Need some guidance - autocad for kitchen design?

[tommyvuitton]

Hi

 

I am a kitchen importer and currently use Articad as my design tool. I was wondering if moving to Autocad would be beneficial as i have never used it. Would my designs look better and how long would it take?

 

Thanks for the help in advance.

 

Tommy

[ReMark]

If all you do is kitchen design then I think a program that is specific to that intent would better suit your needs. AutoCAD is fine but you would probably still have to include an add-on program to the cost of making the switch.

[tommyvuitton]

Thanks Remark

 

I have seen kitchen designs that were made in Artlantis and i was very impressed. As i understand it, Autocad does the backbone of the design and then you need another program to do the rendering. Right??

[ReMark]

An add-on program will normally add functionality to AutoCAD that does not come as a standard part of the software. For example, an add-on program for piping may include blocks of pipe fittings and even some Lisp routines (programs) for using them in an efficient manner.

 

Likewise, an add-on program for kitchen design may include blocks of typical base and wall cabinets that do not come standard with plain AutoCAD.

 

AutoCAD 2010 has its own rendering engine that can do a decent enough job. For something more robust you might find yourself importing your CAD drawing into an entirely separate program.

 

I believe I just saw some cabinet design recently in the Showcase forum. Pop on over and nose around. If you find something you like ask a few questions of the person that provided the image(s).

[oddssatisfy]

On 2/23/2010 at 4:02 PM, ReMark said:

An add-on program will normally add functionality to AutoCAD that does not come as a standard part of the software. For example, an add-on program for piping may include blocks of pipe fittings and even some Lisp routines (programs) for using them in an efficient manner.

 

Likewise, an add-on program for kitchen design may include blocks of typical base and wall cabinets that do not come standard with plain AutoCAD.

 

AutoCAD 2010 has its own rendering engine that can do a decent enough job. For something more robust you might find yourself importing your CAD drawing into an entirely separate program.

 

I believe I just saw some cabinet design recently in the Showcase forum. Pop on over and nose around. If you find something you like ask a few questions of the person that provided the image(s).

Is there anyone out there using Autocad for cabinet making? What I mean is anyone out there using Autocad to output cut list and or toolpathing to cnc/ beam saw for say a custom kitchen job? Over the last 10 years or so I have tried Cabinet vision, KCD, Mozaik without success. Problem is I find the cabinet specific programs always have their limitations or glitches some where. I have been using Autocad Lt for 20 years and imputing my cabs into Excel to make my lists. I have found my method is very lean and almost error free and our submittals are on point. Problem is trying to grow the company and looking at ways to produce more for more workers, maybe with office help.

[BIGAL]

1st step is must have at least LT 2024 so you can use Lisp, or Bricscad etc. To write a make cut lists etc is doable but starting from scratch could take forever. Would taking the output from the cabinet design software into cad and having some programs that work around the Glitches may be the way to go.

 

You can do CAD <--> Excel they can talk to each other, you can write macros in Excel that draw objects in CAD, like wise read cell values out of Excel and draw objects. In saying this it is a not supported function in LT 2024. So need full Acad or other Cad software. 

 

I know others are in same industry and they may offer further comments. 

 

This may be a good starting point Cabinet maker - AutoLISP, Visual LISP & DCL - AutoCAD Forums (cadtutor.net) It makes the parts so a 2nd generation of it would lay all the pieces out flat as well, your 2d cut list.

 

 

[oddssatisfy]

On 1/31/2024 at 5:57 AM, BIGAL said:

1st step is must have at least LT 2024 so you can use Lisp, or Bricscad etc. To write a make cut lists etc is doable but starting from scratch could take forever. Would taking the output from the cabinet design software into cad and having some programs that work around the Glitches may be the way to go.

 

You can do CAD <--> Excel they can talk to each other, you can write macros in Excel that draw objects in CAD, like wise read cell values out of Excel and draw objects. In saying this it is a not supported function in LT 2024. So need full Acad or other Cad software. 

 

I know others are in same industry and they may offer further comments. 

 

This may be a good starting point Cabinet maker and kitch remodel richmond va- AutoLISP, Visual LISP & DCL - AutoCAD Forums (cadtutor.net) It makes the parts so a 2nd generation of it would lay all the pieces out flat as well, your 2d cut list.

 

 

thank you so much for your suggestion

[Danielm103]

Microvellum if you have the budget, though I never used it I hear its awesome. I know couple people that work with them

 

I really like CadCode for cutting, CNC and Labeling, you just need a design software that can output to them.

Probably most of them by now

 

I used to use Pattern systems, Product Planner and cut planner, I mostly did commercial stuff.

I had written software to export casework from AutoCAD to Product Planner.  I think 2020 bought pattern systems a while back.

 

LT won’t get you there, Microvellum only supports AutoCAD, it may be an OEM version. To develop your own tools you’ll need a full featured Cad with

.NET or C++ capabilities... and a programmer

 

Edited February 4 by Danielm103