FreeCAD - Gorgeous! I am a little intimidated!

[Janderso]

Thanks for the post. I've looked at the program before. Not sure if I can live long enough to learn to use it.

I feel that way about Fusion 360.

 

[ErichKeane]

So, this thread got me looking into it as well I watched this series yesterday, and I found it to be a REALLY good explanation on how to get started (as someone who does all his planning on a white-board ):

The FreeCad install was REALLY time consuming for me (I had to compile from source, PLUS compile a handful of its dependencies from source), but a few hours worth I was able to get my surface-grinder-balancing arbor done! The only thing I may have screwed up is the threads, but it looks good enough.

On that tutorial series, I skipped the last few, since those are how to get a CNC path/etc, which was uninteresting to me. I DID find another quick tutorial (that wasn't as good, but at least it was short!

) about how to get a 3-view/'techdraw' version, which I was able to do as well!

 

[Flyinfool]

Thanks Graham. What a valuable bit of information.

I've been very happy with Fusion360, but given how fast autodesk's stock price is rising, you can be sure they are going to fully monetize that platform.

The way Autodesk is handling Fusion 360 is like a page from the past.
What put Autodesk on the map was when it came out with AutoCAD. A few years later when it was growing in popularity they discoverd copy protection and locked it up so that when you had it at work it could not be taken home to use for home projects. That move nearly put them out of business. Companies loved the fact that employees could "steal" a copy of the software to take home, this led to those employees becoming more proficient with the software on their own time instead of playing with things on company time. many companies stopped buying AutoCAD because of this.

By autodesk allowing home use of Fusion 360 for free, they are building a huge base of people that know how to use it, which will in the future mean more compaies will buy it to be able to tap the huge bases of those that already know it. Cutting off free at home use would hurt their bottom line a bunch in just a few years down the road. They know a hobbiest can not and will not shell out $3500 a year for a hobby cad program.

 

[graham-xrf]

For @ErichKeane : Compile from source? Gosh - that's a hard way! Glad you got it going.
For Linux users, it's normally as easy as a click on the software manager, + about 1 minute wait.
OR command "apt install freecad".
I use the FreeCAD-daily, which requires you add their repository and keys to the list, but then it installs and updates like any other.
- - - - - - - - -
I don't know what it takes to get it going in Windows.
- - - - - - - - -
There are also self-contained "Appimages", even from GitHub, which don't need "installing".
The whole thing in one folder, with all dependencies, and one little file as a launcher Some developers have Appimage downloads that are their special "enhancement" setups.

@Flyinfool : Hi there. You are right. There is a (lightning fast) overview on YT about the differences between FreeCAD and the AutoDesk products. AutoCAD was oriented to architecture and construction, and became the thing used for "fly-thru" visualizations of building interiors. Yes - direct 2D drawings also. Fusion360 kind of adds in stuff to include engineering requirements, but is difficult to learn and use in that role.

FreeCAD is more in the camp of SolidWorks, Solid Edge, ProEngineer, except in it's engine. FreeCAD is a Parametric 3D CAD software.

--> FreeCAD compared to AutoCAD
--> FreeCAD compared to Fusion360

 

[ErichKeane]

For @ErichKeane : Compile from source? Gosh - that's a hard way! Glad you got it going.
For Linux users, it's normally as easy as a click on the software manager, + about 1 minute wait.
OR command "apt install Freecad".
I use the FreeCAD-daily, which requires you add their repository and keys to the list, but then it installs and updates like any other.
- - - - - - - - -
I don't know what it takes to get it going in Windows.
- - - - - - - - -
There are also self-contained "Appimages", even from GitHub, which don't need "installing".
The whole thing in one folder, with all dependencies, and one little file as a launcher Some developers have Appimage downloads that are their special "enhancement" setups.

@Flyinfool : Hi there. You are right. There is a (lightning fast) overview on YT about the differences between FreeCAD and the AutoDesk products. AutoCAD was oriented to architecture and construction, and became the thing used for "fly-thru" visualizations of building interiors. Yes - direct 2D drawings also. Fusion360 kind of adds in stuff to include engineering requirements, but is difficult to learn and use in that role.

FreeCAD is more in the camp of SolidWorks, Solid Edge, ProEngineer, except in it's engine. FreeCAD is a Parametric 3D CAD software.

--> FreeCAD compared to AutoCAD
--> FreeCAD compared to Fusion360

I'd not tried the app-images yet, but FreeCad isn't in the ArchLinux repo anymore, otherwise I'd use it.

 

[7milesup]

Awesome thread. The human brain is amazing as to what it gets "accustomed" to. I started in Fusion 360 and then moved to Solidworks because of a potential business opportunity. That did not materialize and thought I would go back to Fusion. Turns out, I know SW better than Fusion. *sigh*

I may have mentioned this before, but I know a guy at Autodesk (Senior Director, Manufacturing Industry Futures) and I have asked him point blank about AD charging for Fusion 360 for hobbyists. He said they will not, for the reasons that FLyingFool outlined above.

I am certainly going to take a look at this FreeCad.

 

[ErichKeane]

Awesome thread. The human brain is amazing as to what it gets "accustomed" to. I started in Fusion 360 and then moved to Solidworks because of a potential business opportunity. That did not materialize and thought I would go back to Fusion. Turns out, I know SW better than Fusion. *sigh*

I may have mentioned this before, but I know a guy at Autodesk (Senior Director, Manufacturing Industry Futures) and I have asked him point blank about AD charging for Fusion 360 for hobbyists. He said they will not, for the reasons that FLyingFool outlined above.

I am certainly going to take a look at this FreeCad.

Every company SAYS that until shareholders start saying, "Hey, you have a millionty free users, if you can get all of them to start paying, my dividends would be 10x!".

Software companies are REALLY good at making short-term decisions that screw them long term.

 

[graham-xrf]

Tips #2 FreeCAD Mouse Navigation Modes
I got in a knot quite quickly over this. A right-click opens a menu, and you can choose from a whole bunch of modes, some of which you might be used to.

Open Inventor (Left click hold-down mouse ROTATE the model, middle click hold is PAN, Shift+Left-Click is SELECT). Not good for sketches
CAD (Default - Left-Click is SELECT. Shift + Right-Click-hold is for ROTATE. probably essential for sketches. Awkward for main model viewing)
Revit
Blender
Maya-Gesture
TouchPad
Gesture
OpenCascade

I like the grab and rotate with the left click hold, no Shift needed, and SELECT is more of a deliberate business. This does not work well in the Sketcher! Go back to CAD mode for that. Easy to change it when in the Sketcher. Look to the bottom right border - and there is is!

 

[graham-xrf]

Every company SAYS that until shareholders start saying, "Hey, you have a millionty free users, if you can get all of them to start paying, my dividends would be 10x!".

Software companies are REALLY good at making short-term decisions that screw them long term.

I think it's more like "if you can get some fraction of the millionty users to start paying". The notion gets completely screwed when an open source version starts looking better than the proprietary product!

 

[ErichKeane]

Well, I did my first attempt at CAD based on some tutorials! Making the threads accurately was difficult, FreeCad kept creating a corrupt file when I tried it in PartDesign mode, and the 'difference'/'subtract' for it never worked right, even after copying a few tutorials.

SVG->PNG went poorly, so the text is messed up, but the printout was fine enough for me to machine from at least.