luke83 Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 Im a wood machinist apprentice and becuase of person leaving our employer i have been given the task of Taking on his role in drawing any special jobs that come on to us. 1 have had 2 days training on autocad and can expect but that will be about it until my Tafe Course starts next year other then that no other training. Now the problem for me really isnt learning autocad per say i already have some knowledge of how to draw some basic things my problem is when i get a more detailed drawing is knowing where to start the job from. Does that just come with experience or should i be studying some other related subjects??? Maybe drafting or something, whats a good place to start, where did you guys start from??? I have never done any sort of tech drawing or drafting ever should i be studying that aswell? Quote
ReMark Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 Welcome to the CADTutor forum luke83. Where did you take your two days of AutoCAD training and what was covered? What is a Tafe course? Some of us, myself included, actually started off doing manual drafting and ultimately made the transition in CAD when it was just becoming affordable. At this point in time I would recommend a few things. Buy yourself a good after-market AutoCAD book is tops on the list. Try your hand at the tutorials here and at other AutoCAD-related websites. Ask questions. Ask lots of questions. AutoCAD is not a program you will master in one week's time. And don't get discouraged if you run into a problem. That's what we are here for...to help you. Quote
luke83 Posted October 30, 2009 Author Posted October 30, 2009 OK autocad course ( 2 days) was with the guy who is leaving , he also teaches it at tafe so i have all the tafe notes for my course for next year, I have purchased autocad for dummies (about 4 months ago as i had interest in learning this but never had time being a new father and a apprentice so i havent even look at it until now) and also got the Virtual training Company autocad basic 2d concepts cd ( just arrived yesterday). I have another 3 days with this guy but i wont be covering autocad as i got to learn to use woodwop and some of our automated software aswell ( quisine software ) and how to intergrate th e 3 of them together. Its basicaly a crash course in everything before he goes Quote
ReMark Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 Sounds like you'll be busy. The "Dummies" book is OK but I'd look into a book by Ellen Finkelstein or George Omura (just to name two). Will the drawings you work with be primarily 2D? Well good luck. Don't forget you now have CADTutor as a resource too. Quote
Tiger Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 If you don't know what assignments you'll get before you get them - don't worry about them. I second ReMark's tip to get a good ACAD book, and use it! If you have a genuine intrest in learning AutoCAD and have some base to stand on, you'll pick up the basics fast and after that it's all about asking yourself "Can AutoCAD do this?" - and if you don't know the answer, there are usually someone around here that know it Quote
luke83 Posted October 30, 2009 Author Posted October 30, 2009 2d work mostly , just programing for cnc machinery at the moment. Long term i want to move off the factory floor and into a nice cubical somewhere. Wanting to develop skills in cad and some IT. Quote
luke83 Posted October 30, 2009 Author Posted October 30, 2009 Tafe is the australian governments funded higher education body - Basically if you want further training after high school you either go to uni Or you go to Tafe ( theres also heaps of third party training organisations in australia but tafe is the most reconised). Quote
luke83 Posted October 30, 2009 Author Posted October 30, 2009 So would this book be a better reference? AutoCAD 2010 and AutoCAD LT 2010 Bible (Paperback) Ellen Finkelstein Quote
Tiger Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 The Bible is always the Bible (yes, it's a good book) Quote
stevsmith Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 So would this book be a better reference? AutoCAD 2010 and AutoCAD LT 2010 Bible (Paperback) Ellen Finkelstein This may not be recommended if like your profile says you are using 2008. Quote
ReMark Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 Used or slightly used 2008 versions of the "Bible" are available via Amazon. Another Aussie! Quick, lock the doors! Never met so many Aussies until I joined CADtutor. Quote
CADguy209 Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 If you really want to learn autocad long term your best bet would be to invest a little time and money and take some community college or tech school classes in beginning cad and drafting. While your ex co-worker may have shown you a thing or two on cad, he him self may not have been the most knowledable user and could have shown you some bad habits. And you dont want to fall into those early on. Granted, your potential cad instructor may not be a whole lot better (a lot can be pretty flaky frankly) but given the depth and scope of the program a structured learning environment is the best imo. I never fully trust those who are "self taught". Quote
rkent Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 If you really want to learn autocad long term your best bet would be to invest a little time and money and take some community college or tech school classes in beginning cad and drafting. While your ex co-worker may have shown you a thing or two on cad, he him self may not have been the most knowledable user and could have shown you some bad habits. And you dont want to fall into those early on. Granted, your potential cad instructor may not be a whole lot better (a lot can be pretty flaky frankly) but given the depth and scope of the program a structured learning environment is the best imo. I never fully trust those who are "self taught". But the OP said the guy leaving teaches at TAFE, so he might get that guy as his instructor. More than 2 days is required to learn both autocad and drafting. Employers are so dense sometimes. I think Ellen's "bible" is very complete but, so far as I know, she is not nor has she ever been a drafter. Other books are much better at teaching AutoCAD. I have always liked the job Terry Wohler's does on his books. Quote
ReMark Posted October 30, 2009 Posted October 30, 2009 Ralph Grabowski can be added to the noted author list as well. Quote
Tankman Posted October 31, 2009 Posted October 31, 2009 Welcome to the forums luke83! Where are you posting from? Most importantly, know your subject! This I consider #1 for success! Second, practice makes perfect! Might you have internet access at home? If so, try this link, http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/course/48-568/2DVideosWEB_files/frame.htm. A decent place to start! Hands full, get to work! I visited a furniture manufacturing plant on several occasions. They had a wood working machine that consisted of 'bout ten routers moving, grooving, cutting wood, engraving, all CNC controlled via cable from an office. Amazing to watch. The manufacturer mass producing furniture is very successful. Quote
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