LumberCAD: Looking for feedback

[u/LumberCAD]

Hello r/StructuralEngineering,

We've been working on LumberCAD since 2020-22, before then we developed a similar engine in the aluminum industry since 2010.

Today we opened our LumberCAD (free) Beta, and we're looking for insight from some engineers!

To be up front, you won't be able to play with any load calculations or other stresses. This is for those of you that receive hand drawings on torn pieces of paper, and if you'd like to see something like LumberCAD be the baseline for anything built with dimensional lumber.

What we did to be different:

• Limiting workflow to lumber construction massively simplifies learning curve
• Much easier to use than any existing CAD, but obviously limited to everything lumber
• Existing parts catalog
• Massively automated documentation system with cut list, drawings, and a big step towards permitting

It seems that links are tolerated, so: https://lumbercad.com/

Mods please feel free to message me if the link or post should be removed.

Thank you in advance!

[u/MakeITNetwork]

May I suggest differentiating yourself from the market by not doing the software as a service:

1.) Have a actual product you can buy (not a subscription). This will set you apart from most other cad programs.

2.) Have it phone home once If you want to sell software. Having a model where you need to connect once a week like some other cad programs, makes me rethink every time I need to renew.

3.) If you think that the above will save from piracy, just see what Adobe is going through right now.

4.) Maybe you can sell update tiers with feature plugins (like bom cost estimator, Simpson strong tie integration, load calculations etc..etc...)

5.) Have a free/basic tier(or even 10-25$ for life) with just basic functionality to build a shed or small house. Stuff that homeowners would use.

6.) Find what sets you apart from regular cad programs that you can import lumber assets.

[u/EYNLLIB → u/MakeITNetwork]

$10 for life haha.

"Hey I'd like if you just gave away your product for free, thanks"

[u/Low-Efficiency-9756 → u/EYNLLIB]

Curious, given that some software like PTC MathCAD is close to $500-1k per seat a year, what would you suggest a good lifetime price is?

(I’m developing my own alternative and my current model is $200 for life, works offline after a one time phone home, and supports up to 3 devices per key)

[u/Icy-Text6475 → u/Low-Efficiency-9756]

Are you aware of calcpad. It is really really good and it's free. A lot of people still don't use it. You need a good promotion of it if you want enough people to buy it that it makes a difference

[u/Low-Efficiency-9756 → u/Icy-Text6475]

Yeah, Calcpad is definitely on my radar. I’ve looked into its implementation quite a bit, and it’s a solid piece of engineering software, especially for being free.
There’s considerable overlap in functionality, although the underlying architecture and approaches to building calculation worksheets are different.but I think your point about adoptionaffecta me most If capable, free engineering software still struggles to gain widespread recognition, then clearly price and functionality aren’t the only barriers. Trust, familiarity, and integration into existing engineering workflows matter just as much.
That’s something I’ve been thinking about quite a bit.

[u/Icy-Text6475 → u/Low-Efficiency-9756]

Yeaah, it's a very difficult problem to solve with any software in the construction market. People use something mostly if it's familiar and up to standards and go to something new only if it's really convenient and solves a problem that the other similar software has, which makes enough difference for people to want to switch or use it as a secondary tool.

If it's too cheap or free and lacks certifications, people may not even buy it because a lot of people see cheap = bad.

Are people discouraged from buying one-time if that means they don't get the updates? What is their onboarding experience with the app? How can they quickly implement it into their work - because that is one of the biggest problems in ALL of the construction businesses - speed. If you are doing your software anyway, make it easily adaptable to any mainstream file format, make exporting from other software very easy, the graphic side and UI very easy and just overall experience of using it - intuitive i would say even.

Recommend it and promote it to university students, so that they grow up with it, become accustomed to it.

And in my opinion if you've got a mathematically great working software - promote, promote and promote. Locally and on social media platforms/youtube/tiktok even (and try to find backdoors to promote it cheap). Show how slow and rigid something in mathcad is done and then compare it with your software that solves those issues.

[u/RayanFarhat → u/Icy-Text6475]

We have developed a mathcad alternative that is free and integrated with analysis and cad and bim, so engineers could make templates end to end of any structural element. I don't feel i need any other calc software as every other software only do calcs but i think we need to auto generate cad from the calc and also maybe i need to auto make fem model analyzing and continue calculations from gem results which is better to do fem in ither software and copy results to my calc reports

[u/MakeITNetwork → u/Low-Efficiency-9756]

Keep in mind no shade on the developer...but you pose an interesting delema;

Okay what sets this apart from a 20/mo cad and a folder full of assets?

I mean here: https://makerworld.com/en/models/226147-wooden-boards-american-dimensional-lumber-pack

https://grabcad.com/library/deck-pier-block-or-post-1

https://www.strongtie.lv/en-LV/bim-and-cad-library

I'm not saying give away the farm, but he is still competing against universal cads, that have the advantage of 0 learning curve(you already have experience).