5 replies to this topic

[Joe Dun]

I am going to be helping a young home-schooled student to learn some basic CAD. He is and eager 10 years old, and I would only pursue it with him as far as his interest stays, since it is not an actual class that he needs to finish.

We choose NanoCAD because of its AutoCAD-like workflow (and of course, that the basic version is free). I had hoped that I could use a text book for AutoCAD, and that the information would be applicable to the NanoCAD program, enough that it would be viable to use.

Note that he also needs to learn basic drafting concepts. I guess I could just find a manual drafting book for him to learn those things, and make the CAD work a separate things.

Do you all think the idea of using an AutoCAD book would be viable?

Any suggestions about specific book?

-Joe

[Chad Lutsey]

Joe, Kudos for the effort. I am a 20+ year user of AutoCad. Recently found NC and have been impressed with it so far. While not all the commands and actions are a direct port across from Acad, they are close enough... Having said that, there is nothing quite like getting your feet wet. Almost any decent cad book will teach you the basics - what a line is, what an arc is, why you would want to use a polyline as opposed to something else, Install the fundamentals and let your student experiment. Hopefully, you have a basic understanding of either geometry or some cad experience yourself. You will be able to smooth over some of the rough spots. Now, understand that I speak from old school. I started out with a 3H pencil and a t-square. The biggest differences I have come across is the one between 2D drafting and parametric modeling (Acad to Solidworks). I, personally, found it hard to switch my brain from drafting in 2d to thinking in 3D. Not everyone has that trouble. Certainly not one who has no experience with either system. If you don't have any cad experience, perhaps a follow on home school lesson could be the development of a 'pen-pal' type relationship with someone who does. Either someone working in the field, a student or instructor at a local tech school. Sorry I don't have a book title to point you at. If you are targeting ACAD, Autodesk put out a hard copy book with each release up till about Acad2014 if I remember correctly. You can find them at your local library, garage sales, etc. I would think that most tech schools probably have them back to R12 or so. They might be willing to 'lend' the older ones to a homeschooler. Doesn't hurt to check. Hope this helps a little. ~C

[pguimber]

Hello,
same course as Chad Lutsey, same opinion.
In addition I would say that (from personal experience) it would be good to make this learning fun.
See the pictures of my Linkedyn profile (Autocad+sketchup) :
https://www.linkedin...rteau-b2143a49/)

Use NC for the rigor of the line and SKETCHUP Make V17 (free) for the pleasure of approaching 3D.

Then, for parametric 3D, use Fusion (free) and thus be in 'phase' with the CAD tools of companies.

To get off to a good start, you have to have fun!

Cordially
Patrick

[pguimber]

A little advice that has served me well in my professional life:
Know by heart (by heart in french = very very well!)
5 commands:
- to draw, line, cercle, ...
- to modify, trim, mirror, scale...
- to print, viewport, switch to model/paper....

The rest is a bonus, not the essential!

[Chad Lutsey]

Great advice! One more thing... try to get used to incorporating command line shortcuts as well as just mouse work. If the 2 can come together in your head, things will be easier and quicker down the road.

[rckseattle@gmail.com]

Hey Joe,

Great to hear you are going to be teaching a youngster CAD. I am personally on the same journey with my daughter as she has recently taken an interest in my work. I have been using CAD since 1989 so we will say "a few years"

With my daughter I started with some basic drafting concepts and getting her to at least think of the objects we are drawing as REAL 3 dimensional objects not just little lines on a computer. I currently focus mostly in the Architectural world so getting her to think in "plan view" and "elevation view" and seeing how the two work together has worked well. Also just getting her to have a basic understanding of spatial relationships and relativity. Some of this has been a bit of a struggle because personally I think our public school system is not doing a stellar job with providing a basic education but that is a different topic.

As far as NanoCAD vs AutoCAD I think they are similar enough that any basic AutoCAD course could be utilized with minimal modifications as needed. I have just been using my own skill set as her primer but will be pulling some proper course work together as we go along. With her I have been preaching the basic "MUST KNOW" object commands ( Line, Arc, Circle, Rectangle) and the must know modify commands (Trim, Extend, Offset, Move/Copy, Fillet, Mirror, Rotate and Scale)

While it has been a bit of a challenge it has also been a lot of fun and has challenged me in some interesting ways (how to teach a skill that you just "know") but its been a great bonding experience as well.

Hope that helps, best of luck!

Rob