this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2024
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3DPrinting

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I am not a design draftsman, I'm not an engineer. My workflow is usually: I put something on the scanner, load the calibrated scan, trace the outline, throw a few sketches on various planes in there, round a few edges, print it and I'm done.

Fusion 360 scratches that itch very well but requires me to keep a Windows VM and also their free model felt more and more unusable. OnShape is a nice substitute that works fine for me, but I don't like the "free or 1500€/year" approach. Without a middle ground subscription for makers it feels that I could lose anything the second their energy prices for servers go up or something.

The list of CAD software is exhaustive, so I am looking for recommendations that fit my "eh, click, click, click, good enough" workflow. FreeCAD is way too unintiuitive for that. I have tried getting into it, but 3D printing is a tool for me and the learning curve quickly made using it another hobby.

So. Suggestions welcome. Scalding criticism about my lack of enthusiasm and consumer mentality not so much, but I guess that comes bundled with useful advice, so, eh, I'll take it.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

People have been trying to make Blender have some basic CAD functionality, but it's just not there yet.

I admit I haven't tried https://www.cadsketcher.com/ with it yet, though.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

Cadsketcher was much easier for me to pick up for designing simple parts. Still haven’t used it for anything too complicated but I couldn’t get over the FreeCAD quirks like not being able to do multiple extrudes from the same sketch.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

@JohnnyCanuck @the_fourth not a CAD. Can be sort-of made one, but not ideal. Something like FreeCAD is better but both Fusion and Onshape are much better in terms of UX.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

OP didn't ask for a CAD specifically but just mentioned looking at the list of CADs, so I thought it might be worth throwing in the mix.