Boy Scout Drafting Merit Badge

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jdockstader
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Joined: Tue May 28, 2019 10:21 pm

Boy Scout Drafting Merit Badge

Post by jdockstader » Tue May 28, 2019 10:39 pm

I'm looking for a free CAD and drafting software package that I can use to teach Drafting Merit Badge to a group of Boy Scouts. It's one of the least popular badges (131 out of 137 in 2018). I'm well versed in SolidWorks and NX but, obviously, those software packages cost way too much for a 12-year-old to do one project to learn about Drafting. I'm hoping QCAD Free might be a good solution. I'm planning to download and play with it tonight but I'm hoping someone well versed in the software might be able to tell me if the boys will be able to accomplish this requirement or if I need to look elsewhere -

"3. Produce a computer-aided design (CAD) drawing as it would be used in manufacturing. Fill in all title block information. The CAD drawing may be any one of the following drawing types:
- Architectural: Make a scale drawing of an architectural project. The architectural drawing may be a floor plan, electrical, plumbing, or mechanical service plan; elevation plan; or landscaping plan. Use an architect's scale and show dimensions to communicate the actual size if features. Include any important sectional drawings, notes, and considerations necessary for construction.
- Mechanical: Make a scale drawing of some mechanical device or interesting object. The mechanical drawing may be of the orthographic or isometric style. Use an engineer's scale and show dimensions to communicate the actual size of features. Include any important sectional drawings, notes, and manufacturing considerations.
- Electrical: Draw a simple schematic of a radio or electronic circuit. Properly print a bill of materials including all of the major electrical components used in the circuit. Use standard drawing symbols for the electronic components."

Thanks for any guidance you can give.

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Husky
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Re: Boy Scout Drafting Merit Badge

Post by Husky » Wed May 29, 2019 2:05 am

Hi,
jdockstader wrote:
Tue May 28, 2019 10:39 pm
I'm looking for a free CAD and drafting software package that I can use to teach Drafting Merit Badge to a group of Boy Scouts. It's one of the least popular badges (131 out of 137 in 2018). I'm well versed in SolidWorks and NX but, obviously, those software packages cost way too much for a 12-year-old to do one project to learn about Drafting. I'm hoping QCAD Free might be a good solution. I'm planning to download and play with it tonight but I'm hoping someone well versed in the software might be able to tell me if the boys will be able to accomplish this requirement or if I need to look elsewhere -
QCAD is a very intuitive and strait forward CAD program. If they can't accomplish the trainings session with QCAD then they will have the same problems with any other CAD program.

jdockstader wrote:
Tue May 28, 2019 10:39 pm
"3. Produce a computer-aided design (CAD) drawing as it would be used in manufacturing. Fill in all title block information. The CAD drawing may be any one of the following drawing types:
- Architectural: Make a scale drawing of an architectural project. The architectural drawing may be a floor plan, electrical, plumbing, or mechanical service plan; elevation plan; or landscaping plan. Use an architect's scale and show dimensions to communicate the actual size if features. Include any important sectional drawings, notes, and considerations necessary for construction.
- Mechanical: Make a scale drawing of some mechanical device or interesting object. The mechanical drawing may be of the orthographic or isometric style. Use an engineer's scale and show dimensions to communicate the actual size of features. Include any important sectional drawings, notes, and manufacturing considerations.
- Electrical: Draw a simple schematic of a radio or electronic circuit. Properly print a bill of materials including all of the major electrical components used in the circuit. Use standard drawing symbols for the electronic components."
If you have enough time to get familiar with QCAD by yourself and you have also enough time on your hand to prepare the lessons for the boys - yes, absolute doable in my opinion.

FYI: Most CAD systems are working with 1:1 drawings. Scaling for a print is mostly automatically done during / by the print process.
Maybe not a good idea to teach how to draw a scaled drawing. Instead I would teach how to read a scaled and printed drawing.

Just my two cents :wink:
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