: I recently purchased "The Strip-Built Sea Kayak" by Nick Schade. In
: Chapter 4, he writes about creating form patterns by using spreadsheets
: and or CAD programs. I am interested in doing the same. I have the Office
: 97 version of Excel. However, I am concerned with printing the forms
: scaled correctly using only Excel.

: Has anyone used Excel alone or along with a drawing or CAD program to create
: your form patterns?

I tried a few forms with Excel but was not satisfied with the outcome. I Used Turbocad for my first boat. on My second I used Quickcad. Both are lowend, inexpensive programs. Having said that, there are pros and cons. The low end do not have the power of the more advanced packages but offer easier use. Is it a good trade off? Don't know since I've never used the higher end programs.

Greg
: Can anyone recommend and describe their experiences with low-end (inexpensive
: or free, with a short learning curve) drawing or CAD programs to create
: and print scaled forms? I am not in a position to buy an $800 CAD program
: nor do I have access to one.