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  1. #21
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Posts
    10

    Re: CADs for free comparison

    Hi,
    As part of FreeCAD testing, I prepared a tutorial.
    https://youtu.be/T8Z_imCbk34
    https://cadcamlessons.com/freecad-tutorial-quick-start/

    FreeCAD is not bad, but I have access to Fusion 360 and SolidWorks. So I will stay with these programs for now.
    FreeCAD can be a good solution for people who mainly use CAM systems, and the CAD system is only needed from time to time.
    Additionally, FreeCAD can be a good solution for someone who exceeds $100k per year and does not want to spend money on a CAD system license. FreeCAD is completely free and we will not have any problems related to the legality of the license.

  2. #22
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    153

    Re: CADs for free comparison

    FreeCAD is getting better , though I wonder about the wisdom of starting something that calculation intensive in python .

    Last year I played with the Assembly3 fork of FreeCAD which allows modelling assemblies of more basic parts. It went quite well up to a point but then got unusably slow as complexity increased. The developer was pretty helpful but could only suggest moving to SSD to get around the performance issues. Stacking assemblies of assemblies up to about three levels deep worked pretty well.

    I was able to make some quite complex shapes without compromising what I wanted to do to make it fit what the software wanted to do!

    Like any parametric CAD software it takes a while to learn how to drive but it did seem to live up to what was on the box.

    Since I do not have a working machine I did not try to generate tool paths. When I have working h/w ( and reconfigure my Linux box to run off SSD ) I will give it another look.

  3. #23
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Posts
    62

    Re: CADs for free comparison

    Without the same precision as true CAD you also have 3d art software. Blender 3d (Free) is a monster to learn but has amazing capabilities for making STL, OBJ and bas relief depth map/gray scale images that can be ported to cnc software. I've been using it for 6 years and really enjoy making cnc patterns with it.

  4. #24
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    153

    Re: CADs for free comparison

    Quote Originally Posted by OLG View Post
    Without the same precision as true CAD you also have 3d art software. Blender 3d (Free) is a monster to learn but has amazing capabilities for making STL, OBJ and bas relief depth map/gray scale images that can be ported to cnc software. I've been using it for 6 years and really enjoy making cnc patterns with it.
    Yeah, Blender is a monster to learn, but ultimately probably worth the effort.

    There are a few guides on this site which show you how to model involute gears ( properly ) and even hypoid bevel gears. They are more attuned to 3D printing them but I guess once you have the 3D model you program it to GCODE too. Though some of those hypoids would probably need a 4th axis to cut.

    In any case the renditions are outstanding.

    Otvinta.com -- Involute Gear Calculator

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Posts
    62

    Re: CADs for free comparison

    Quote Originally Posted by reg.miller View Post
    Yeah, Blender is a monster to learn, but ultimately probably worth the effort.

    There are a few guides on this site which show you how to model involute gears ( properly ) and even hypoid bevel gears. They are more attuned to 3D printing them but I guess once you have the 3D model you program it to GCODE too. Though some of those hypoids would probably need a 4th axis to cut.

    In any case the renditions are outstanding.

    Otvinta.com -- Involute Gear Calculator
    For me it was completely worth the effort. It's also a ton of fun.

    The program is complete overkill but once you master the modeling basics, all sorts of possibilities open up. Here are a few examples of patterns I have made using Blender. After 6 years I literally have over a 1000 patterns in library that I personally made. And a few are even not bad.

    I've never been disappointed with what the program can create. Any limitations were my own.

    Given what I know now, Blender would not have been my first choice to do CAD work with, but it did open up the world of 3d modeling, image/graphics rendering and 3d animation along with the ability to make woodworking cnc patterns. So having said that, I am glad I did learn the software.

  6. #26
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    153

    Re: CADs for free comparison

    Thanks, you certainly seems to have mastered using blender. I particularly like the head.

    How do you get tool paths once you have the 3D model?

  7. #27
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Posts
    62

    Re: CADs for free comparison

    Unfortunately, I cheat. I don't do any tool paths. I have a Carvewright CNC machine. Totally a hobby cnc with a lot of plastic and a proprietary pattern format but machine calculates the tool paths automatically. I throw my patterns into the machine and just hit go. Not very fast and for me not completely accurate but it has carved masterpieces for me. I only use it for bas relief carvings. Here are two of my favorites. The first one is a 3d scan of the Signe Tegner Sepulchral Monument. Scan shared on Blend Swap website but it was also shared on several other sites by Geoffrey Marchal. I tweaked the geometry so it would work for me.

    The second one is a clock I made. All the patterns on this one are mine and the design is mine. So truly a one of a kind. Best part is it is loud (Tubular Quad Chime Quartz Clock Movement).

    I export STL format from Blender and import into the CW software and it automatically generates all needed CAM data in the background. I don't even see any of it. Good and bad.

  8. #28
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    153

    Re: CADs for free comparison

    Thanks, very nice results.

    I looked at Blender but the examples I was following were for 3D printing and put the Blender model through a slicer. I never found out how I could get cnc tool paths. The tutos were based on a slightly older version of Blender and some things were not as described. It just look like I'd need to take a sabbatical year off just to learn how to use it so I dropped it.

    I'm using FreeCAD right now which has some holes and bugs but does get the job done. There's experimental 4 axis capability coming together. Hopefully it will be useable by the time I have a 4th axis.

  9. #29
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Posts
    1206

    Re: CADs for free comparison

    I find Freecad very good for most basic operations.I enabled the experimental features to bring 3D surfacing into use and that still needs a few tweaks;they disabled waterline machining a while back due to bugs and it would be really nice to see it fixed.The inbuilt postprocessor for linuxCNC is really useful and I enjoy not having to export and import file types with another program.That gets even more appreciation if a small adjustment needs to be made as you can go back to the original sketch and make the change then recompute.

  10. #30

    Re: CADs for free comparison

    I like Freecad. I made a tutorial to cut(gcode) /design one part, copy those, then make a change to all the copies by only changing one: it saves a ton of time when cutting lots of the same parts!
    https://youtu.be/pMjOq4_FGYc

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