Google Sketchup

So, you want to try drawing your own woodworking plans, but you aren’t so good with the pencil and paper, and you can’t afford to buy an expensive CAD program.

Never fear, because the folks at Google have created a free program that will allow you to draw plans and see them rendered in stunning, near-lifelike 3-D.

Whether you have a PC or a Mac, once you download the free program, you are off to the races. You can draw the entire project, complete with doors, drawers and other components, show the joints that you plan to cut and even overlay the project with wood tone skins so you can get an idea of you should go darker or lighter with those inset door panels you were thinking of building.

Unlike other programs which require intensive study of phone-book-sized manuals, Sketchup offers online tutorials that are easy to follow, and there are forums where you can ask other users how they accomplished their designs.

Oh, did I mention the program is free? 😀