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I've been using freeCAD for about 3 years now. Looking at what he was able to make with it blows my mind. I love freeCAD, but I don't think I've ever been so co

by fusslo 1y ago

I've been using freeCAD for about 3 years now. Looking at what he was able to make with it blows my mind. I love freeCAD, but I don't think I've ever been so continuously frustrated by a piece of software

imtringued 1y ago
Three years should be more than enough time to have learned how to perform a few simple extrusions and pockets. What we're looking at here is essentially a pipe with a cap. Free cad gets really complicated the moment you want to do surface modeling.
Klaster_1 1y ago
For real, I've been using FreeCAD for small hobby stuff for 7 years and still often find extremely frustrating UX issues in features new to me, stuff that wouldn't pass QA (I'm a FE dev and know a thing or two about that). When I proceeded to understand why overconstraints are an error and not a warning, I immediately discovered a multiple page thread on FreeCAD forums with regulars gaslighting how everything was exactly as needed because "performance", despite this being a deliberate choice, not a solver limitation. This gatekeeping attitude is really off-putting, the project needs a UX expert and a good community manager to root out that power user crap.
- fidotron 1y ago
  That was the classic GIMP problem too. Meta comment: damn it's good to see something worthwhile at #1 on HN this morning.
eurekin 1y ago
Can concur. I jump between OnShape and FreeCAD in my free time. OnShape feels very polished. I go back to FreeCAD, because I've bought some models, I don't want to publish in OnShape's free tier. It's amazing how much can be done, but anything that I think will take an hour, lasts 6. Many times into the night.
waerhert 1y ago
Though very grateful for projects like FreeCAD, I did encounter a fair bit of frustration while designing this. Especially random crashes, which only got worse as the project got more complex. As far as usage goes, it's mostly a matter of knowing how to do things in FreeCAD. I haven't encountered anything I could not achieve in FreeCAD. Having no experience in other CAD software probably helped sticking to it.
- alnwlsn 1y ago
  I came to FreeCad with some years background in Inventor, NX and SolidWorks. The jump from any of these to FreeCAD is not very big; you're doing a lot of the same things. But, most of the problems FreeCad has are solved in those, so you can sort of do anything in them and be none the wiser. In FreeCAD, you need to think a little bit more on how it's going to do things. But most people don't learn the big CADs first, they learn Fusion. The few times I've tried Fusion, it's given me a headache. It's probably a bigger headache going the other direction. Then, there are those who do all their CAD work in OpenSCAD. They scare me.
  - waerhert 1y ago
    Haha, the thought of using OpenSCAD briefly crossed my mind when I found out about it but I didn't want this project to take a year extra to complete. I do consider exploring some of the other CAD alternatives though if budget permits.
  - sheepscreek 1y ago
    OpenSCAD is genuinely great for the right kind of user. If you’re familiar with CSS and have experience with animations in the past, you already possess the skills to be productive with OpenSCAD. In my opinion, the most challenging aspect is getting accustomed to the disconnect between visualizing something and manipulating it, as it’s done through code.
    - pseudosudoer 1y ago
      I really liked OpenSCAD as a concept, but when I started designing things that had a fair bit of complexity the rendering engine really shit the bed. This was a powerful rig as well.
Aurornis 1y ago
I think it’s great that we have FreeCAD as an option and I’m excited to see it mature. That said, I recommend Autodesk Fusion free tier for anyone who just wants to get quality work done quickly. Some will refuse to use it on principle and that’s fine for them, but it really is quality software free for hobbyist use with trivial restrictions. EDIT: Getting downvoted, presumably for suggesting a non-OSS software to get a job done. However I’d recommend anyone who just wants to get work done at least consider the options at their disposal. Not every software decision needs to be made on principle.
- nancyminusone 1y ago
  Those who have bought into "free" closed source software simply haven't been burned hot enough by it yet. It might take a while, but you'll learn your lesson one of these days.
  - Aurornis 1y ago
    Honestly it’s useful enough that I’d pay the several hundred dollars per year if I had to. It’s that much better. The money spent would be well worth it (for me) for all the time saved over using FreeCAD. I’ve used multiple professional CAD packages and I’m just not interested in going back. People sneer and tell me I’m going to get burned some day, but meanwhile I’ve been using it to great effect for many years for hobby projects that I can share around and edit easily.
    - consp 1y ago
      I'm not going to agree to any of the "free" (you sign away all rights to the things you made free) tiers. Not that anyone would ever use my things but it's out of principle. FreeCAD has issues but is good enough for most people. And once you want to do really complicated things and also can cope the hundred of euros per years fine, but don't complain other people should do the same because you can.
      - Aurornis 1y ago
double0jimb0 1y ago
I've found ChatGPT and Claude to be extremely helpful as guides for this sort of stuff. As long as the software has decent/good documentation for the features you are trying to create, the AI does a great job telling you how to do things. There's definitely deep end stuff that the AI doest have enough reference material for, but I find it much quicker than blinding clicking through stuff or speeding watching YouTube videos. You can also ask it to build a study guide for you to help build foundational knowledge. But as always, expect some hallucinations, so ask it to provide links/references.
- waerhert 1y ago
  Yes! And when you need advice on an electronic circuit you can export it in netlist format from KiCAD. This is a textbased representation of the schematic which is very understandable by LLMs

by fusslo 1y ago

imtringued 1y ago

Three years should be more than enough time to have learned how to perform a few simple extrusions and pockets. What we're looking at here is essentially a pipe with a cap. Free cad gets really complicated the moment you want to do surface modeling.

Klaster_1 1y ago

For real, I've been using FreeCAD for small hobby stuff for 7 years and still often find extremely frustrating UX issues in features new to me, stuff that wouldn't pass QA (I'm a FE dev and know a thing or two about that). When I proceeded to understand why overconstraints are an error and not a warning, I immediately discovered a multiple page thread on FreeCAD forums with regulars gaslighting how everything was exactly as needed because "performance", despite this being a deliberate choice, not a solver limitation. This gatekeeping attitude is really off-putting, the project needs a UX expert and a good community manager to root out that power user crap.

fidotron 1y ago
That was the classic GIMP problem too. Meta comment: damn it's good to see something worthwhile at #1 on HN this morning.

eurekin 1y ago

Can concur. I jump between OnShape and FreeCAD in my free time. OnShape feels very polished. I go back to FreeCAD, because I've bought some models, I don't want to publish in OnShape's free tier. It's amazing how much can be done, but anything that I think will take an hour, lasts 6. Many times into the night.

waerhert 1y ago

Though very grateful for projects like FreeCAD, I did encounter a fair bit of frustration while designing this. Especially random crashes, which only got worse as the project got more complex. As far as usage goes, it's mostly a matter of knowing how to do things in FreeCAD. I haven't encountered anything I could not achieve in FreeCAD. Having no experience in other CAD software probably helped sticking to it.

alnwlsn 1y ago
I came to FreeCad with some years background in Inventor, NX and SolidWorks. The jump from any of these to FreeCAD is not very big; you're doing a lot of the same things. But, most of the problems FreeCad has are solved in those, so you can sort of do anything in them and be none the wiser. In FreeCAD, you need to think a little bit more on how it's going to do things. But most people don't learn the big CADs first, they learn Fusion. The few times I've tried Fusion, it's given me a headache. It's probably a bigger headache going the other direction. Then, there are those who do all their CAD work in OpenSCAD. They scare me.
- waerhert 1y ago
  Haha, the thought of using OpenSCAD briefly crossed my mind when I found out about it but I didn't want this project to take a year extra to complete. I do consider exploring some of the other CAD alternatives though if budget permits.
- sheepscreek 1y ago
  OpenSCAD is genuinely great for the right kind of user. If you’re familiar with CSS and have experience with animations in the past, you already possess the skills to be productive with OpenSCAD. In my opinion, the most challenging aspect is getting accustomed to the disconnect between visualizing something and manipulating it, as it’s done through code.
  - pseudosudoer 1y ago
    I really liked OpenSCAD as a concept, but when I started designing things that had a fair bit of complexity the rendering engine really shit the bed. This was a powerful rig as well.

Aurornis 1y ago

I think it’s great that we have FreeCAD as an option and I’m excited to see it mature. That said, I recommend Autodesk Fusion free tier for anyone who just wants to get quality work done quickly. Some will refuse to use it on principle and that’s fine for them, but it really is quality software free for hobbyist use with trivial restrictions. EDIT: Getting downvoted, presumably for suggesting a non-OSS software to get a job done. However I’d recommend anyone who just wants to get work done at least consider the options at their disposal. Not every software decision needs to be made on principle.

nancyminusone 1y ago
Those who have bought into "free" closed source software simply haven't been burned hot enough by it yet. It might take a while, but you'll learn your lesson one of these days.
- Aurornis 1y ago
  Honestly it’s useful enough that I’d pay the several hundred dollars per year if I had to. It’s that much better. The money spent would be well worth it (for me) for all the time saved over using FreeCAD. I’ve used multiple professional CAD packages and I’m just not interested in going back. People sneer and tell me I’m going to get burned some day, but meanwhile I’ve been using it to great effect for many years for hobby projects that I can share around and edit easily.
  - consp 1y ago
    I'm not going to agree to any of the "free" (you sign away all rights to the things you made free) tiers. Not that anyone would ever use my things but it's out of principle. FreeCAD has issues but is good enough for most people. And once you want to do really complicated things and also can cope the hundred of euros per years fine, but don't complain other people should do the same because you can.
    - Aurornis 1y ago

double0jimb0 1y ago

I've found ChatGPT and Claude to be extremely helpful as guides for this sort of stuff. As long as the software has decent/good documentation for the features you are trying to create, the AI does a great job telling you how to do things. There's definitely deep end stuff that the AI doest have enough reference material for, but I find it much quicker than blinding clicking through stuff or speeding watching YouTube videos. You can also ask it to build a study guide for you to help build foundational knowledge. But as always, expect some hallucinations, so ask it to provide links/references.

waerhert 1y ago
Yes! And when you need advice on an electronic circuit you can export it in netlist format from KiCAD. This is a textbased representation of the schematic which is very understandable by LLMs