I do a lot of CAD work.  I figure it takes a person about 40 hours to start using a CAD program or switch from one CAD program to another similar one.  It takes probably 150-200 hours to become as proficient in the newer, more powerful CAD program than the one a person is famliar with.

It becomes real interesting when one program is a familiar CAD program and another program with a different technique for CAM toolpathing and finally having to be familiar with two drawing programs  because clients use them and you have to 'fix' what they have so carefully designed so to be made.

Sketches and such are quite often done on paper or boards.  Once the design starts taking form, it is time to put it in CAD format. A drawign is done no faster in CAD than on a board with a competant draftsman.  Revisions are a lot faster and the drawings are more accurate.  Details are seldom redrawn but added from libraries of provious designs.  This assures more accurate completion of projects.  Or, repeation of previous goofy mistakes.  

In 1980 each engineer or designer had 5 to 7 draftsmen under them.  By 1990 a good CAD draftsman could keep up with half a dozen engineers/designers.  It also put another layer of manure between the designer and the builder.  Innovations of the builder are seldom carried back to design if there are many layers of orginization seperating them.

Well. enough of my rant.  Quite often someone will wonder how I can master a project using a saw and chisel when they have had problems with routers, power planes and the such.  I usually look at them, grin and say, 'first, one has to be smarter than the tool one is using.'

A lot of skills are learned, not taught and don't 'come natural'.

Modern CAD software is EASY (I'm talking about Autocad). I repeat: it is so easy, I could teach my grandmother to use it!

Several years ago, a machinist friend gave me a quick introduction in Autocad. In about 2-3 hours of teaching behind a PC, I learned the concepts and about 15 important commands. All typed, BTW, not point & click; works much faster too.

Then several years later, when in engineering school, we were taught Autocad too. The teacher wasn't up to it; he was good at what he did, but he sucked at autocad. I became 'de facto' teacher in my class; when someone had a problem, I got asked instead of the teacher. Now, keep in mind that in those years between 'ad hoc' teaching by my friend and lessons in engineering school, I NEVER worked with autocad... My classmates, however, had NEVER worked with the program. (In the land of the blind, a one-eyed man is king ;-) ).Once you get a feel for the principles & most important commands & how they work, you can get by with most tasks at hand.

By now, I've become pretty good at using Autocad; have recently started making 3D-drawings (not taught in engineering school...), all by self-study, trial & error, and making drawings. This learning period was not unproductive; all my learning was on real-life projects. Efficiency for individual projects may have suffered a bit, but always the task was succesfully completed, things were learned, mistakes not made a 2nd time.

Despite the fact that Autocad (like other large programs) can look overwhelming, it's easy to use; perhaps 90% of its capabilities I don't use; that's ok, they're there when I need them, and they don't hinder me with the easy tasks.

By now, I've taught several people Autocad in one evening, to do basic stuff. True, they're not skilled draftsmen at the end of the evening, but they can solve their own problems, perhaps it takes a bit longer, but still.

AutoCAD is easy to use! It's user-friendly; and it doesn't make an idiot into a fully-qualified engineer; I can make beautifully horrible drawings in Autocad, like I do on paper.

The real benefit: when making an Autocad drawing, you have something to give to the company that e.g. manufactures your rotor plates; with the drawing, you drastically reduce their time needed; they can program the CNC laser cutter with your drawing, press 'start', and 5 minutes later you have your plates.

To anyone that has so far backed away from it I'd say 'give it a try, you'll be amazed how quickly you will be making drawings that are good enough for you'.

Do yourself a favour, and ignore all the comments as to how difficult CAD-software is. Yes, if you want to 100% comprehend and use all functions, you have a serious task at hand. But for everyday problems, it's fine. Like my HP48 calculator, it has more functions than I'll ever need. But instead of using a simpler calc, I use the HP48, knowing that I'm under-using it, but also knowing that if I ever get a serious problem, the calc can do it, if I put in the effort.

Oh boy, this message got way too long and way too off-topic. But after reading the previous comment, I couldn't resist. Your example of photographing a whiteboard is nonsense; this was not what cad software was designed to do. There are still tasks for which pencil & paper are better than PCs: quick drafts, shopping lists, love letters, etc. Don't blame this on the pc or cad software, it's silly!

Peter,
The Netherlands.

I had thought of using pipe and C shaped rollers. But don't have a lathe to make rollers with, and the foot print is a lot wider.

Will also mount a shopvac hose as close as posible to router bit to keep sawdust from flying around so much.

All parts on hand, just waiting to get to top of things to do list!!!!