How to Make Fabrication Drawings Without CAD

Most gate and fence shops do not need AutoCAD. They need a clear sheet the welder can build from and the customer can sign off. That sheet has a handful of views, the sizes, the tube sections and a cutting list. You can get there without ever learning to draft.

There are three ways to do it: sketch it by hand, pay someone to draw it, or use a tool that draws the job for you from your sizes. This guide covers all three, what each one is good for, and where CAD60 fits. It also says plainly what CAD60 cannot do.

What does a fabrication drawing actually need?

Forget the software for a minute. A drawing is just the information the welder and the installer need, laid out so nobody has to guess. For a gate or a fence panel that is:

• A front view with overall sizes and the clear opening.
• A side or top view, so the depth, post positions and hinge side are clear.
• Every tube and bar called up by size and wall, like 50x50x3 SHS or 65x16 RHS.
• Infill spacing: the gap between battens, slats or pickets.
• Hardware: hinges, latch, lock box, drop bolt, with their positions.
• The finish, such as powder coat colour.
• A cutting list with every member and its length.
• A title block with your business, the customer, the job and the date.

If the sheet has all of that and the numbers add up, it does the job. Nobody on the shop floor cares what program drew it. The full checklist, with a worked example, is in what to include on a gate fabrication drawing.

What are your options if you do not use CAD?

You have three real choices. Each one suits a different kind of job.

Most shops end up using two of these. A configurator or a sketch for the everyday work, and a drafter or full CAD for the odd job that does not fit a pattern.

How do you hand sketch a drawing the shop can build from?

A hand sketch is fine if it is clear. Grid paper helps a lot. Draw it roughly to scale, then let the numbers do the talking.

1. 1

   Measure the opening first

   Width between posts or walls at the top and the bottom, height, and how much the ground falls across the opening. Write it all down before you draw.

2. 2

   Draw the front view

   Frame, rails, infill and posts. Put the overall width and height on it, and the clear opening between the posts.

3. 3

   Add a side view

   It only needs to show depth, the post and the hinge side. A small box is enough.

4. 4

   Call up every member

   Label each tube with its section and wall. Write the infill gap. Mark where the hinges and latch go.

5. 5

   Write the cutting list beside it

   Each member, how many, and the cut length. Check that the lengths add up to the overall sizes before anything hits the saw.

How can a tool draw a gate without you drawing it?

A battened gate is the same shape every time. Frame, rails, battens, hinges, latch. Only the numbers change. So once someone has taught a program what a gate is, it can build the gate from your sizes and draw it for you.

That is how CAD60 works. You pick a model from the catalogue, like a battened pedestrian gate. You type the opening and pick the tube sizes, the infill spacing and the hardware. CAD60 builds a full 3D model from those numbers and measures every dimension on the sheet off that model. Change one size and the whole drawing set redraws, cutting list and all.

You can try it on a real size. This button opens the battened pedestrian gate with a 1000 mm wide, 1800 mm high opening already typed in. Change a number and watch it redraw.

Open this gate in CAD60

What does CAD60 do, and what can it not do?

CAD60 gives you drawings in 60 seconds. Pick a model, type your sizes and you get a drawing pack on A4 sheets: front and side elevations, a top view, an isometric view and detail sheets for things like posts, hinges and the latch. Every sheet has dimension lines and a title block. You also get a cutting list with weights and costs, a STEP file for your own CAD or a laser cutter, and a 3D link you can send the customer.

Here is what it does not do:

• It only draws the models in its catalogue. Gates, fences, pool fences, screens and balustrades. If your job is a staircase, a trailer or a one-off sculpture, it cannot draw it.
• It is not general CAD. You cannot drag lines around or sketch a free-form shape.

If a model you make is missing, the Fabricator plan includes building it for you. The free Explorer plan lets you configure any model, see the 3D preview and a watermarked drawing, and download one clean example pack per model. Clean packs for your own sizes need the paid plan. The details are on the pricing page.

When do you still need full CAD?

Full CAD is the right tool when the shape is new. A curved stair stringer, a custom bracket for a builder, a one-off artwork gate with no repeating pattern. Nobody has a model for those, so somebody has to draw them line by line.

The honest split looks like this. Repeat work, the gates and fences you build every week, goes through a configurator and comes out in minutes. Odd work goes to full CAD or a drafter. For most gate and fence shops, that second pile is small. If you are weighing up the CAD programs themselves, the AutoCAD alternatives guide compares them.

A STEP file from CAD60 also bridges the two. You can open it in Fusion, SolidWorks or any CAD program that reads STEP, then add the one odd part by hand instead of drawing the whole gate from scratch.

How do you check a drawing before you cut?

However the drawing was made, check it the same way. It takes five minutes and saves a wasted length of tube.

• Does the overall width match your measured opening, less the gaps you want at each side?
• Do the cut lengths on the list add up to the sizes on the front view?
• Is every member called up with a section and a wall thickness?
• Is the hinge side right, and does the gate swing the way the customer asked?
• Is the finish written down, so the powder coater does not have to ring you?

A drawing built from a 3D model makes the second check easy, because the cutting list and the views come from the same numbers. On a hand sketch, add the lengths up yourself. For a step-by-step on laying out the sheet, see how to draw a fabrication drawing.

Common questions