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What CAD tool should I be using as a hobbyist now? Maybe 7 years ago I was using Fusion360, but it didn't work on Linux at the time.

by fy20 2y ago

Ccecil 2y ago
I used to use fusion for many years. Recently I transitioned to freecad. There was a bit of a learning curve since it is more constraint based than fusion requires. Once freecad 1.0 came out for prerelease use I started using that instead...it is much improved over the old method. A lot more similar in use to other CAD packages. I suggest finding a few good tutorials and working through them...it took me a lot less time to learn freecad (for me) than it did to learn fusion...and it removed one more closed step in my mostly opensource toolchain.
nolroz 2y ago
I get an embarrassing amount of mileage out of Tinkercad. It's free and incredibly easy to get going with. I keep meaning to take some time and learn a more sophisticated program but the payoff has never offset the speed of delivery that I get with a rough cut using Tinkercad.
timonoko 2y ago
I have solved the only problem OpenSCAD ever had: -- You cannot change parameters just by pointing at them. https://youtu.be/eG5lhLYvihQ?si=d4qgLLUzfsIjir7M https://youtu.be/eG5lhLYvihQ?si=d4qgLLUzfsIjir7M
foenix 2y ago
I highly recommend onshape these days if you're ok with a web app that makes all your design open source (the pay for private space model has a steep cliff, but for my hobby purposes and open source enthusiasm it's great). I've lately been dabbling with feature script and making model configurations (eg a model size or appearance variant) for some CNC work. Here's a CNC laser module I modelled with onshape: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/2d5e7a41d9b0da06350348dc/w/5686699bfe57544c8cdd8ce0/e/9e9053a8b3aa26ccf7d31ccb https://cad.onshape.com/documents/2d5e7a41d9b0da06350348dc/w...
nfriend 2y ago
I use FreeCAD! https://www.freecad.org/ https://www.freecad.org/ It's a bit rough around the edges but now that I know its quirks I'm pretty productive with it.

What CAD tool should I be using as a hobbyist now? Maybe 7 years ago I was using Fusion360, but it didn't work on Linux at the time.

by fy20 2y ago

What CAD tool should I be using as a hobbyist now? Maybe 7 years ago I was using Fusion360, but it didn't work on Linux at the time.

Ccecil 2y ago

I used to use fusion for many years. Recently I transitioned to freecad. There was a bit of a learning curve since it is more constraint based than fusion requires. Once freecad 1.0 came out for prerelease use I started using that instead...it is much improved over the old method. A lot more similar in use to other CAD packages. I suggest finding a few good tutorials and working through them...it took me a lot less time to learn freecad (for me) than it did to learn fusion...and it removed one more closed step in my mostly opensource toolchain.

nolroz 2y ago

I get an embarrassing amount of mileage out of Tinkercad. It's free and incredibly easy to get going with. I keep meaning to take some time and learn a more sophisticated program but the payoff has never offset the speed of delivery that I get with a rough cut using Tinkercad.

timonoko 2y ago

I have solved the only problem OpenSCAD ever had: -- You cannot change parameters just by pointing at them. https://youtu.be/eG5lhLYvihQ?si=d4qgLLUzfsIjir7M https://youtu.be/eG5lhLYvihQ?si=d4qgLLUzfsIjir7M

foenix 2y ago

I highly recommend onshape these days if you're ok with a web app that makes all your design open source (the pay for private space model has a steep cliff, but for my hobby purposes and open source enthusiasm it's great). I've lately been dabbling with feature script and making model configurations (eg a model size or appearance variant) for some CNC work. Here's a CNC laser module I modelled with onshape: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/2d5e7a41d9b0da06350348dc/w/5686699bfe57544c8cdd8ce0/e/9e9053a8b3aa26ccf7d31ccb https://cad.onshape.com/documents/2d5e7a41d9b0da06350348dc/w...

nfriend 2y ago

I use FreeCAD! https://www.freecad.org/ https://www.freecad.org/ It's a bit rough around the edges but now that I know its quirks I'm pretty productive with it.