I called CAD blocks lazy drafting for 10 years, then a remodel job in Phoenix made me eat it
I always drafted everything from scratch because I felt blocks were a shortcut for people who did not know how to draw. Last spring I took a kitchen remodel in Phoenix with 14 cabinet types, and the guy I was working under showed me his block library with dynamic stretch and flip actions. It cut my layout time from about 6 hours down to 90 minutes, and the cabinet maker still got clean, exact dimensions. Now I keep a blocks folder on my desktop and add to it after every job. Does anyone here have a good system for naming and sorting blocks so the library does not turn into a junk drawer?
That bit about the blocks folder turning into a junk drawer is too real. What saved me was naming every block with a client or job code in front, like SMITH-Kitchen-Base36, so I can sort by name and everything from one project stays together. I also keep a second folder called Archive and move blocks there once a job wraps, which keeps the active folder down to maybe 40 or 50 that I actually use. Once a month I open the whole library and delete anything I have not touched in two jobs, that habit alone keeps it from getting out of hand.