Well it has to be the application that I have spent the last few years training and supporting; the application is Consultec Framing by Gang–Nail Systems Ltd. The app is aimed at customers who are designing buildings that will be constructed using the platform framing method which is very common in the UK and Ireland. The prefabricated wall panels are mainly manufactured off site in a controlled factory environment then erected by on site. The Timber frame Panels can be anything from a few meters in length to the full length of the building depending on site restrictions and the erection method used.

Enough background, now to the software. Well it really speeds up the design process by enabling the user to see the timber frame design in 3D. It’s object based so understands what a timber frame object is and what a opening object, this means that any of the components can be edited through the AutoCAD properties pallet which really makes it easier on the user as they can edit one panel or all the panels in one go. For example, the frame height can be changed or the stud centres can be changes right across the drawing… told you it was good.

The next killer feature is the app is database driven. So the user can enter in all the timber materials and components that are going to be used in the design, this means that everything they draw will have a material assigned to it; the users can determine what timbers will be used when the panels are created. This information can then be output as a schedule of materials that can be broken down by component, timber section size or even by Frame; the software can then be used to create what we call manufacturing drawings which are in fact fully dimensioned drawings of each timber frame panel that can then be used to build the frame. The output can then be used to drive optimising saws and automated frame making lines.

The software can make a very big difference to the speed of timber frame designers and their output. It really does enable them to do a lot more in a short space of time and because it tries to stick with the AutoCAD way of doing things as much as possible it really does shorten the learning curve and lets face it in these interesting economic times that has got to be a good thing. If you want to find out more about the package then check out this link http://www.gangnail.co.uk/index.php/software/framing.

Happy CAD’ing

Mark (AKA carrot_cad)