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I used to use SolidWorks. Now I use FreeCAD as a complete replacement. Two tips: (1) use RealThunder's Link Branch (https://github.com/realthunder/FreeCAD/rel

I used to use SolidWorks. Now I use FreeCAD as a complete replacement. Two tips: (1) use RealThunder's Link Branch (https://github.com/realthunder/FreeCAD/releases https://github.com/realthunder/FreeCAD/releases). This fixes one of FreeCAD's fundamental problems. (2) use the "Part Design" workbench. That's the one that is built around the SolidWorks workflow: sketches with constraints -> parts, etc. There are other workbenches for other workflows; you might need to hop over to them sometimes but you'll want Part Design for the most part. FreeCAD still hasn't settled on "one correct way" to do assemblies of parts. There are various plugins that each offer their own take on how to do it. You'll have to pick the one that you like most. You don't need to use Python. You can use spreadsheets, equation-driven dimensions, and so on, just like SolidWorks. You can make dimensioned drawings using the TechDraw workbench, which gets better all the time. (Also useful for making DXFs to export to a waterjet or laser cutter). The documentation is sparse, so youtube demonstrations are the clearest way to learn. I like JokoEngineering's channel.

zihotki 2y ago
2 cents: many core changes from Link Branch are coming to v1 of Freecad thanks to Ondsel (a commercialized version of Freecad) Also UX of Ondsel is much better and close to the Link Branch version by Real Thunder. It's important to mention that Freecad doesn't support master sketches at the moment. So you'll need to create many smaller sketches based on geometry or parameters to make a complex part
- mitthrowaway2 2y ago
  (Not sure if by "master sketch" you mean an assembly sketch, or if you instead mean what SolidWorks calls 3D sketch). At least in Link branch, my workflow is to name the first part in my document "Layout", and fill it with master assembly sketches, drawing cross-sections of an entire assembled product. Then I create subsequent parts which all import and reference the geometry in those sketches, and never reference other parts. This lets me do a top-down assembly-driven design, which is very fast and easy to modify later on, and freely delete and replace parts without breaking references. FreeCAD supports this workflow via shape binders, and Link Branch speeds it up greatly by automatically creating shape binders as needed. Great to hear that mainstream FreeCAD will soon support those improvements, but I'll keep pointing people to Link Branch until those improvements actually get released.
  - zihotki 2y ago
    I may misused the term but I meant the functionality you describing (automatic SubShapeBinder generated based on selected edges) plus ability to export multiple geometries. These features greatly simplify and speedup design of parts and they are the part of missing experience for users coming from other CAD. I also eagerly looking forward to getting them in the main branch.
- ecjhdnc2025 2y ago
  It doesn’t have a formal master sketch tool but there are workflows for master sketches that work well by importing geometry into feature sketches. Mango Jelly Solutions has one on youtube.
  - zihotki 2y ago
    There are always workflows and workarounds. That's FreeCAD in a nutshell. But there are no easy and intuitive ways of doing that. Compare it to the Realthunder’s Link Branch version which has `export single geometry` and `export multiple geometries` tools as well as automatic SubShapeBinder generated when edges forming a closed loop which are selected from the sketch before padding.
    - ecjhdnc2025 2y ago
      Oh, definitely that aspect of the RealThunder branch is good work, and hopefully we will see it (or something like it) ported across. Though I think the sketcher improvements that have gone into 0.22 (and aren't in RealThunder's work) are absolutely more valuable, and I'd rather see the facilities you mention reimplemented on top of those. I'm not convinced by the automatic subshape binder bit; I think that is better handled explicitly. Maybe we will see something that formalises the master sketch workflow, but I don't think it is particularly universal as a design technique. To me it seems it would maybe be better to see some kind of improvement to the selection mechanism for importing geometry from other sketches. I find that a little opaque. I would like the built-in part design wrapper facility. And I think there are improvements in the cross-section view; I think Persistent Section Cut is often more hassle than it is worth. As interesting as the RealThunder branch is, it's one guy's fork of experiments, and he didn't have to get agreement from anyone else or follow anyone's coding standards but his own. And for better or worse that fork is now (edit: likely) a dead end, and all the energy (edit: and money) is elsewhere. Some great stuff has come from that branch but I don't think there's any reason why it should just be automatically blessed.
      - mitthrowaway2 2y ago
        I'll consider it a dead end when RealThunder declares it so. The most recent release was in April.
- eternityforest 2y ago
  The Link branch has so many small changes that aren't mentioned anywhere else. It looks like mult solid bodies have been merged to main, but I'm not sure yet about the ability to do patterns on arbitrary objects, like other patterns. If that makes it to mainline, I'll probably switch right away.

zihotki 2y ago

2 cents: many core changes from Link Branch are coming to v1 of Freecad thanks to Ondsel (a commercialized version of Freecad) Also UX of Ondsel is much better and close to the Link Branch version by Real Thunder. It's important to mention that Freecad doesn't support master sketches at the moment. So you'll need to create many smaller sketches based on geometry or parameters to make a complex part

mitthrowaway2 2y ago
(Not sure if by "master sketch" you mean an assembly sketch, or if you instead mean what SolidWorks calls 3D sketch). At least in Link branch, my workflow is to name the first part in my document "Layout", and fill it with master assembly sketches, drawing cross-sections of an entire assembled product. Then I create subsequent parts which all import and reference the geometry in those sketches, and never reference other parts. This lets me do a top-down assembly-driven design, which is very fast and easy to modify later on, and freely delete and replace parts without breaking references. FreeCAD supports this workflow via shape binders, and Link Branch speeds it up greatly by automatically creating shape binders as needed. Great to hear that mainstream FreeCAD will soon support those improvements, but I'll keep pointing people to Link Branch until those improvements actually get released.
- zihotki 2y ago
  I may misused the term but I meant the functionality you describing (automatic SubShapeBinder generated based on selected edges) plus ability to export multiple geometries. These features greatly simplify and speedup design of parts and they are the part of missing experience for users coming from other CAD. I also eagerly looking forward to getting them in the main branch.
ecjhdnc2025 2y ago
It doesn’t have a formal master sketch tool but there are workflows for master sketches that work well by importing geometry into feature sketches. Mango Jelly Solutions has one on youtube.
- zihotki 2y ago
  There are always workflows and workarounds. That's FreeCAD in a nutshell. But there are no easy and intuitive ways of doing that. Compare it to the Realthunder’s Link Branch version which has `export single geometry` and `export multiple geometries` tools as well as automatic SubShapeBinder generated when edges forming a closed loop which are selected from the sketch before padding.
  - ecjhdnc2025 2y ago
    Oh, definitely that aspect of the RealThunder branch is good work, and hopefully we will see it (or something like it) ported across. Though I think the sketcher improvements that have gone into 0.22 (and aren't in RealThunder's work) are absolutely more valuable, and I'd rather see the facilities you mention reimplemented on top of those. I'm not convinced by the automatic subshape binder bit; I think that is better handled explicitly. Maybe we will see something that formalises the master sketch workflow, but I don't think it is particularly universal as a design technique. To me it seems it would maybe be better to see some kind of improvement to the selection mechanism for importing geometry from other sketches. I find that a little opaque. I would like the built-in part design wrapper facility. And I think there are improvements in the cross-section view; I think Persistent Section Cut is often more hassle than it is worth. As interesting as the RealThunder branch is, it's one guy's fork of experiments, and he didn't have to get agreement from anyone else or follow anyone's coding standards but his own. And for better or worse that fork is now (edit: likely) a dead end, and all the energy (edit: and money) is elsewhere. Some great stuff has come from that branch but I don't think there's any reason why it should just be automatically blessed.
    - mitthrowaway2 2y ago
      I'll consider it a dead end when RealThunder declares it so. The most recent release was in April.
eternityforest 2y ago
The Link branch has so many small changes that aren't mentioned anywhere else. It looks like mult solid bodies have been merged to main, but I'm not sure yet about the ability to do patterns on arbitrary objects, like other patterns. If that makes it to mainline, I'll probably switch right away.