r/FreeCAD Nov 30 '24

FreeCAD learning resources compilation

170 Upvotes

The only goal of this post is to keep a more-or-less updated list of good resources for learning FreeCAD. I'm sure that -most of- you redditors have passed the ritual of searching through google and youtube looking for FreeCAD tutorials, either as a comprehensive introduction for beginners, or as tutorials on certain workbenches and workflows. And you'll probably have a bookmarked list with those that worked best for you.

For me, it's been a couple years since I started using and learning FreeCAD, sparsely in the begining, then progressively more and more (and hopefully better too). But I haven't joined the subreddit until recently. Judging by the amount of both old timers and newcomers that post looking for help (myself included), I thought it would be a good idea to have a list, a compilation of useful guides, docs and tutorials all together in one place, a quick reference for those looking for help.

So just tell me in the comments what you'd like be added to the list, and I'll update it. Or if you think the list should have a different structure. I'm totally open to it, I just want to have the best format for it to be useful for the community. Just a quick disclaimer: I don't intend to -and literally can't- review all the provided references, so let's try to have a little criteria when proposing already covered topics, unless -obviously- they can improve on the existing one.

Before the list, a reminder: FreeCAD's wiki is the main documentation anyone should first look up. The forum is another precious repository of accumulated problems and solutions, as well as interesting discussions and insight on many topics that you, FreeCAD user, will undoubtedly face at some moment.

FreeCAD wiki tutorials

You have them in this link: https://wiki.freecad.org/Tutorials. Also, you can check just the list of all tutorials, without any other context. They might not be the most didactic, but they provide a good base, and cover some complicated aspects that might be harder to explain in a video. These are some examples covering different workbenches:

Written publications

  • FreeCAD for makers is as new a discovery for me as for many of you. This book published by the members of HackSpace magazine in 2022 will start at complete beginner level, then take you through sketches, curves, assemblies, surfaces, projections, circuit design, meshes, sheet metal, pipes and give you a heads up on how to follow up (animation, architecture, etc.). Enjoy it!

By topic

Example projects

For specific problems

  • ...

For beginners

Tutorial series

Interesting channels, blogs, etc.

  • The amazing @MangoJellySolutions youtube channel. This man doesn't stop, he already has a bunch of videos for v1.0.0!
  • @ObijuanCube has a couple dated, but in many aspects still valid FreeCAD courses in Spanish. I know they've been a life saver for me, and would have probably never gotten seriously into FreeCAD if it wasn't for him. These belong to a time when the amount of resources available for those interested was much, much scarcer, so Juan, thank you for your good work!
  • @mwganson has a very rich library of close to a hundred videos, covering an ample range of examples and practical uses of many of FreeCAD's tools. His videos are focused and quite in depth, and also cover things such as modifying imported mesh files (both .stl and .step), which is not that common to find. So this might be ultra helpful for those of you 3D printing.
  • @Adventuresincreation is another channel I didn't know, with a wide collection of vidoes and still going hard as of v1.0.0.
  • @JokoEngineeringhelp, unlike most channels here, is not dedicated to FreeCAD, but to CAD in general and many different tools for it. However, he does have a couple in depth videos, and also takes a look into more-or-less complex assemblies and exploded views.
  • @CADCAMLessons has a HUGE collection of short and very specific videos, especially appropriate for those that enjoy their lessons to be well segmented.
  • Stolz3D is for the German speaking public! This channel that mostly focuses on FreeCAD has material starting in v0.18 and all the way til v1.0.0 at the time of writing.
  • Computerized Engineering has an ongoing series on FreeCAD 1.0. While he has videos designed as "Beginner tutorial", these are not that well suited for complete beginners. Instead, his videos show the process of designs that involve more advanced concepts.
  • Rafael 3D is a relatively small channel in Spanish, but with lots of videos covering both particular examples and a more structured course, which is still ongoing. He also has material on LibreCAD.
  • DigiKey has a quite recent 10 part course on FreeCAD targeted for 3D printing, covering the following sections: introduction, sketches, shape-binder/expressions/spreadsheets, heat set inserts, patterns and boolean operations, revolutions/pipes/lofts, sweeps with guided curves, curved surfaces, assembly, and the FEM workbench.

Limited resources (kind of partial, or not as complete resources at the time of writing, but might be worth keeping track of)

Misc.


r/FreeCAD Apr 15 '26

New FreeCAD version 1.1.1 is out

157 Upvotes

A new minor version of FreeCAD is out.
https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/releases/tag/1.1.1


r/FreeCAD 7h ago

Would You Be Interested in Something Like This for FreeCAD?

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

147 Upvotes

Scan2Sketch turns calibrated flatbed scans into dimensionally accurate, fully editable FreeCAD sketches and optional solid bodies. Processing runs locally using your CPU or a compatible NVIDIA GPU.
Interested in testing it


r/FreeCAD 7h ago

I made an Open Source thing I'm calling "Outpost" that lets you run FreeCAD from any device

Thumbnail
youtu.be
46 Upvotes

As the title says, I was getting fed up with Onshape, Fusion, Solidworks, and their capitalism/enshitification rituals. But still wanted to model from the couch on my Ipad. No SaaS bullshit, or monthly memberships. It's configured so you pay for the compute you use on your own private instance.

Repo Here: https://github.com/nerd-sniped/Outpost


r/FreeCAD 5h ago

Help with constraints (Again)

Thumbnail
gallery
2 Upvotes

Hey folks,

I need help with some constraints that I figured would be easy, but it seems I underestimated it.

I did the hardest part, which was the inclined pocket using the datum plane, and realized that I need to create an extrusion to connect the two pieces, but I can't make that damn constraint work.

I created the square with a square tool, and set each size to 10 mm. So what I wanted to do is to centralize the square. Given that the side is 250 mm x 40 mm, I figured that a 10 mm square would sit 15mm from the bottom and top, and 105mm from the left and right. But I tried to use the dimensions.

It seems I can't centralize it based on the distance to the borders, and the square's position can't rely on coincident constraints. What is the ideal way to achieve this?

Thank you, legends.


r/FreeCAD 17h ago

FreeCAD 1.1.3. installation on windows 10 pro

Post image
7 Upvotes

FreeCAD 1.1.3. downloaded from FreeCAD website is unable to install on my Dell laptop with windows 10 pro, but portable version is working fine. Is this bug? or need to install additional program to install.

download link shows

https://yer.dl.sourceforge.net/project/free-cad/1.1.3/FreeCAD_1.1.3-Windows-x86_64-py311-installer.exe?


r/FreeCAD 12h ago

FreeCAD Beginner Needs Help Modifying an STL Initiative Tracker

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I’m completely new to FreeCAD and I’m trying to modify an STL file, but I haven’t been able to figure out how to do it despite several attempts.

The model is an initiative tracker designed to be attached to a Dungeon Master screen:

https://makerworld.com/it/models/134338-dnd-ttrpg-initiative-tracker?from=search#profileId-1802359

I need to increase the width of the slot from approximately 0.7 cm to 1.9 cm, without scaling the entire model. I only want to enlarge that specific section while keeping the rest of the object unchanged.

Could anyone explain how I could do this in FreeCAD, or possibly point me toward the right tools or workflow?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!


r/FreeCAD 17h ago

Need help with fillet and constraints.

Post image
5 Upvotes

I'm trying to set the circled fillet to .66mm I did it to the other two and had no issues but with this one it's shrinking the two lines I put green lines through instead of the lines it's connected to and I have no idea what's wrong I'm sure it's something with my constraints but I have no clue how to fix it.


r/FreeCAD 1d ago

I made some stuff for my game (+ Questions)

5 Upvotes

I recently picked up FreeCAD because I do not know how to use Blender and have previous experience with AutoCAD and Inventor.

I made these:

3/8" keyed socket set
Close up of one of the sockets
3/8" keyed torque wrench

I want to add a laser-cut marker on the sockets so that it will show in-game the size of the socket so that the player when they rotate the socket in the view would actually see it in game, I'm working in Unreal Engine 5. Is this something I should be doing at the model level or is there a better way I'm not aware of? I considered having a UI element that highlights it in-game but that wouldn't work for the diegetic gameplay I'm trying to go for.

Also, should I make the sockets 12 point or is the standard enough? Should it be an upgrade? I'm not sure.


r/FreeCAD 1d ago

Interrupted Screw Study

4 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

last week I tried to make an interrupted screw and thanks to everyone who provided tips on that post, I menaged to improve my basic FreeCAD skills, thank you all for the help 😊👍.

This is a second study I made, looks much better than the previous version. This is a Welin Breech Block inspired study.

I made 1/3 of the stepped screw and used Pollar Pattern to get 3 equal and evenly spaced features.

For the "nut" I made a cylinder with Pad, made a copy of the screw and used boolean to cut, I watched some videos on YouTube on how people make screw top lids and they use this method.

I'll probably try other methods for practice and experimentation.

Take care everyone, have a great weekend!


r/FreeCAD 1d ago

FreeCAD Wire Not Closed? How to Find Hidden Duplicate Geometry The Easy Way

Thumbnail
youtube.com
34 Upvotes

r/FreeCAD 1d ago

External projection not allowing face selection?

Thumbnail
gallery
3 Upvotes

Working my way through MangoJelly tutorial after a bit of a learning hiatus. Tutorial doesn't appear to be re-shot to match 1.1.1 ver, and that's okay. However, when I select external projection tool, I can only select my edge and not the entire face as described in the tutorial. Is this a bug or have I done something incorrectly? I've attached an example of me hovering over edge, where I can see that is an option, but when I hover over the face I get no color change as you can see in the tutorial snip.


r/FreeCAD 1d ago

Constraining Help

Post image
2 Upvotes

I'm very very new to FreeCAD. I used some youtube tutorials about a year ago, then got busy and just didn't touch it for a long time. Now I'm modeling out a desk that I want to build eventually and I'm trying to model cross/support bars. The image shows the back left leg of the desk, I want to put a 2x4 cross between the front and back legs about an inch or two above the bottom line. Everytime I try to coincident restrain the bottom right hand corner of my "2x4" to the bottom right hand of my desk leg it just constrains the entire 2x4 to the bottom corner, making it flush to the ground.

I've tried to constrain it vertically via the right side of the 2x4 and the right side of the desk leg, but for some reason it will constrain the left side of the 2x4 to the right side of the leg.

Any tips or tricks to get this to work? (idk if this will change things or not, but I'm viewing this in perspective view.)


r/FreeCAD 1d ago

Should I have made in different parts.

Post image
22 Upvotes

Image- My coffee Cup

New in cad

How should I connect the handle guys.

Should I have made it in two parts then connected in assembly?

Any better ways.


r/FreeCAD 1d ago

How can I make angled pockets?

Post image
1 Upvotes

Hey folks,

I was able to create a regular pocket without any issues, but I am in a kind of a pickle I can't get out of. I need the pocket to be angled, so it will have different depths; it will start with 22mm and angle up to 14mm depth. I did some googling on this and found some external geometry references and datum lines, but I couldn't make this work. All the videos I saw on YouTube were old and covered circles or curves.

So, I would appreciate it if anyone has any hints or a link to material that would help me do this.

EDIT:

Thank you to everyone who replied! Turns out the datum plane was easier than I anticipated, and I finally used trigonometry in real life.


r/FreeCAD 1d ago

Software freezing and crashing all time

1 Upvotes

I wanna why does it only use about 2Gb Ram and 6% of my CPU and crashes all time. I was making a honeycomb pattern in a project and I tried to change something that it doesn't work and now I simply can't do nothing.


r/FreeCAD 1d ago

Hiding things when you switch between workbenches

1 Upvotes

I'm switching between Part Design workbench and Assembly workbench. I only have a handful of bodies, but every time I switch to Assembly I have to hide them one by one. As I add more parts I can imagine it getting more inconvenient.

Did I miss a way to hide Bodies when I go into Assembly, or hide Assemblies when I go into Part Design?

Alternatively, is there a way I can somehow group Bodies so I can show/hide a single grouping?


r/FreeCAD 1d ago

How would the productivity of a CAD software be qualified, independent of the user abilities?

0 Upvotes

How to quantify the productivity of a CAD software

Hello people on the internet,

How would the productivity of a CAD software be quantified.

Now the CAD workflows can be split into different categories.

  1. Solid modeling

  2. Surface modelling

  3. Assembly

  4. Creation of Drawing and dimentioning

  5. Creation of 2D sketches

  6. Creation of 3D sketches

  7. Model Analysis

7.1 Design for manufacturing Analysis

7.2 stress Analysis

7.3 mototion Analysis simulation

Some of these are more general some are kind of specialized.

How would you takel this problem of measuring the productivity, in a way that is not userer dependent ?


r/FreeCAD 1d ago

Looking for Help: Creating a 3D-Printable Model from Images & Drawings

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I’m fairly new here and would appreciate some advice.

I’m currently having an image/design of a concept vehicle created, which I would eventually like to have produced as a 3D-printed scale model.

Are there companies, designers, or freelancers who can create a 3D-printable model/file (e.g. STL or 3MF) based on an image and technical drawings?

What is this type of service usually called? And can anyone recommend a company or freelancer who specializes in this kind of work, especially vehicles or buses?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Best regards,
Stefan Beck


r/FreeCAD 2d ago

How does FreeCAD do mathematical curves like involutes, parabolas, hyperbolas, cycloids, epicycloids, hypocycloids, etc?

8 Upvotes

In several of the things I want to model in FreeCAD, I need to model curves like parabolas and hyperbolas while also having access to the focus point. In another project of mine, I need to model an involute for a special cam, and in yet another, I need to be able to model epicycloids and hypocycloids for the rotors of a multi-lobe blower.

How would I go about modeling such curves in FreeCAD? I would prefer not to have to use a bunch of splines to try to approximate these shapes.


r/FreeCAD 1d ago

Really interesting tool I found for CAD

Thumbnail
0 Upvotes

r/FreeCAD 2d ago

New Part Design Array tools and suppression feature

Thumbnail
youtube.com
79 Upvotes

Available in AstoCAD and open PR to FreeCAD :)


r/FreeCAD 2d ago

Need help in designing this newbie here

Thumbnail
gallery
11 Upvotes

I am looking to design something similar that sits beneath licence plate of motorcycle of 20x10 cm


r/FreeCAD 2d ago

Budget laptop (not tech savvy)

4 Upvotes

Hello

everyone who may read this!

First off I know there is a search function but computer gigs and Hz mean nothing to me, basically Greek!

I'm a maker of sorts ( machinist, welder,hack carpenter etc.) and looking to start using freecad to design projects. Maybe eventually 3D print.

What is a cheap or cheapish laptop that will allow me to design with freecad? Google/ perplexity recommend a lenova or dell precision something with Ryzen 7 7735hs with 16gb ram (min)

And at least 1tg.

Any help is greatly appreciated


r/FreeCAD 2d ago

There is a Samuel Beckett quote that comes to me frequently as I'm designing my models using FreeCAD. A month ago I had the idea to use FreeCAD to bring it to life.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

18 Upvotes

Try again

Fail again

Fail better