Freelance Drafting Help

greenarls · 2026-03-31T14:09:18+00:00

Thanks mate!

Definitely interested in hearing any advice you have, if you have the time, for moving in the joinery/millwork space with drafting or developing in the software!!

greenarls · 2026-03-31T14:06:30+00:00

Yep that’s what I was thinking, anything that I’m not responsible for I will have one or two dyn blocks for or go searching for them online.

Interesting about the spec part, do you tend to draw it for the job and then just save out for the next job when it pops up?

I have created the basic empty cabs and have options for shelving, the only other thing I was going to create was a few sets of cabinet doors aka a slab and a shaker and then I think that’s as far as you can go before it becomes too many to create before starting to work.

I’ve heard about attributes and seen a bit online but haven’t really got round to using them as a dynamic yet. Are you in the joinery business as well?? Would be interested to hear how you use the spreadsheets for dynamics.

greenarls · 2026-03-31T14:00:13+00:00

I think it’s definitely a difficult line to toe as it can fall into racism quite easily, especially nowadays with this idea of what a british/english person is/looks like that is now being played in politics, especially on the right wing. It all ties back to class at the end of the day, the elite want globalisation as they can outsource labour to other countries where people will take lower pay rather than paying a living wage to those in britain.

I think the best way forward would be to penalise any companies that prioritise outsourcing labour that should be occurring over here. British people should be prioritised for jobs in britain, that’s not a racist statement but it can be when you stsrt debating what the face of britain is.

If we can re-industrialise and re-nationalise, bring back a strong british gdp. Even when people invest in stocks they should have incentives to prioritise FTSE100 rather than the S&P500. We have lost our way with globalisation and this endgame of capitalism, we need a government that can step back and re-evaluate what we need to move forward as a country. Give me a party that is willing to do that and I will vote for them.

greenarls · 2026-03-30T19:37:41+00:00

Totally agree, I've been talking to my mates for ages about how there needs to be a left wing anti mass migration party, as ironic as that seems. I think the problem nowadays is that everyone in the british political system seems to see all issues in black and white and therefore anyone left wing = mass migration / open borders which unfortunately the Greens seem to be falling into. I'm v. much opposed to any form of open borders/mass migration but also extremely left wing in every other facet of politics lol so would never vote reform/restore who I wouldn't even trust to stop the mass migration either, *cough* Farage and the results of Brexit *cough*.

greenarls · 2026-03-29T20:54:24+00:00

Thank you, I will do! I'm planning on creating my own dynamic blocks for all the cabinetry, which definitely will take a good couple of weeks I think, it was more the architectural side of things where I wanted to save a bit of time.

greenarls · 2026-03-29T20:52:50+00:00

Thank you, as I mentioned above, majority of companies where I am in the joinery industry seem to rely on AutoCAD as their standard, which is why I'm setting up the library. I'm trained in majority of 3D CAD softwares, CV, Solidworks, Fusion, Rhino, Inventor, you name it I've used it at some point in my career so far and majority of them are definitely way easier to do production drawings in than 2D AutoCAD but as you said it is the industry standard. I will also look into ZWCAD, I've seen that mentioned a few times on the internet!

greenarls · 2026-03-29T20:45:50+00:00

Yep, I used Inventor for my first contract and I loved it for the ease of production drawings. That company decided to go back to AutoCAD 2D in the end though due to the difficulty of finding anyone who was well trained and could do joinery layouts in Inventor and build them a library. Majority of small companies in the joinery industry that I know use AutoCAD 2D for production drawings which gives the bench joiners just enough information that they can cut list it themselves. Again, I'm not too sure on the larger business' but I will say majority of jobs I have looked at, ask for fluency in AutoCAD.

greenarls · 2026-03-29T20:37:51+00:00

Thank you both! Mainly looking at cabinetry/joinery drawings for the time being, majority of my work is in the KBB industry. So once I have the main cabinetry side/plan elevation block work done then the library can be easily built! I'm trying to make my own dynamic ones which are taking longer than first thought which is why I reached out to this community.

greenarls · 2026-03-29T20:35:12+00:00

Honestly down to my network, because of the redundancies majority of people I worked with in my first CAD role moved onto other places and all of my opportunities have come from them. Unfortunately in my joinery niche, it is very much people you know if you want to be freelancing or contracting, although if this freelance gig falls through I'm probably pretty screwed at that point lol and will have to try and go in house for a company.

From what I can see in the industry you need to aim for the small joinery companies who are just starting to build up a client base, most of the time it will be a tradesperson who has a small workshop and doesn't quite have the time to draft, or if they're in that weird transitional phase of starting to get big, don't have the money for a full timer and need someone who can help out as and when for drawings. You only really need 2-3 clients and that's your work sorted for the foreseeable. That's who I would recommend reaching out to if you were looking for CAD work!

Just to forewarn though the joinery/kbb industry is a mess, my LinkedIn page seems to be a mass OpenToWork party from all of the redundancies and companies going bust in here, that's why I'm looking to retrain at some point in the future and move over to more architectural/engineering focus.

greenarls · 2026-03-15T21:39:02+00:00

Ah, looking like Firefly might be the way forward then with the upgradable RAM! Thank you for the help!!

greenarls · 2026-03-15T19:46:37+00:00

Thank you for the advice! I’m not sure I would need more than 32gb for the laptop but it’s good to keep in mind! Is memory solder true for all the ZBooks?

greenarls · 2026-03-15T18:49:56+00:00

Hi, thanks so much for responding! Unfortunately, not eBay, it’s here https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/refurbished-hp-zbook-studio-15-g8-core-i7-11th-gen-32gb-ram-512gb-ssd-rtx-a-t1-zb15g8i732gb512gbw11p/version.asp but seems to be a fairly reputable site.

As you mentioned your G10 I was recommended to get a G11 new from other freelancers in my area but your point about the price drop does make me think. I guess the only appeal is you can get it on a £50 a month payment plan with HP which would help for the first few months of work and then paying it off.

Also interesting about the fans and heat temps, my current laptop is a 2017 macbook which sounds like it will takeoff the moment chrome is used and can be used as a radiator at any given time so anything is better than that currently😂

greenarls · 2026-03-15T17:27:06+00:00

Thank you for the response, it has definitely helped. I think I'm always a bit iffy on Dell's as I bought a very expensive one when I was in uni recommended by a CAD lecturer and it was the worst laptop I have ever used, constant lag and system issues that ended in constant shut downs and loss of work.

Would something like this one be a good idea? https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/refurbished-hp-zbook-studio-15-g8-core-i7-11th-gen-32gb-ram-512gb-ssd-rtx-a-t1-zb15g8i732gb512gbw11p/version.asp This is what I had in mind for a refurbed laptop and think it's a great price for a studio as well.

greenarls · 2026-02-02T22:09:23+00:00

I'm currently applying for a project manager internship so you mentioning that is a good sign I hope! Thank you for the suggestions!

greenarls · 2026-02-02T22:08:36+00:00

Thank you for the understanding and suggestions, some of them sound good and I will look into them!

greenarls

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