CAD/CAM for jewelry design?
 

Does anyone know anything about using computer software to aid in their artistic process? A summer school class I've been highly awaiting just got pushed back until July and I figure I could use the time to map out some detailed jewelry designs and I know lots of people are using CAD software for this these days. I did some searching online and only found really expensive software meant to go hand in hand with milling machines and I couldn't find any demos or such.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of thing? Would it be worth the hassle over simple pencil and paper sketches if I'm not going to ultimately use the plans for a milling machine?

Thanks for any info. Take care
-T