3DPrinting

17227 readers

555 users here now

3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.

The r/functionalprint community is now located at: or [email protected]

There are CAD communities available at: [email protected] or [email protected]

Rules

No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia. Code of Conduct.
Be respectful, especially when disagreeing. Everyone should feel welcome here.
No porn (NSFW prints are acceptable but must be marked NSFW)
No Ads / Spamming / Guerrilla Marketing
Do not create links to reddit
If you see an issue please flag it
No guns
No injury gore posts

If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe/ may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is ![]()

Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

109

I liked Fusion 360, I like Onshape - but I'd rather like something that I won't lose over the whims of one company. So, what? (feddit.org)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

62 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I'm really hoping FreeCAD gets the Blender treatment. ONDSEL is already pushing it pretty far, but once extensibility is more robust and the new user experience improved, I believe that'll be the tipping point.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Oh man "extensibility" in FreeCAD. The documentation is non-existent, is the main problem. It's just about impossible to understand how anything works, it's like trying to figure out how to run a battleship by turning cranks and seeing what they do.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

My point exactly. If FreeCAD refines that framework and documents it well, community plugin support could drive many new features and quality of life improvements into the main branch.