About GrainDraft
GrainDraft is a woodworking design tool that runs in your browser. You model a piece from real stock, connect the parts with real joints, and take drawings, a cut list and a shop packet from that same model to the bench.
Why it exists
Most woodworking mistakes are found at the saw: a tenon longer than its mortise is deep, a solid top fixed so it cannot move, a cut list that no longer matches the drawing after one dimension changed. General-purpose 3D tools can draw furniture, but they do not know what a board foot is, which face a mortise goes in, or that 3/4" plywood usually is not 3/4".
GrainDraft keeps one model as the source for everything you take to the shop. Sizes can be named and linked by formulas, so changing a height resizes the parts that depend on it and checks the joints again before anything is applied. The drawings, cut list, material estimate and packet are generated from the model rather than redrawn by hand.
Who makes it
I'm a finance professional and a hobbyist woodworker with coding experience. I built GrainDraft because the technology for woodworking has lagged behind. There are plenty of 3D modelling tools, but nothing made just for woodworkers to go from an idea, to cuts, to a finished build.
GrainDraft is an independent project with no account system. The editor, this website and its articles are maintained together, and every release of the app is listed with its date on the changelog.
How the articles are written
The shop notes cover woodworking fundamentals that apply whatever software, or pencil, you design with. They are written to answer the questions that come up when you plan a real piece: how much a panel will move, what stock actually measures, how thick a tenon should be.
- Numbers come from widely used references, such as the USDA Forest Products Laboratory's Wood Handbook for shrinkage, and from hardware manufacturers' published instructions. Where practice varies, the article says so and gives a range.
- Joint figures are measured illustrations from GrainDraft's own drawing code. They show proportions, not cutting templates.
- Each article shows the date it was published and, when changed, the date it was updated. Corrections are made in the article itself.
- Articles describe starting points. Your stock, tools and hardware decide the final numbers; cut a test piece first.
How it is funded
GrainDraft is free to use and needs no account. Projects are stored in your browser, not on our servers. Advertising may be introduced in the future to cover hosting and development; if it is, ads will be labeled, and the privacy page will name the provider and the choices available to you before it starts. Today the site shows no ads.
What GrainDraft is not
A model and its checks help you find conflicts before you cut. They do not replace measuring real stock, checking your tool setup or testing a joint in scrap. GrainDraft is not affiliated with Shaper Tools or any hardware or lumber supplier mentioned on this site.
Open the app, try your first joint, or read the shop notes.
Contact
For questions, corrections or privacy requests, email qazi.f.abid@gmail.com. Corrections to an article are welcome; please name the article and the passage. Send only the information needed to explain your request; project files are not required for general questions.
GrainDraft posts short build videos on Instagram as @graindraftapp; the same videos are on the videos page.