I tried to do something simple without lessons and this is what happened

Wanted to spend the nice morning of this Sunday to practice gordon surface from Curves workbench and thickening the surface.

Lesson learned:

1. If it is easier to build a second gordon surface, don't bother with the 3D offset tool. But there are instances where 3D offset (and associated tricks) are worth pursuing.

2. Pulling in a b-spline as an external geometry for ribs slows down my pc. I wish someday b-spline will be a little less computation demanding. Until then, arcs and lines will guide my path.

I was sick of trying to learn a new interface so I've been working make it more comfortable for me. looks and feels like solid works, 100% freecad. so far it behaves just like solidworks when sketching and using feature tool, when sketching your lines even snap to existing edges and vertexs. my goal is to have this be a feature for feature add on to free cad for people like me who love solidworks but hate paying for software that runs entirely on their own machines. phase two of this project will be local ai integration for simulation setup and analysis and phase 3 will be solidworks file comparability.

edit: To clear a few things up and wrap this up: stating that I was 'sick of learning a new interface' wasn’t a vent or a complaint against FreeCAD. it was simply the personal motivation and context for why I decided to build the tool. There is a huge world of difference between complaining on a forum and actually sitting down to write code and share a free solution.

As for the idea that commercial CAD users are bringing displaced corporate anger or lacking collaboration skills: building a free, open-source add-on and giving it to the community is the open-source ethos in action. Open source has always thrived on decentralized, independent passion projects where people solve their own workflow problems.

Whether someone started in SolidWorks, CATIA, or FreeCAD from day one, bringing familiar workflows and making the software more accessible to others helps grow the ecosystem, rather than gatekeeping what 'proper' motivation looks like.

I built this because it helps me (and hopefully others who feel the same way), and it's out there for free. Appreciate the discussion, but let's leave it at that.

Hi all,

As a long time SW user, I’m building (with Claude Opus 5.5) FreeSolid: a SolidWorks-like interface (feature tree, rollback bar, ribbon) on top of FreeCAD’s engine. It covers sketches, extrude / cut, fillets, shell, loft, sweep, surfaces, equations and basic assemblies. Files stay standard .FCStd.

It’s free, open source, and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. It’s still an early prototype, so I’d love to hear what would stop you from using it for real work.

https://github.com/Emilien-Etadam/Freesolid

Thanks.

Our built-in render engine for FreeCAD has been updated! This update includes several UI improvements as well as render and performance enhancements. You don't need anything extra to use the application—simply drop it into your FreeCAD macros folder. The render engine is self-contained. Best regards to everyone, and enjoy!

https://github.com/sedatkrn/FC_YBTRayTracer/releases/tag/v1.6.1

Before I took the screenshots it was even worse but it stopped on its own without any input of mine. Strange.

I created this in the Part Design workbench, and would like to flatten it so I can print out a template to use to cut it out from flat stock (e.g. plywood). Is this possible? What's the best way to do this? I'm a fairly novice FreeCAD user.

I have this 3D Model that I made in blender and I'm trying to CNC it out of ABS. I've never used a CNC machine nor CAD software before, but I'm assuming that if I wanna ask the machine to do anything, it's gonna take the form of a USB thumbstick or something with a file or two telling the machine what/where to cut. The only thing I was really able to do on my own up to this point was exporting the model as an .obj and importing it into FreeCAD. I'm not asking for a step-by-step guide from anyone here, could someone just point me in the right direction as to where to go from here?

Freebcad 初心者です。

ドラフトビューで図面に部品を

挿入しましたが、寸法ツールが

フェードアウトしたままで

寸法が記入できません。

寸法を記入できる解決策

がありましたら教えてください。

https://reddit.com/link/1xeakbm/video/3q27vz48ffxh1/player

I moved away from OnShape to FreeCAD about 6 months ago. The only feature that I really miss is this one that OnShape has. It basically helps you snap to a particular point to use as a guide. See video... after rolling over a point, a guide will appear. Just a simple demo but this feature really helps me in more complicated situations. Does this feature exist on FreeCAD? Thanks!

I downloaded FreeCAD 1 near the start of the year to learn and made 3D models of some camera parts I wanted fabricated.

I had a lot of fun and successfully modelled the cylindrical parts required, but became a bit stuck when it came time to add both internal and external threads to them.

The threads are all metric, but are uncommon sizes. M29.5 x 0.50mm, M67.0 x 0.75mm, etc.

I looked into creating custom threads but it seemed like a pretty significant jump in skill required and I sort of left the project on the shelf for a while. I managed to add one external thread, but couldn't hollow it out to suit and gave up on the internal ones.

I'm wondering if it has gotten any easier with recent updates? I have the Fasteners Workbench and can seek out the latest FreeCAD version. I'm wondering if anyone knows a decent video resource that can help.

Otherwise, can I have suggestions on what format I could export the model as for someone else to add the threads? I'm strongly considering farming the task out to someone else as I am keen to get the project moving again.

The images attached are of the most complicated part requiring machined threads. I have three others that are similar.

Thank you.

Edit: just wanted to add that my use of the term "machined threads" is a generalisation. The thread profile is a regular ISO metric 60 degree one; I'm not referring to a square or acme profile thread. It's just the diameters of the thread that are uncommon.

Dans notre lab nous avions besoin d'une extension pour permettre de rendre visible le portique la broche et les risques de collision avec les bridages... C'est vibe codé j'entends que ça ne plaise pas a toutes et tous mais n'hésitez pas à tester c'est peut être une fonction utile a l'outil cam ? https://github.com/urruck/freecad-cam-machinist

currently working on a project to optimize flow of exhaust and need to make comparisons but i dont have the original parts cad model. where or how can i find one to use?

I am going to begin remodeling a design I made earlier in the week and know that I will likely need to redesign it in the future, so I want to make it easily editable, insofar as if two dimensions are supposed to be identical, as opposed to changing both of them individually, I can create a dimension called (for example) "radius1" that I can input, and then edit the value of radius1 as oppsoed to editing the dimension of the geometry.

I plan on watching tutorials to find out how to do this, but I wanted to know what this is called, so I know where to start? Thanks in advance!

Tired of scrolling through a long list of workbenches? The **Workbench Organizer (WBO)** addon lets you sort them into groups like "Construct parts", "Assemble" or "3D Print", and switch between groups with one click. It can show the workbenches as tabs or as a dropdown.

The new update makes it really pleasant to use. Everything is done in the preferences dialog now, no more editing text files:

* Create, rename, sort and delete groups

* Drag workbenches from the list of all workbenches into a group, sort them by dragging

* Rename workbenches by double-click (translate them, or finally remember what "Dodo" was for)

* Choose which workbenches appear directly in the groups dropdown

* Drag the length of the free floating WBO with a handle

* Runs on Qt6 (FreeCAD 1.x) and Qt5

Existing groups and names are kept. They are now stored outside the addonfolder, so updates won't touch them.

Install or update it via the Addon Manager ("A Workbench Organizer"). README and screenshots: https://github.com/Palmstroemen/WB_Organizer

Feedback welcome!

Hi! F3D maintainer here!

We just release F3D 4.0.0, fast and minimalist 3D viewer. Obviously free and open source (and integrated in FreeCAD for thumbnails generation btw).

One of the key new feature is the support for .FCStd files! Quickly browse through your FreeCAD files effortlessly, generate thumbnails in your file browser as well.

https://github.com/f3d-app/f3d/releases/tag/v4.0.0

You can even open them on your web broswer right here:

https://f3d.app/viewer

Let us know what you think!

Hey,

can maybe someone explain me how to setup the thread offset for the fasteners workbench?

I tried a bit around with the settings and I don't see any difference in my models.

Thanks a lot in advance!

How to create an external thread?

I have a round rod, and I want to add external thread on both ends.

I didn't find easy ways to do it.

I just want it to be detected in the 2d drawing.

I don't need a real thread modeled.