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FreeCAD has no problem doing fillets We had an earlier comment outlining the problems with fillets, and the author of the article had problems as well. Do you

FreeCAD has no problem doing fillets We had an earlier comment outlining the problems with fillets, and the author of the article had problems as well. Do you think those are real, or could they be worked around with more experience in FreeCAD? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33573318 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33573318

jstanley 4y ago
I was mainly responding to: > The biggest limitation is no fillets or bevels, but it sounds like FreeCAD can't do that either. which is simply untrue: FreeCAD can do fillets and chamfers. It has a built-in tool for them. It almost always works flawlessly. You're right that FreeCAD will occasionally segfault on a complicated chamfer, but generally this is foreshadowed by a gut feeling that the geometry is so complicated that you yourself actually don't know what a correct chamfer would even look like. But OK, FWIW, I just attempted the same Model Mania 2001 challenge in FreeCAD, and I got this: https://img.incoherency.co.uk/4072 https://img.incoherency.co.uk/4072 - it took me about 20 minutes. I had to guess the thickness of the central web as it doesn't appear to be shown on the drawing: https://blogs.solidworks.com/tech/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/Model-Mania-2001-Phase-1.jpg https://blogs.solidworks.com/tech/wp-content/uploads/sites/4... I didn't run into any issues or crashes with the fillets, the only thing that is arguably an issue is that FreeCAD makes the fillet that intersects with the front edge differently to how other tools do it. The one at the corner of the bottom of the large arc, where it touches the base plate. Arguably this is a FreeCAD bug, but it's hardly the end of the world. To say that FreeCAD "can't do" fillets is just wrong.
- IshKebab 4y ago
  > FreeCAD can do fillets and chamfers. It has a built-in tool for them. It almost always works flawlessly. I've never tried it but that's not what the article says.
  - regularfry 4y ago
    When it works, it's flawless. It's very easy to ask it to make a fillet that fails where you're guessing as to why. "Almost always" is far too generous.
  - jstanley 4y ago
    Right, and the article is mistaken.
bsder 4y ago
In my experience, fillets in FreeCAD work okay, but are pretty much ground zero for the topological renumbering issues. Put simply, FreeCAD needs a modern geometry kernel and there is no such thing in the open source world. Given that OnShape (a bunch of ex-Solidworks honchos) went and licensed Parasolid for their new company, that tells you that developing the geometry kernel was something that they were willing to pay money to avoid.

jstanley 4y ago

I was mainly responding to: > The biggest limitation is no fillets or bevels, but it sounds like FreeCAD can't do that either. which is simply untrue: FreeCAD can do fillets and chamfers. It has a built-in tool for them. It almost always works flawlessly. You're right that FreeCAD will occasionally segfault on a complicated chamfer, but generally this is foreshadowed by a gut feeling that the geometry is so complicated that you yourself actually don't know what a correct chamfer would even look like. But OK, FWIW, I just attempted the same Model Mania 2001 challenge in FreeCAD, and I got this: https://img.incoherency.co.uk/4072 https://img.incoherency.co.uk/4072 - it took me about 20 minutes. I had to guess the thickness of the central web as it doesn't appear to be shown on the drawing: https://blogs.solidworks.com/tech/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/Model-Mania-2001-Phase-1.jpg https://blogs.solidworks.com/tech/wp-content/uploads/sites/4... I didn't run into any issues or crashes with the fillets, the only thing that is arguably an issue is that FreeCAD makes the fillet that intersects with the front edge differently to how other tools do it. The one at the corner of the bottom of the large arc, where it touches the base plate. Arguably this is a FreeCAD bug, but it's hardly the end of the world. To say that FreeCAD "can't do" fillets is just wrong.

IshKebab 4y ago
> FreeCAD can do fillets and chamfers. It has a built-in tool for them. It almost always works flawlessly. I've never tried it but that's not what the article says.
- regularfry 4y ago
  When it works, it's flawless. It's very easy to ask it to make a fillet that fails where you're guessing as to why. "Almost always" is far too generous.
- jstanley 4y ago
  Right, and the article is mistaken.

bsder 4y ago

In my experience, fillets in FreeCAD work okay, but are pretty much ground zero for the topological renumbering issues. Put simply, FreeCAD needs a modern geometry kernel and there is no such thing in the open source world. Given that OnShape (a bunch of ex-Solidworks honchos) went and licensed Parasolid for their new company, that tells you that developing the geometry kernel was something that they were willing to pay money to avoid.