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@chuckmoney1688

5 ай бұрын

Don't forget, Inkscape also has the ability to create Gcode output of your 2d design under the tab: Extensions > Gcodetools

@habiks

Ай бұрын

Pretty solid video, but you missed the main feature of solid edge - synchronous design - which no other software has.

The risks with free versions of commercial software is that they can pull the rug on you anytime & add more restrictions or demand payment to give you access to your own files. FreeCAD is under heavy development now & can also get a more modern look with themes.

One of the benefits of FreeCAD's architecture is it's built in parametric modeling design. This is indispensable for part revisions, since changes can be made that propagate through the entire part with minimal input. Fast and efficient. It takes forethought when building the part, but the payoff is on the backend. That it is open source, has many addons and often updated while free for everyone is a huge added plus.

@KostiantynD

4 ай бұрын

Fusion and Inventor support it as well. Plus, the revision system in Fusion is saving a lot of time when something goes wrong. I wish FreeCAD main developers started looking at other packages and taken the good bits. For me, the best examples of an opensource alternative to commercial tools Blender and KiCAD. They learned from the industry and made things same or better.

@AephVeyniker

3 ай бұрын

You realize that FreeCad has a big problem with keeping track of features (it's called Topological Naming Problem) and trying to change history breaks things that shouldn't be broken. So it's parametric capabilities are not production ready, it's still not even 1.0 version, and it shows in many tools not working a great deal of time. Or having the same tools in different workbenches like fillet in part and part design workbench. It's unusable, and I am sad that it's not, I would love it to be.

@iokarii

Ай бұрын

@@AephVeyniker agreed, I have tried it several time, tens of ours, and gave up.. pity. Yes, maybe if I put another tens of hours, I could familize, I do not want to push it down, but my experience was sad...

When you said that Auto Desk has a free version of 360, you really got my attention. I have a 2 year degree in CAD, I was taught Auto Cad and Inventor, along with other Auto Desk software. While working as a draftsman for a machine shop, that DXF came in real handy, I'd make a shop drawing and convert it to a DXF and export it to a program for a 4000W laser cutter. At that time, my boss was taking part in the development of 360 (which is a combination of Auto Cad, Inventor and other software, as best I know) Now there is a FREE version. I'm a bit excited. Maybe now I can do some of the home stuff again, after loosing my STUDENT license. I've tried other free cad programs and found them confusing and difficult to use, now, maybe things will become a bit better. Thanks for the info. ;-)

This video should come with huge warning. Before you invest your time to learn and use any product, you should do your homework and study the licences, conditions, plans, etc... Who owns your data? Who owns your work? Will you be able to use the product in the future? Is it possible to export your projects to something else? I do not say that all the "free" products are bad, I am just advising to use a common sense, read the Terms and Conditions, decide how important the tool is for you, etc... For example if you keep the FreeCAD installer on your hard drive, you will most probably be able to install it in 10 years. You may get an dated program but at least you will be able to use the same features as today. I've seen so much "free" (mostly web based) tools to vanish or change the license or model or remove features or move them to the paid or more expensive tier..... I have a simple rule: If the service is free but does not let you export the data in some interchangeable format, I do not use it unless for a one off task - no matter how good it looks.

EXCELLENT Advice in EVERY way! [me an old CAD-Designer (since '82!). After several major CADs, now I use ActCAD. No, its not "free", but about as Affordable ANY one actually needing Industry-standard .dwg's of their Ideas, there's NO better. Honestly, my 2D Planwork is my $$$-maker. All the 3D "stuff" is "eye candy" haaaaa. Its for we small-time Designers who do NOT want to become "slaves" to the "CAD-monster"! A blessing, kids! (hey...MY hand-drafting was pretty-dang good! Merged with DTP-software, and SketchUP, it can still be a profitable CAD-alternative for architectural planwork, with .PDF-output). Hope this helps y'all in 2024.

FreeCAD isn't for beginners, good thing is compared to commercial alternatives is that it will be free and open-source forever, can't say same thing for onshape/fusion or similar alternatives.

@drstefankrank

5 ай бұрын

I am a beginner and I started with FreedCad. Watched some good tutorial videos. It may be not that intuitive, but it is the only really free CAD software out of that list.

For years I've been using FreeCAD (at work) mainly to inspect STEP files, either before I import them into Altium Designer, or check what Altium has exported. I tried a few times to draw my own components or housing with it and it's difficult :) What completely baffles me about FreeCAD though is that it can't measure the distance between two bolt-hole centers. There's a fair chance I just don't know how to do that though :) At work the mechanical people use Siemens NX which I can use too. I used it once a few years ago and it seemed much more intuitive and easier to use than FreeCAD.

Hand drafting was so tedious, but so satisfying. The attention to detail was amazing but so annoying too. I liked creating the third side from a 2D image, and the very nice mechanical pencils my mom had to buy.

@wayne9518

5 ай бұрын

I put myself through college by drafting. Skills gained in an elective jr high class and a 1 year post high school construction design drafting class. I would still prefer to draw by hand but time marches on.

It is worth noting that FreeCAD is actually taking a serious look at UI and UX to make it more intuitive and options the experience more. You've made some valid points though.

@mattivirta

5 ай бұрын

freecad not working my table computer, raspberry pi 4 8gb. i try manytime, what software can use raspian OS.

@lusa3002

5 ай бұрын

​@@mattivirta Get a real Pc or laptop.

@CD-vb9fi

5 ай бұрын

Most "free" softwares are burdened with piece of trash humans that "religiously believe" that the way they do things in a UI is how EVERYONE must do things in a UI. Almost every OpenSource/Free product with any decent functionality has this problem. And it's not just a "no UI/UX" person that won't do the work. They BLOCK IT actively. It is absolutely the #1. Blocker for the adoption of most software.

@emdxemdx

5 ай бұрын

Are they taking a serious look at the fundamental bug that makes it unusable? Say you draw something with a cube, then work on one of the cube’s faces by, say, putting a cylinder on that face, if you change the cube’s dimensions, the rest of the drawing is thrown totally off kilter.

@joes144

5 ай бұрын

@@emdxemdx yes the fix is planned for the next stable release. I'd disagree that FreeCAD is unusable because of it though.

Thanks Tim we appreciate you putting in the time to make this video 😊👍

@TimWelds

5 ай бұрын

Thanks Mike! 👍

in onshape you can export an dfx of a sketch by right clicking on the sketch in the feature tree and selecting "export as dxf/dwg"

Yes Tim!!! My favorite welding dude! I just watched 3 other videos on free 2d cad software to design bbq pits on my cnc plasma. Saw your video on the list. Thank you for covering so much material! I have learned a great deal from your channel

For 2d design I still use a 20 year old version of Drafix Quickcad. Works great for cnc router projects. And full size plans.

I've used CAD for many years even back to the days of DOS. MY personal favorite is QCAD and then FreeCAD. I bought the PRO version to do isometrics. I use it for machining and woodworking. And i took mechanical drawing in high school and college back in the 70's!

Wow - quite a tour de force!

I have actually tried all the CAD software you mentioned including AutoCad. I really don't recommend using Fusion 360 because of very shady business practices of AutoDesk, they constantly removing features and making it more restrictive. Shame, because it has best UI. Onshape is bad due to nothing being private and I would not design something original on it, or firearms for example. FreeCAD just sucks, it takes so much effort to design even the simple shapes, that it feels like immense time waste. Solid Edge in my opinion offers everything for a beginner and more, had zero issues with it, feels familiar to AutoCAD with a lot less strings attached. For performance, check your rendering acceleration, sometimes rendering in software compared to hardware is faster or vice versa

@TimWelds

5 ай бұрын

Thanks for the tip on Solid Edge performance! I'll look into that.

@carlslater7492

5 ай бұрын

Actually, I find FreeCad quite useful. I particularly like the parametric modeling, which was not mentioned. I agree the AutoDesk software license kills it for me. But I use FreeCad for CAD, CAE and CAM. By the way I used to use Siemen's NX ... FreeCad is not harder to learn.

@daniellydon8760

5 ай бұрын

Just want to emphasize what a horrible and dishonest company AutoDesk is.

@pcdoc2000

5 ай бұрын

​@@carlslater7492100% agree! Yes it comes with a learning curve, but once you are into Free cad it is actually easy to use with some flaws when you do really complex stuff. And it works native under Linux which is great! I use it to design all my 3D parts. But I cannot recommend it for pure 2D! There are way better options or there. Tried Onshape, but getting to that level of precision like in FreeCAD it is not any easier or quicker and I don't like the fact this is only available online and there is no privacy at all.

@arbjful

5 ай бұрын

I don't about Autodesk. But Onshape is really great, I don't mind the free account. If their prices were a bit lower, I would surely purchase one. Freecad is good. The parametric approach is really good. I like the integrated CAM program as well, it may not be user friendly but it's learnable surely. It takes time being used to Among all this conundrum I would go with Freecad any day, as it's open source and is an active project so far

One thing that is quite important is that free cad is also available for Mac OS and Linux.

FreeCad is "clunky" because it can do far more than simple modeling! Not only is it great for doing drawings and creating stuff like .STL files (3D printing), it can also do FEA and some CFD!

@deniskhakimov

2 ай бұрын

I agree, but to master its true power, you have to learn a few lessons, and then a few more, and more...

@stevenlitvintchouk3131

26 күн бұрын

No, it's clunky because it doesn't let you decide what tools you want for your tasks. Instead, there's a Workbench for this and another Workbench for that. The whole built-in Workbench thing should be eliminated and replaced with a Settings app that lets you set up your own personal Workbench.

@mrnickbig1

25 күн бұрын

@@stevenlitvintchouk3131, you customize your workbench for the job at hand, grouping the tools you want to use.

For 2D CAD: NanoCAD, LibreCAD and DoubleCAD XT. For 3D: Blender and FreeCAD. All free for business and personal use. I have not used any of these, because I have to use Autocad in my business.

Kudos for including Solid Edge, it's been my daily driver for the past 25 years; the lag you referred to may be because it runs best with a Quadro Graphics card.

Onshape allows exporting into DXF files

Onshape is great. I play around with it on a lower end chromebook with a 17" display and a 15" flat 1080P plug-in display (makes for a nice two monitor setup) at the local library when I want to get out and about.

Hi Tim, wow you do more than just welding.. I also like to do my own parts, I have been used Autodesk Fusion 360 but will check out the others you mentioned. Still learning Fusion a little bit of a learning cure. I also have the Bambu X1 carbon great printer. Also Anycubic Kobra and Sovol SV04. But now just need to brush up on my skills welding stick, MIG, and TIG. Thanks for all you videos... Dave....

Actually you can also export dxf files easily in onshape, just select some face and then right click and there should be a option to export dxf/dwg

Great content! Thank you

The free (aka "Explorer") version of DesignSpark Mechanical is intuitive and can do almost anything a maker needs :-)

When you are in the Part Studio, you can select a part in the drawing area and right click to bring up a floating menu. In the center of the menu are options for either "Export" or "Export as DXF/DWG". However, if you right click on "Part 1" in the left column area, you DO NOT get the option to export DXF/DWG. I found it most confusing and had to do some searching of content by some of the KZread creators before I found the trick.

@TimWelds

6 ай бұрын

Awesome! I've always just made a 1:1 drawing in OnShape to export. I just tried it right now and it looks like you can select any flat face, then the export option appears. This will be a huge time saver for me. Thanks for the tip!

@RichPenn

6 ай бұрын

@@TimWelds I forgot to mention that there are a number of online sites out there that will convert STL to DXF and other formats. Perhaps in the future you might want to look at ways to convert between formats? In the mfg. business we were forever trying to import and export to vendor and supplier systems using STEP, IGES, DXF, and others.

Awesome video. I primarily use Autocad and some Solidworks at work. I’d like to use it at home for personal projects which I can’t design on company time. Nice to find some options that won’t break the bank, or get me in trouble.

While i use onshape for my personal things, for anything i 3d print for my employer i use freecad. Want to be legal... It does cost me a lot of nerves as i miss the intuitivness of onshape greatly. One "advantage", if you will, of FreeCad for that is that there is a portable version: No idea how other companies around the world handle their IT, but the office IT computers where i work, prevent you from installing anything for security reasons. And as we aren't a production company, i have to use the office PC for the FreeCad drawing, so i was happy to find a portable version. (The thing i made recently was a mounting adapter for non standard measuring equipment a collegue of mine built to make our work easier)

Very nice and informative video! Thanks a lot for sharing this kind of content! About the 360 fusion for personal use: I'm planning to use it in order to learn 3D modelling again, but if a project I create is nice enough to include in a portfolio, would such a thing go beyond the scope of the license?

I believe another good option is Design Spark Mechanical, slight learning curve but very powerful

@Spacekriek

3 ай бұрын

DSM is the bee's knees for me. Once you have the basics under control it becomes a very powerful tool in your hands. It is a perfect tool for 3D printing enthusiasts. The relatively simple interface actually fooled me into wasting time on other options before I watched a few tutorials dealing with it. The only things counting against it is that (so far) it only runs on Windows and the other matter is that they took away the option of exporting to other formats like .stl. It is still free to download and use but you have to pay extra for those facilities.

Great video! Thanks....Which CAD Program would you recommend to create 3D parts and then from a group of parts, create an assembly?

Every good video starts off with a good microphone.

@TimWelds

2 ай бұрын

Yeah, the room really rang in this one. I’ve never filmed in there before. The mics are top quality, though, so I guess the video’s off to a good start.

@Bob_Adkins

2 ай бұрын

@@TimWelds Just jazzin' ya, it happens to the best of us.

Yes, FreeCAD still has the topological naming problem. However it is an amazing piece of free software. While you have to hope that autocad will grant you the free yearly license for Fusion360 in the future, FreeCAD is made for the user. If you get used to it, it is great.

Hi Tim. What would I need to weld stainless steel wire .022"-.041" in diameter??? Please help.

Design Spark Mechanical would have been a nice addition to this list.

@vittorianis

4 ай бұрын

Not at all! It can't export or import anything.

@Mobilemax308

3 ай бұрын

It does .STL which works great with my 3D printer. It's easy for making 3D designs quickly.

Thanks for your video. I used autocad, now I can not used anymore. Can you tell me which one is more similar too autocad? I need to make mechanical draws. Which one can import dwg draws? Thanks for your help.

I really appreciate this info. I used cad and solidworks when I was in colloge

@TimWelds

6 ай бұрын

Thanks!

I would like to see a CAD software for offline use where a license can be bought. Feeling sick of all that subscription crap.

@canfanman-sd5vc

3 ай бұрын

I stuck with ACAD R10 for that reason A friend of mine uses T**** but it now insists on the cloud and there is no Internet in many places in Africa.

@philr7201

2 ай бұрын

Alibre is decent.

I hope they are going to finally fix Free Cad one day. In meantime I will check Solid Edge, it looks interesting 😊

Nice review, will have to check some of these out. Any suggestions for something that is only 2D, for site plans like property lines and exterior limits of floorplan, to scale, printable on letter to tabloid size? Also, remember the scum- eraser bags?

Hey I just started my job MiG welding olets on sprinkler system pipe, any tips ??

Thank you for a wonderful overview! What happens to your Fusion 360 designs when you stop paying for a license?

@arealamericanpatriot1227

3 ай бұрын

The designs are saved and when you go the Free Hobbyist version you will get access to them. Just understand you have limited access to some of the features.

FreeCAD... That's all you need to know!

@mattivirta

5 ай бұрын

but not working raspberry pi 4 8gb table computer.

@lusa3002

5 ай бұрын

​@@mattivirtaget a real Pc or laptop

@mattivirta

5 ай бұрын

@@lusa3002 too expensive, cost thailand more than i have pension salary.

Superb overview!! I was looking for an alternative to a 2D CAD like AutoCAD and maybe Inkscape would be a good alternative since you are able to make exact measurement, and it's also an alternative to Illustrator, so two birds, one stone!!

@BasicallyChillCrow

3 ай бұрын

Try nanoCad v5! Basically all the 2D AutoCad functioanlity with good old autocad 2006 interface.

@PatrickHoodDaniel

3 ай бұрын

@@BasicallyChillCrow I will definitely check that out!

@webmasterg3526

15 күн бұрын

Siemens used to promote Solid Edge as a "Hybrid 2D/3D CAD system" although they don't seem to mention this anymore. However the 2D capability is still there in the Community Edition and I now use it instead of TurboCAd Deluxe (which was my 2D CAD for about 20 years). I have imported much of my 2D work from TC into SE. Just open a 'Draft' document and you will essentially be in 2D - and delve a bit and you will find Layers and all the other 2D stuff you might find useful. Of course, 'Draft' docs are also used to produce any 1st/3rd Angle (or Isometric) projections required from your 3D drafting. So it works well as a 2D CAD and when/if you need 3D the sketching tools for 2D/3D are very similar - all there in one CAD system.

I do cnc wood so im new to 3d, how do you make gcode with these programs? I use vcarve which has cad/cam together...

Thank you for your time, the video and the links. Have a good one 👍🇦🇺

Solvespace is pretty nice too. It has some limitation but comes with a good assembly system and its open source so your designs are not under the command of any of these companys. (Freecad alternative)

Fusion360 seems to be the only program that lets you go back in you timeline and edit features (is that Parametric modeling?). This is for me the winning feature.

@davidtomasetti8520

5 ай бұрын

Yes that is the benefit parametric modeling also why it tends to be costly and also require a better computer because it does a lot of math every time you create or change anything

@timrf79

5 ай бұрын

@@davidtomasetti8520 , am I correct that Fusion 360 is the only one that offers that for free? It is actually the only one I that offers this.

@tirakarn

5 ай бұрын

FreeCAD and Solid Edge has that functionality too.

dobre filmy , kręńć wiecej.

I liked using Fusion 360 because it is more intuitive but I hated the fact that it is web based and sometimes there was a lag in transferring data. I am now using Freecad with KiCad. I had to take a couple tutorials but Freecad is worth learning despite its dated GUI.

Excellent review and helpful. I am just starting trying some of these platforms. I have extensive AutoCAD, Revit and SketchUp experience so it will be interesting to compare

Very interesting & helpful video, Tim! Do you (or anyone else) have an opinion of how SketchUp -- which has a free version as well as a reasonably priced 'Go' version at US$119 per year -- compares to the others? I work in a Linux-only research laboratory so my only options are FreeCad (which I'm over!), OnShape (which I like apart from the price), and SketchUp (which I haven't tried in depth).

@TimWelds

5 ай бұрын

Thanks! I honestly haven't used SketchUp since it was brand new, so I can't comment on how it compares.

Where does something like SketchUp fall in this lineup? I guess it isn’t a CAD program per se but useful for designing things no? It seems to get a lot of play on KZread. I’m new to all of these and would like to put my energy into that which will have the best payoff in the long run. Thanks Tim! Really enjoy your channel.

@Spacekriek

5 ай бұрын

It really helped me a lot during my first year or so with 3D printing. It does have an add on for .stl files, with a little bit of effort you can make some decent stuff to print.

@rajendrameena150

3 ай бұрын

SketchUp is not an actual cad program because it doesn't preserve precision, also not free to use.

@Phoeff99

3 ай бұрын

@@rajendrameena150 yeah I get that it’s not CAD per se, but as far as a digital design tool which does the free web based version which a lot of amateur hobbyist makers use. So not CAD for machining operations but it is CAD for furniture design or room layout or that sort of gross measurement type of activity….

I want to hand draw a complicated part then have the software anylize it and out put a regular cad drawing then let me enter dimensions.

Freecad has a very big fundamental bug that makes it quite unusable. Say you draw something with a cube, then work on one of the cube’s faces by, say, putting a cylinder on that face, if you change the cube’s dimensions, the rest of the drawing is thrown totally off kilter.

@imoldovan

5 ай бұрын

It is called the topological naming problem, and you are correct. It is a big flaw.

Many thanks for sharing this information. I have a keen interest in drawing, but lack the academic background. Hence your insight is very useful.

I can fix an H-53 Helicopter but I cannot grasp how to use these programs, I have downloaded most of the free ones and I watched lots of videos but the thing that is lacking is a video showing click by click with explanations slowly on how to create something simple like a 8x11 box with dividers for 20 spaces. i can build that with wood in a couple of hours, but to draw it so I can 3d print it so far is near impossible for me. I did like your video though, so thanks.

@knavekid

3 ай бұрын

I have an electronics background and learned to design using Onshape by watching some of the many KZread tutorial videos. The older tutorial videos are still applicable even though Onshape has added functionality over the years. The other nice thing about Onshape is there is no software to install and you are always using the latest version and can always open old projects. Like with any full featured mechanical CAD tool, there is more than one way to get the desired result. I recently designed a trim ring and originally sketched concentric circles, extruded, and used chamfers to refine the shape. It took several steps to get close to what I wanted. I then started over with a cross-section sketch and revolved it. This was much simpler and was easier to modify as any changes to the sketch would show in the resulting part. Once you figure out how each design step builds on the previous steps, all which can be modified as needed, the design flow becomes more intuitive. For your box with dividers example, You can start with a sketch with the bottom of the box as an outline. Then add thin rectangles as the walls and spacers. Next, extrude the entire box to create the bottom box thickness. Next, add another extrude step, highlighting only the walls and spacers. You can extrude the walls and spacers independently if you want the walls taller than the spaces. Once this is done, you can add chamfers or a radius to any of the edges to complete your design.

@bTusler

3 ай бұрын

@@knavekidThanks, I'll try that, what i've been doing is creating the parts individually in the cad program and merge them as a project then in the slicer I separate them and put them together individually. It works sometimes but the scaling and sizing is difficult.

Does anyone have experience with Onshape, and any opinions on creating construction site/floor plans?

what do you think about ironcad?

As with most any "program", you have to invest time to become any good using the program. So if you want to be good with whatever CAD type program, plan plenty of time to understand what it can and can't do... And have fun...

Appreciate your effort and research on 3D applications. I had not heard of the Solid Edge program as an option. Especially happy that you noted how to utilize Inkscape for 3D printing.

There are a few things you can do in Fusion 360 you can't do in Onshape but exporting sketches as dxf isn't one of them. I use both of them but I like Onshape better as a free program. It's also easier to learn.

@MrProsoft

5 ай бұрын

i have try all of them and choose onshape. The only con to me is that i have poor connection all the time (south of Brazil).

Do any of these free programs offer the ability to create symbols that include attributes like type or color length it doesn’t really matter because that’s something I do dealing in the world of light plots, all the time, putting different types of fixtures and changing things and the data extraction is Kind of important, but the price of AutoCAD is kind of prohibitive?

Great video! Heads up to other viewers regarding Inkscape. My fairly recent version does not support CMYK, the absolute prerequisite for full color printing with actual ink. Which in my opinion makes the name Inkscape kind of laughable. I was on a KZread tutorial video for inkscape a few months ago and people were bitching up a storm because they did all this elaborate full color design work only to realize it couldn't be converted for full color printing. Just sayin' ;-)

Fusion 360 is Great I can not speak for Autodesk adding and removing features. But you can skip the whole cloud nonsense and export the .f3d files to your local hard disk and open them back up. It seem sthe convert STL in the cloud but you can also export to .3MF files and open these right in the (Prusa) Slicer and even have control and placement over the shapes in the .3MF file. Very cool. I will give Solid edge a try too. Seem like you can never have too many CAD programs!! I'm not into Cloud web based CAD and I think all subscriptions are a RipOff. I'm happ with ViaCAD 12 and Also unfortunately bought CMs Intellicad. Hardly any good doc for it. I have a review on my channel.

Which app lets you add a picture of flowerbed

tks for the vid. the point you miss about open source cad like open cad is that the development moves pretty fast. so if you put in the time to learn it and use it as it matures, in a couple years or less you have a program that is as robust as the commercial offerings but you dont need the fees. take blender as an example. the development speed is getting super fast and it is starting to rival commercial offerings. yes, steep learning curve at first, but in the present it has a super amount of functionality and developers offer addons for niche uses that make it super powerful. free cad may turn out the same because it has come a long way in a short time and continues to improve.

@luifranco1457

4 ай бұрын

I had to scroll down quite a bit to find your comment mentioning Blender. I wonder why this isn’t in his top 5 when it appears IRL it’s in the top THREE. Free to use for all, a ton of people use it, and it’s by far the most popular CAD program that has full features available to all the users!

can u please recommend 1 for 2d cad drawing ?? for points planes n solids

@TimWelds

23 күн бұрын

Check out LibreCAD.

Just wondering if the Fusion 360 free version is only for a period of time, like for a few months or a year. Does anyone know if thats the case?

Am surprised the free version of Design Spark Mechanical didnt make an appearance

Tim, Which would you recommend for designing a bracket

@TimWelds

2 ай бұрын

Any of them would work, I think Onshape is the easiest.

I would like to have a simple drawing app but these are all to complex for me now at 75. I used Autocad to design a house 15 years ago then it all changed and I couldn’t do anything from then on. I need a tutorial to get me going and Onshape baffled me as once again I need help to get going. Paper and pencil from. Now on.

Why no design spark mechanical brilliant cad

Do you have a business that I can engage for design and cad drawings? We have designs we need created and potentially tested virtually. Thank you Ed

As far as I'm aware Autodesk is owned by Facebook which in turn explains everything.

Which app lets you add a picture

Fission 360 anit free read … and free cad systems that hold your designs hostage on a “their” server… or make them public is not free … the cost is just hidden …

@TimWelds

5 ай бұрын

I just mean that you can design things without paying money.

Why not include OpenScad in this list? If you are unfamiliar with it, it allows you to write a program to create your designs in 3d. Because it is a programming language, you can create modules that handle specific tasks and import them into your projects, and there are already tons of free, opensource modules available. Creating different versions of parts is as simple as copying the original code, changing it, and saving it to a new file. You can even import STL files created by other software and modify them to suit. One of my favorite features is that I can include Fudge Factors in my design calculations that allow me to account for the Squish effect of FDM printers. By changing one variable, I can make a hole a little bigger, and decrease the size of the pole that slides into it a little smaller while affecting the overall design as little as possible. It's also free, open source, and has a great online cheatsheet.

@TimWelds

16 күн бұрын

Thanks for the comment! I love OpenScad, in fact I build a parametric tubing notch template model that's shown up in a few of my videos. It was on the list of software that I considered, but because the operation is significantly different than the others, I didn't include it. I may make a follow up with it and a few others, such as libreCAD, though.

I'm a construction worker looking to make 3D blueprints, as well as quick and dirty simple floor plans and have both in one softwear that allows me to quickly and easily switch between two modes... one that's complicated and gives me lots of features and options for the 3D blueprints, and a very siplefied dumed down mode for the quick and dirty to-scale floor plans... does such a tool exist? I'd pay but would want to actually be able to give it a solid test drive, also looking dated is fine by me, I'm a little dated and like the look and feel of dated UIs... currently I use GIMP on linux and Win 11, but it's far from ideal. I use the scallin features and measuring tool a lot, I have blueprint symbles as saved files I can copy and past into my current project and can't make 3D models that I know of... so... FreeCAD + InkScape with a menu bar button to switch between the two would be ideal for me but with both including blueprint symbles that can be added via a right click drop down menu.

@webmasterg3526

15 күн бұрын

Solid Edge can handle both 2D and 3D drafting - and has tools to move between the two.

@binaryglitch64

14 күн бұрын

@@webmasterg3526 I'll check it out.

What about DesignSpark?

@Tim, what's about LibreCAD?

@TimWelds

5 ай бұрын

I’ll have to check it out, thanks for the tip!

@StefanoVerugi

5 ай бұрын

QCAD for 2D drawings is also not too bad

OnShape is great but lacking in a decent CAM component.

Free Cad is the only one working natively on linux

@SuperAnatolli

5 ай бұрын

Sort of. Onshape is runned in the web-browser an that works fine in Linux.

@Alchemist7887

5 ай бұрын

i have a problem of calling "Soft" something you run in browser and need access to internet for it i would rather call it "service"

@Bluejohn

5 ай бұрын

I believe Blender runs on Linux, but only limited cad functions even with the cad sketcher add on

@Alchemist7887

5 ай бұрын

@@Bluejohn I know, but it not useful for mechanical parts. It is more for 3D animation. Recently blender introduced a modeling workbench, but it has some problems.

Freecad is bit looks messy but you will recognise its capabilities.

It is not clear for me. Onshape is free (with limitation) or free up to six months? It is a big difference.

@TimWelds

3 ай бұрын

Free forever. The limitations are that your documents are public and they aren’t for commercial use.

Maybe include tinkercad

@residentsworkingagainsthur5141

3 ай бұрын

Agree. Tinkercad is pretty basic, but it works well for small projects and is a great introduction to CAD for newbies.

Mac?

My problem with Solid Edge was, when I tried them last October, the tutorials were so out of date as to be useless.

For the smart and the beautiful: I am looking for remote jobs at home for Solidworks or Autocad. I allow resale of products. You can place an order and resell it for a profit (or find customers and get a percentage). Modeling, drafting, scripts, plugins apis and other

Freecad is a wonderful piece of work. It still has a way to go though. I use it, but it’s often painful. It’s now at a stage that they need to streamline things. Between part, part design, curves and things like sheet metal workbench there is just too many broken things and confusion. But if you look at where it was 5 years ago, wow. I commend that team. I have used solid works and inventor professionally. You can’t compare a $5000 solution to a free one. That is just idiotic. For the money, I am actually not impressed by either. They work, but they are not perfect by any means once you start to work on real systems with many parts etc

they changed the name to fusion, BUT WE WILL ALL CALL IT FUSION 360

my teachers have those desks

I trained on Autocad many years ago, if you only require 2D, Nanocad has a free legacy version and is an acceptable clone of Autocad

@jwstolk

5 ай бұрын

Thank you, that looks interesting for 2D drawings. Note that it is free (for now), but not open-source.

DS Mechanical ?!

"make sure you stick around for that one..." Goodbye

I started with FreeCAD but eventually switched to Solidedge. Freecad is extremely unreliable, throws errors at you and messes up your model left and right. It was outright infuriating trying to do anything other than the most basic things in FreeCAD. And meanwhile in Solidedge... it just works and does exactly what it's supposed to do without me wanting to rage quit.

Does anyone use Salome?

My eyes on you.