A big WELL DONE! Dan. I had half a dozen or more CAD training courses at work... used it to read drawings, sectioning, etc. but not drawing. That was a job until mid 1980s, now a hobby using the old pencil, set-squares, brain, slide rule, etc.
Now retired I just don't want the brain buster called CAD. Going back to basics and learning a whole new system every 2 or 3 years was just extra work to do the same old job for me.
If I make a one off, I want to use my skills designing it and making it accordingly. If I need mass production, I'll learn the tools (CAD etc.) and make the jigs, fixtures, etc. to do that - but that was the job, not a hobby for me.
Computer modelling of a multiple mass & spring system driven by an air motor to accelerate and decelerate the system was a good job for a computer... Or using it to create operation and maintenance manuals for a power station... But modern use as a clever telephone/messenger simply turns me off. As does CAD in many cases. For the one-offs I do the pencil is quicker, or slide-rule, calculator, etc. but for repetitive calculations I simply write the calculations into a spreadsheet - then repeat many times.
In the workshop (all 2 sq.m) I often use chalk on a board to work-out dimensions, etc. - Who needs a pen and paper? - That's high tech from Egyptian times! Stone masons were scratching on rock for millennia before quill, ink and paper were developed.
And CAM in the hobby shop? Nowt wrong with a good hand, hacksaw and file if you ask me... - More fun too! And such pride when it is right and finished. After all. Most of the old mechanical artefacts we admire were made that way.
K2
