Software programs

[MikeD55]

For those using software was wondering what do your using and why. I’ve heard of SolidWorks and Sketchup. I want something that’s easy to use. I’m interested in building brick ovens and like the advantages CAD offers.

[Toiletman]

Hi MikeD55 . For my oven I've been working with Solidworks. It was the CAD package of choice during my studies, and a little bit during my professional life. I like it, and it worked pretty well to create my oven designs, judging size, knowing the amounts of bricks to order, etc. Although in practice there's a lot of handyness and 'from the wrist' (don't know if that's an English saying as well, but in Dutch it means improvising) work needed as well, and for judging the size: cardboard mockups will help you a lot.
Professionally I'm now working with Siemens NX and I like it a lot more, it's a little bit more forgiving in the order of things and it also let's you manually cheat a bit more. Solidworks can go haywire if you change something 'early in the design history of a part', NX typically doesn't care about such things. NX does seem to have a little bit of a steeper learning curve.

In 3D printing a lot of people are using Fusion360. I've never tried it so can't comment, but maybe it worth a shot.

[JRPizza]

Mike, I used Freecad when I built my oven to create 2D views to verify my placement on the hearth and other critical dimensions like placement of the inner arch. I also use it to model parts to 3D print, but I found that other than generating cool pictures, trying to make an accurate 3D representation of the oven was for me a waste of time.

[Giovanni Rossi]

Mike, I second JRPizza 's comments. I spent an extraordinary amount of time during COVID lockdowns working with free CAD software to design my oven. Ultimately, it was a frustrating exercise that just left me wanting to buy a full-featured package. The cost is directly proportional to the features available. For me, the cost defeated one of the perks of DIY.

I can't recall if you are looking for a retirement hobby or a second career building ovens. If a hobby, there's plenty of info on this FORUM to get you going and you can have fun adjusting your design with each build. If a business, I suppose it depends on what kind of volume and, ultimately, the ROI target you're looking to achieve to determine if a good CAD program is worth the cost.