Woodcraft App

Recently I have been exploring the capabilities of a new app for the iPad, from Fasterre called Woodcraft.

It is in simple terms, a CAD program for the iPad, and probably not too dissimilar from Sketchup (although I have not played with that a lot).

The app is particularly refined – things work as you’d expect, and a lot of attention has gone into its design.

To start, you can either create a new project from scratch, or download one which other users have made and uploaded for sharing.

Here I am downloading a birdhouse, that I can either build from the design provided, or used as a starting point for further development.

Elements can be added and deleted, dragged and dropped, rotated and precisely aligned with other elements.

There is a main view on the right, and other elevations on the left.  You can easily switch through each elevation by dragging the one you want to view or work with to the main window.  There, you can add and modify elements, add dimensions, and perform basic woodwork functions (tablesaw , saw, hammer (to join elements together etc)).  You can take a photo in the real word, then overlay your project to see just how it will look with the Photograph function.

Where it comes to ordering timber for the project, click on “Bill of Material”, and it will provide a list of the components needed.

As you are designing the project, you may want to work with timbers you already have, or standard sizes that you know are available.  That can be accommodated as well.  Working either with the lumber pile, or the scrap pile.

And being CAD, and that you are working with solids in 3D, you can therefore view your resulting object in 3D as well – very helpful to visualise where you are at in the project design process, and work out what needs to be designed next.

It is quite a complex app given its capabilities, but there are plenty of videos available on their website that will help you get started, then develop your skills with the app.

Apps for the iPad are certainly maturing!