• Synapse@lemmy.world
    9·
    11 months ago

    I have tried openSCAD and FreeCAD, they are both good in their own right, but utimatly they also both have very steep learning curves. I suppose Blender can also be used for CAD but I have no experience with it. I just want to quickly design some parts for 3D printing as a hobby and don’t feel like spending hundreds of hours learning those tools. I am current using Onshape.com, it works well on Linux/Firefox, suits my needs and free to use with some limitations. But it is proprietary :(

    • k4j8@lemmy.world
      1·
      11 months ago

      Came here to suggest Onshape. It spoiled me for all other CAD software. (But it is web-based and proprietary.)

  • rektangel@lemmy.world
    8·
    11 months ago

    I like to use openSCAD which uses code to describe objects so it’s probably not for everyone.

    • Peffse@lemmy.world
      1·
      11 months ago

      I find it pretty easy to use when building my 3d print adapters, brackets, containers and very simple objects. But if, like me, spaghetti code is your natural language… OpenSCAD does you no favors.

  • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    41·
    11 months ago

    Honestly? Not much. FreeCAD is an abomination, so I’m keeping one of my computers on Windows so that I can still use Fusion360

  • ByroTriz@lemmy.ml
    3·
    11 months ago

    One that hasn’t been named yet is SolveSpace. There is also CAD sketcher, a free CAD add-on for Blender

  • Nebulizer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    I’ve been using SALOME to create parametric 3D geometry. My use case is to parameterize my geometry features and export to STL files that I use with OpenFOAM. SALOME is integrated with a couple of grid generators, and I really like it’s 2D/triangulation/STL integration with netgen. You can specify faces for refinement to a desired mesh size, so for example around complex features you can create a fine STL mesh and on simple shapes you can have a really coarse mesh.

    I’ve found the 3D modeling to be pretty straightforward, and SALOME usually does a pretty good job if you have to go back and modify previous features (something I’ve struggled with in FreeCAD).

    I’ve also used FreeCAD for mesh generation, and it works ok but I’ve found the triangulation leaves a lot to be desired for splitting up the mesh as needed for OpenFOAM boundaries.

    If you’re making STL files for 3D printing and you want a parametric CAD modeler for engineering parts, give it a try. If you want complex faces with artistic style, I would suggest Blender.