shop was given away and we moved up to the AutoCad software program.  Over the years I bought three versions of AutoCad and we spent thousands of dollars on the software.  Now in my retirement I would like to use the software that I legally own to drawn up plans for the cabinets, and other furniture projects, that I intend to build.  But the old software will no longer function and the AutoDesk company is essentially forcing me to buy a subscription to AutoCad LT in order to keep using it.  But that costs $60 per month and is far beyond what I can justify for the small amount of drafting I need to do.

I finally got my old version of AutoCad LT 2002 to sort of function on my computer.  Every three or four commands it locks up and shuts down.  So, after every action I save my file, and then continually restart whenever it freezes and shuts down.  It's very frustrating to work with, but far better than spending $600 Canadian per year.  I find the drawings are very helpful as they provide exact dimensions for all the components, and precise locations for all the rabbets and dadoes.  Here are the print outs of the drawings I just completed for the third cabinet for the guest cottage.