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Comment by chuggalo | Hacker News Reader

I encourage anybody to try FreeCAD. 0.17 is the first release I could actually recommend. The geometric kernel is still quite buggy and still cannot compete even with the cheapest commercial offerings, but it provides a massive feature set and some very interesting/unique features.

I use FreeCAD in combination with OpenSCAD and cadquery for my 3d-printed projects and CNC milling. It's actually good enough for most hobbyist projects (anything in the range of <5k$).

The ability to model with CSG with OpenSCAD and BREP in a single package (thanks to the openscad plugin) allows the best of both worlds. The python scriptability with cadquery allows to generate complex parametric geometries that would be painful to even approach with a regular CAD package.

With constraint references and indirect formula references you can setup pretty robust parametric models that can be reused quite effectively.

FreeCAD has enormous potential.

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I applaud the FreeCAD team for their efforts and hope it will become to 3D mechanical CAD what KiCAD has become for PCB design and schematic capture.

That said, I can get Fusion360 for free, and while I hate the fact that it's not open-source and that my files are hidden and locked away ond Autodesk's servers and that they can cancel my free "hobbyist" subscription on a whim, Fusion360 is so much easier and faster to use for my small weekend projects that I just cannot bring myself to go through the pain of learning how to avoid the random crashes of FreeCAD.

EDIT: if there is a donation page for FreeCAD, I am willing to pitch in.

> EDIT: if there is a donation page for FreeCAD, I am willing to pitch in.

There isn't a single donation page. One of the main developers, Yorik van Havre, has a Patreon [1], and there's a Liberapay [2]. I also just decided to make a Patreon [3] (I'm the sysadmin for the project as well as a developer.)

1. https://www.patreon.com/yorikvanhavre

2. https://liberapay.com/FreeCAD/

3. https://www.patreon.com/kkremitzki

I am of a similar opinion, however I find myself using OnShape more and more for simple projects just because Fusion360 isn't available on Linux and I don't want to reboot just to design something.

In my case, FreeCAD just has to be better than OnShape, not Fusion, to get me to use it for 90% of my designs.

Agree on F360. And, for what it's worth, it does support python scripting as well.

My biggest hope for F360 are: 1. 2D vector import to sculpt workflow, not just model. 2. Shared Parameters between documents in the same projects

I've had great results with their CAM as long as you have a good post processor.

You mentioned CNC milling, what CAM software do you use?

Given he uses Fusion360, I'd bet he also uses Fusion360 for CAM - its CAM is pretty awesome - the value of integrated CAD/CAM instead of dealing with separate CAM is very compelling.

Sibling post says they use Fusion 360, not the GP post that talks about the potential of freecad.

I'm in a similar boat - I use OpenSCAD for tons of 3d-printing and laser-cut work (I even wrote a package manage for it - https://github.com/lostapathy/scad_bundler ). But as I've moved into subtractive manufacturing, I find myself using Fusion 360 for reasonable access to CAM tools. As you note, having that integrated is very compelling.

I'm using FreeCad for my entire CNC milling pipeline- from modeling down to g-code. It works quite well for me.

> FreeCAD has enormous potential.

I absolutely agree. I'm especially interested to see the future of integrations with computational fluid dynamics & finite element analysis (OpenFOAM for the former, Calculix & Elmer for the latter.) For example, one user on the forum was able to simulate the multi-mode heat transfer of a hot metal cube in a wind tunnel (but unfortunately I can't seem to find the post!) Another was looking into integration with KiCAD to simulate the thermal behavior of custom boards.

I have used FreeCAD 0.16 a lot to design and then manufacture simple objects (extruded svg shapes, essentially), and it has worked fine.

It's the only program that I know of, capable of importing OpenSCAD files.

The interface is a little awkward and the icons quite obscure, but other than that it's really good!

> The interface is a little awkward and the icons quite obscure, but other than that it's really good!

One of the many improvements in this version was a complete overhaul of all the workbenches' icons to be aligned to the Tango Desktop Project [1], thanks to Alexander Gryson [2]. I think it helped a lot with the visual consistency, so big kudos to him.

1. http://tango.freedesktop.org/Tango_Desktop_Project

2. https://agryson.net/

cool! i've been toying with the idea of doing some design for CNC milling (i have not done so since my undergrad days). are there inexpensive options for getting time on a CNC machine?

Check your local makerspace or fablab. If your are reasonably confident in the correctness of your design you can use self-service online CNC services like Ponoko and 3dhubs.

Co2 Lasercutting and FDM 3d-printing is generally easier to get access to than CNC though.

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