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In this day and age of modern technology, just about
everything else is now done on computers, and designing new furniture is
not much different. Although most weekend woodworking projects are perhaps
still hand drawn, many projects now on offer for sale or in magazines are
created on the PC. More weekend woodworkers would probably also design on
their PC if their were more woodworking design software products
available. There are very few going around designed for the woodworker,
and many resort to CAD type programs to build their conceptual woodworking
designs or models before hitting the workshop.
Homia PC Applications in Australia have available a
woodworking design software package, and we picked up a copy to take a
look.
Basic Furniture Design
As the name of the software states, the Basic Furniture Design (BFD)
software is restricted to designing basic furniture items. Essentially,
the items you can successfully conceptualize with the software are those
along the lines of what is shown on the software's package cover (shown
above). Basic square cabinets, door frames, tables, drawers etc. It cannot
handle curved forms or angled joints, or as mentioned on the website, it
cannot do triangular corner cupboards, so it is restricted to "square"
designs. Since a lot of furniture is based on square designs, you can
imagine that the types of furniture that could be designed and built using
this software are more varied than just those displayed. Full
entertainment centers, boxes, and kitchen cabinets are certainly possible.
The Software
The package states use under Windows 98SE or better. We ran it under
Windows XP and it works fine. You will need DirectX 9 installed, and
minimum PC specs are listed as;
As you can see, the software should run on just about any
computer purchased in the last 4 or 5 years. It doesn't need the latest,
most powerful system to do its job.
Because of its Australian origin, all inputted measurements
must be in millimeters. There is a metric to imperial converter program
included, but all inputs direct to the software are in metric millimeters.
The FAQ section of the website states the following regarding this issue:
Can you use
inches?
Yes, but not by direct input.
You can enter inches through the use of a popup window which
will convert inches to millimeters. You can also choose to print
the cutting list in inches.
Designs by Numbers...
Let me make it clear that the BFD software is not really a CAD design
package. I.e. you cannot literally draw in components. It works by
entering measurements for component pieces, and these measurements are
converted into wire-frame component models on-screen. You can render a 3D
model of your design at any time using the appropriate 3D view option
button. But to design your piece of furniture, you will need to have a
rough sketch on hand to at least make your design onscreen appear similar
to what you have in mind. You can of course play around with figures and
see the resulting difference it makes to your design as you go, and I have
successfully designed simple bookcases using the BFD package without
sketching an image on paper first. You will need to know the rough
dimensions of the location you plan to place the finished project, so as
to not exceed your space limitations of course.
Getting Started
When you first open up the software package, you choose the type of
item you wish to design. The four options are: Tables, Drawers, Doors and
Panels, and Cupboards and Bookshelves. Each option provides a different
set of possible components which you can add and enter measurements for on
the resulting screens. You can also create other objects not listed in
these 4 categories. I.e. for an entertainment center, you would use the
Cupboards and Bookshelves options first which would give you your basic
frame, box and shelf layout, then you could design the drawers and doors
using the other categories too. So just because a category is called
"drawers", it doesn't mean this is the only object that can be designed
using that specific option.
I won't go through each option, but as an example... I
select the Tables option and it takes me to the table design page with a
basic table already displayed. I can change measurement options for the
table top, legs, rails and shelf just by plugging in new values (all in
millimeters). Additionally, the program can calculate for allowances for
different joinery techniques, i.e. it has an option to set mortise depth
into legs, as an example. In bookshelves mode you can set number of
shelves, distance between shelves and vary material thickness on the fly.
Within each category are some pre-configured designs. For example, in the
Tables category you can choose to load designs for Dining table with edge
trim, table with bottom center rails, table with shelf and table with
stretchers. You can, to some degree, also modify designs and save them
again for later use. Their isn't as much flexibility in modifying designs
with the BFD software as their is with a CAD program of course, but then
the package is called "Basic Furniture Design" after all.
For shelves and bookcases you can modify more options
including rebate depths for fixed shelves, add skirting to your design,
add and show face frames of desired thickness, make allowances for doors
and more. The options for Drawers and Doors are very limited, but these
are basic boxes and frames anyway.
Material Options
A database of common materials is included (pine, MDF, plywood etc).
You can add and save your own materials to the database for future
reference. Included in the database is a price for each material, so when
you have designed your piece of furniture, and assigned a type of material
(where possible) to each piece, you can gain a good idea of roughly what
the piece of furniture will cost in materials. This is very handy indeed,
but you do need to know the prices of wood stock locally to get an
accurate calculation here. You can modify the prices of all items included
in the materials list at any time. It may not take into account material
wastes however as a result of scrap material not used from a full sheet as
an example.
3D Viewer
At any time during the design or input phase, you can call up the 3D
viewer to view your design in 3D. This provides a moveable, rotate-able 3D
image of what your design will basically look like once constructed. It
gives a good indication as to whether your design in numbers is going to
translate into an item of furniture close to what you had envisioned in
the first place. It is a handy tool and gives you a good idea of the
framework and construction techniques you may need to implement in the
build phase. If you do not like what you see, go back and modify your
design and then bring it back up in the 3D viewer for another look.
Print Options
Once your design is complete, you can print out a copy. The printed
plan is fairly basic, only showing a front and side view plan with no
measurements, i.e. not an exploded project diagram you might find in a
good woodworking magazine. It does however list overall project dimensions
and specifics of components and joinery pertinent to the construction of
your furniture item. It can also list materials needed as well as the
projected price for the project. It is always handy to print out your
design if you don't have immediate access to your design on computer in
the workshop.
Sheet Cutting Layout Tool
If you work with sheet goods regularly, this additional program that
comes as part of the BFD package may be worth the package price itself!
Basically, it allows you to input all the components of a project to be
cut from the sheet goods (in metric again) and overlay them on top of a
simulated sheet (of your chosen dimension) on your computer screen. You
can then move and rotate each component around on the sheet to find the
most efficient use of that sheet. Unfortunately it does not have an option
to automatically arrange and input components for best fit, so you have to
use a little grey matter and some mouse work to figure this out for
yourself. Regardless, it is a very handy tool and allows you to print off
your sheet layouts for use in the shop. It has certainly saved me much
more than the cost of the software alone in wasted sheet material using
the layout tool. It is an excellent addition to the package, or just as
useful on its own.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a design program to handle beginner to
intermediate projects that fit into the mold of "basic" and square
designs, then this software package is well worth a look. If you are after
more advanced designs, you might need to look elsewhere. At AUD$50-$60
(roughly US$40 - August 05) the package is relatively inexpensive for what
it offers. Its not a full CAD package, but its not priced as a full CAD
package either.
Further information and purchasing options can be found at
the Homia PC webpage, located at
www.homia.com.au
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BFD Screenshots
All photos copyright onlinetoolreviews.com. Use without prior
written permission prohibited
Choose the type of item you
wish to design...
Here I am designing a basic shelf unit with
equally-sized "pigeon holes".
This screen crop shows an input section for adding Face
Frames to the project.
The 3D Viewer shows what the project will look like...
Here's a 3D shot of a table with stretchers, rotated to
see the underside construction.
Materials list can help price a project.
Metric <> Imperial Converter program is handy.
Here I am in the Sheet Layout tool trying to find the
best mix and match to make the most of a 8' x 4' sheet of ply...
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