CAD software

Another vote for the personal (free) version of Fusion 360. Just get it and learn it first. It's the standard for a reason.

Once you are comfortable with it you will be able to make anything you want, and you'll have learned enough about how CAD programs work to make a properly informed decision on whether you want to run a different CAD software in the future or not. Pretty much every other program is going to be harder to learn and get your first few projects run, not have 1/10th of the the extensive post processor support Fusion has, or the endless quantity of Youtube lesson videos on every topic under the sun.

There's really no particular problem with the free version being limited to 1 tool per post in a hobby shop environment for a mill or lathe. You just run a program for each tool. And if you REALLY want to get around that, there's ways.

mill & lathe 2 axis and 3 axis, sheet metal, additive 3d printing... all those are available in the base version. 4 axis positional (index then mill) is also available. Full 4 axis simultaneous and 5 axis is NOT available without an expensive extension.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the free tier of F360 will create assemblies. Not a big deal for a lot of 3D printing (though it is for some), but a huge omission for general mechanical design, imo.

Unfortunately the truly free landscape just isn't very good. It costs a lot to create good CAD software, so the commercial free stuff is usually pretty limited. I don't think I saw "Onshape" https://www.onshape.com/en/ mentioned, but it's a very good package. I dislike web-based tools, but if they work for you their free license was pretty generous last I looked. The open-source free stuff is getting better all the time, but the last I tried, FreeCAD just wasn't up to snuff, though it has come a long ways.

OpenSCAD is pretty neat, but I could never get very productive (fast) with it. It's great for simple 3D models that you want to parameterize, but if you break down and buy a CAD package you'll probably be able to parameterize those too.

Imo, it pays to purchase. The *real* investment in CAD is the time you'll spend learning it well enough that you don't set it aside and pick up a pencil every time you need to design something. It's true that once you learn one package it's easIER, which is not to say easY, to move to another package. Becoming well-learned in a particular package is a terrific boon, so pick carefully and learn deeply. And pay close attention to licensing, import and export file types, and file retention (for web-based apps) before you buy.

GsT
 
GeneT45 said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the free tier of F360 will create assemblies. Not a big deal for a lot of 3D printing (though it is for some), but a huge omission for general mechanical design, imo.

Unfortunately the truly free landscape just isn't very good. It costs a lot to create good CAD software, so the commercial free stuff is usually pretty limited. I don't think I saw "Onshape" https://www.onshape.com/en/ mentioned, but it's a very good package. I dislike web-based tools, but if they work for you their free license was pretty generous last I looked. The open-source free stuff is getting better all the time, but the last I tried, FreeCAD just wasn't up to snuff, though it has come a long ways.

OpenSCAD is pretty neat, but I could never get very productive (fast) with it. It's great for simple 3D models that you want to parameterize, but if you break down and buy a CAD package you'll probably be able to parameterize those too.

Imo, it pays to purchase. The *real* investment in CAD is the time you'll spend learning it well enough that you don't set it aside and pick up a pencil every time you need to design something. It's true that once you learn one package it's easIER, which is not to say easY, to move to another package. Becoming well-learned in a particular package is a terrific boon, so pick carefully and learn deeply. And pay close attention to licensing, import and export file types, and file retention (for web-based apps) before you buy.

GsT
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I'm a committed OpenSCAD user but I've got to agree with you. CAD in most folks' shops should probably be a "git-er-done" thing, minimum effort expended to model parts and assemblies. IMHO Fusion 360 is the pack leader in that regard. I'd probably be using it except I didn't care for the use restrictions place on my models. Not that I have any commercial aspirations, I just don't like to be "restricted"... :big grin:

My local machining friend uses OnShape for his CAD, models brass and steel parts for vintage railcar restoration. For brass fixtures, he would model and filament-print the part, then send it to a casting foundry. The printed part had all the casting protuberances, incorporated in the OnShape mode..
 
BriscsCAD, It isn't free but it is reasonable and AutoCAD comparable for those who care and it can be purchased as a perpetual license.
 
Haven't had too much trouble with FreeCAD, once I buckled down to learn it. Some folks do have trouble getting going though. It is open platform, which is good, since I just migrated to a different platform and it was no problem to get things up and running again. Here's a simple box I modeled to see if I could cram a full PID controller system into the ammo box. I built this PID controller from the drawings I generated in FreeCAD. Was running on Linux, now running on a Mac. Just installed FreeCAD for a Mac, then transferred my old files. Opened up the file this morning, and "took a picture" of this view. You can see the the physical assembly as I was wiring it.
pid_box_latest.jpgPXL_20230619_195415891.jpgPXL_20230623_164943113.jpg
Here's the PID controller in use, for casting.

Also designed the circle cutter, in FreeCAD to cut the big round holes in the steel box.
circlecutter_latest.jpgPXL_20230601_222900503.jpg
Dunno, FreeCAD seems pretty handy to me. This is just one of many projects that I have been able to do after being enabled by learning FreeCAD. No licenses needed. Free, forever. My two cents. Also great for creating stl files for 3d printing.
 
WobblyHand said:
Haven't had too much trouble with FreeCAD, once I buckled down to learn it. Some folks do have trouble getting going though. It is open platform, which is good, since I just migrated to a different platform and it was no problem to get things up and running again. Here's a simple box I modeled to see if I could cram a full PID controller system into the ammo box. I built this PID controller from the drawings I generated in FreeCAD. Was running on Linux, now running on a Mac. Just installed FreeCAD for a Mac, then transferred my old files. Opened up the file this morning, and "took a picture" of this view. You can see the the physical assembly as I was wiring it.
View attachment 469456View attachment 469457View attachment 469458
Here's the PID controller in use, for casting.

Also designed the circle cutter, in FreeCAD to cut the big round holes in the steel box.
View attachment 469459View attachment 469460
Dunno, FreeCAD seems pretty handy to me. This is just one of many projects that I have been able to do after being enabled by learning FreeCAD. No licenses needed. Free, forever. My two cents. Also great for creating stl files for 3d printing.
Click to expand...
2023-12-05_11-16-25.jpg
 
WobblyHand said:
Haven't had too much trouble with FreeCAD, once I buckled down to learn it. Some folks do have trouble getting going though. It is open platform, which is good, since I just migrated to a different platform and it was no problem to get things up and running again. Here's a simple box I modeled to see if I could cram a full PID controller system into the ammo box. I built this PID controller from the drawings I generated in FreeCAD. Was running on Linux, now running on a Mac. Just installed FreeCAD for a Mac, then transferred my old files. Opened up the file this morning, and "took a picture" of this view. You can see the the physical assembly as I was wiring it.
View attachment 469456View attachment 469457View attachment 469458
Here's the PID controller in use, for casting.

Also designed the circle cutter, in FreeCAD to cut the big round holes in the steel box.
View attachment 469459View attachment 469460
Dunno, FreeCAD seems pretty handy to me. This is just one of many projects that I have been able to do after being enabled by learning FreeCAD. No licenses needed. Free, forever. My two cents. Also great for creating stl files for 3d printing.
Click to expand...
Someday I'll give FreeCAD another shot. Before I gave up on it last time, I really tried to like it, because I detest Windows but can't seem to entirely free myself from it. I do most of my computing in Linux, but I have a Windoze machine for CAD and a few other bits of software that I just haven't been able to replace in Linux. The best Linux CAD I found last I looked was VariCAD (also paid), which is pretty good, but a pretty unique paradigm that doesn't translate well to other CAD programs.

GsT
 
GeneT45 said:
Someday I'll give FreeCAD another shot. Before I gave up on it last time, I really tried to like it, because I detest Windows but can't seem to entirely free myself from it. I do most of my computing in Linux, but I have a Windoze machine for CAD and a few other bits of software that I just haven't been able to replace in Linux. The best Linux CAD I found last I looked was VariCAD (also paid), which is pretty good, but a pretty unique paradigm that doesn't translate well to other CAD programs.

GsT
Click to expand...
Just recently jumped the shark from Linux to Mac. Primarily because of hardware build quality, not the software. My wife and I were using System76 laptops and they had quality issues (for quite a while). My wife's laptop case (the plastic of the laptop itself) warped so badly, you couldn't close the lid. We are talking about a warp of plastic of more than an inch, just in one corner. Never seen anything like it. Some of her keys didn't work, like | or ~. No matter what I tried, keyboard mapping and whatever, I couldn't get those keys to work.

My keyboard quit, (missing keys) the replacement didn't work, and I couldn't get any other keyboard besides a large Logitech keyboard to work. Couldn't even login with a USB keyboard, or get to BIOS. That's when I decided to look around. When compared at equivalent performance levels, (for higher end hardware) they aren't that different in price. I was surprised. For the lower end stuff, yeah, you get to pay the Apple tax.

I have since added homebrew and installed "linux-like" utilities to my Mac. It's similar to but not quite like Linux. Still getting used to it, never owned a Mac before.
 
Another huge fan of Fusion 360 here. The learning curve isn’t too steep and help is readily available whenever you might need it.

With open source software there is a fair chance that the software itself will become the hobby:

IMG_1409.png
 
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