OpenCAD

Product Information

So, when even veteran CAD designers are saying that FreeCAD has a steep learning curve, it’s an issue. Part of the issue is the complex, non-intuitive UI like we talked about above, and part of it is just the general complexity of FreeCAD. This tool is a lifesaver for translating your project into a design that can be easily manufactured to specifications. You can export your drawings as PDF or SVG files which makes it easy to print them off and work from them. Fully Functional 3D Design Space

No ability to query the dimensions of an object. (Especially bad when dealing with text, oh the kludge that is necessary to make something grow to fit text) FreeCAD has many things going for it, but to say that it is a perfect replacement for paid CAD software would be untruthful. While the sheer amount of functionality it provides is staggering, there are some serious issues to take into consideration before choosing it as your CAD software. Stability Can Be an Issue OpenSCAD approaches CAD modeling like a programmer. In fact, it’s often called “CAD for programmers.” It’s a unique approach, but it allows the user to leverage the power of tools that are commonly used in other programming disciplines. At a very high level, topology tells what pieces an object is made of, and the logical relationships between them. A shape is made of a certain set of faces. A face is bounded by a certain set of edges. Two faces are adjacent if they share a common edge. Before we even begin talking about their exact features and shortcomings, you should know that they have many differences just at a core level. Their design philosophies differ and that affects their goals and development choices.

OpenCASCADE is free software governed by the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) version 2.1 with an additional exception. However, this alternative distribution stopped active development around 2017, and lagged behind the main version in terms of features and bug fixes. For this reason, since FreeCAD v0.17, FreeCAD is compiled exclusively with OCCT, and OCE is not tested.

Now, we know what some of you are going to say — “Oh man, not another programmatic CAD tool, what’s wrong with OpenSCAD?” — and you may be right, but maybe hold on a bit and take a look at this one, because we think that it’s now pretty awesome! OpenSCAD is great, we use it all the time round these parts, but it is a bit, you know, weird in places. Then along comes CadQuery, and blows it out of the water ease-of-use and functionality wise. Now, we’ve seen a few mentions of CadQuery over the years, and finally it’s become a full-blown toolset in its own right, complete with a graphical frontend/editor, CQ-editor. No odd dependencies on FreeCAD to be seen! That said, installing FreeCAD is not a bad thing either. Usefulness does not require that a program be small. It requires that the program be efficient on your computer, and for the time you use it. If you can’t get work done, it does not matter what the CPU is or the OS that is running the show. One of the most important features of a CAD software is the ability to see and interact with your project in a 3D space. It’s necessary to help you get a real idea of how your piece is coming along. FreeCAD has a fully functional and integrated 3D design space.On the other hand, I really only use my Slicer’s ability to generate supports when I am printing someone else’s designs. I just haven’t had a whole lot of positive experience with slicer generated supports. They tend to connect to the part in all sorts of spots I don’t want them to, leaving marred surfaces and generate way more supports than are required. It’s gotten better, most slicers give the user more control than they used to but the state of this is still pretty crap.