SchoolCAD is free CAD for woodworking projects that runs in your browser. It was built around the school workshop, so it knows about real timber: woodwork joints, standard DAR pine sizes, cut lists, cutting plans and AS 1100 drawings. This guide shows how a woodwork project goes from idea to workshop.
Start with boards
Most furniture is boards. Sketch a rectangle the size of a board and extrude it to the timber thickness, or start from the Display bookcase or Two-step stool samples (Documents, then Open a copy) and change them.
Use Parameters for sizes that repeat. Name the board thickness t = 19 and type t into every extrude: change to a different thickness later and the whole project updates. Overall sizes such as W and H work the same way, so one design can be a bedside table or a bookcase.
Real woodwork joints
Model both boards full size, overlapping where they meet, then use Joint (press J). It cuts the joint out of the overlap and works out the sizes:
| Joint | Good for |
|---|---|
| Finger (box) | Laser-cut and small boxes. |
| Butt | Simple frames held with screws, nails or brackets. |
| Dowel | Hidden joints for carcasses and panels (6, 8 or 10 mm dowels). |
| Housing (and rebate) | Shelves set into the sides of a bookcase. |
| Mortise & tenon | Strong frames: legs and rails of tables and chairs. |
| Halving | Crossing rails, frames and egg-crate dividers. |
The note under the sizes explains the joint, such as which dowels to buy and how deep to drill. Dowels are made as parts, so they show up in the cut list and renders.
Tip
Students can model the whole project with boards overlapping and add the joints at the end. The design Check lists every overlap with a Make a joint button.
Hardware: screws, hinges and dowels
The Library (an Advanced tool) inserts standard screws, bolts, nuts, washers, dowels, hinges and shelf pins at their real sizes, at sketch points or on a face. Screws match SchoolCAD's hole presets, and hardware is listed as things to buy in the parts lists.
Cut list and cutting plan
- Export, then Cut list (CSV): every part, quantity, size, material, the standard board to cut it from, mass and an estimated cost.
- Export, then Cutting plan & shopping list (PDF): which standard boards and sheets to buy, and where to cut each part, for one project or a whole class.
Give each part a material first (right-click it in the Parts list). Radiata Pine is planned as standard DAR boards.
Drawings and instructions
- Engineering drawing (PDF): third-angle views to AS 1100 with dimensions, sections, a parts list and a title block.
- Assembly instructions (PDF): step-by-step pictures with notes taken from the joints.
See it finished
The Render Studio shows the project in timbers such as Radiata Pine, Tasmanian Oak, Jarrah and Walnut, with the grain running the right way and an oiled or gloss finish.
More help
- Joint, Parameters and Library
- Cut list and Cutting plan
- Forum guides: Timber cutting list calculator and Orthographic drawing maker
Start a woodwork project at schoolcad.app. It's free.