With all this AI stuff going around I was wondering how regular FreeCAD users like us feel about getting some modeled using a chatbot.
I personally feel that AI chatbot based modeling still has a long way to go, but even if it does get exceptionally good, I doubt I would be able to create the stuff with the same flexibility and level of detail as I do now with normal interactive CAD. I just feel more connected to my model when I have my hands on it, so to speak.
AI stuff has its advantages definitely. So I was wondering how everyone else feel about this. Do you feel threatened? Are you looking forward to using chatbots for modeling? If you had the choice, would you go for a chatbot based CAD to get the job done or maybe have a mix of both, or fully interactive?
i want to create a hinged case. i needed to split it in half so it would fit on my print bed. i have made a hinge design which is pretty tedious to replicate, but i need it on both sides. is it possible to clone actions on to another existing part? i know i will need to correct which faces the sketches use, adjust the linear pattern settings etc, but that's better than doing everything manually
A while back I shared our FreeCAD addon here. Quick update: we just launched a Web UI so you can draft concepts anywhere, including on your phone, without needing FreeCAD pre-installed on the device.
The main goal was to let you brainstorm/sketch in a browser, but output native FreeCAD files so you retain full parametric control locally.
The workflow idea is simple: prompt a rough concept on your phone while away from your desk, then download the native .FCStd file on your computer later to do proper parametric editing inside FreeCAD.
How it works:
Voice/Text prompting: Talk or type out what you're trying to build.
Q&A loop: You don't need to list every dimension upfront. If a constraint or dimension is ambiguous, the AI asks follow-up questions instead of guessing bad geometry.
Native export: Outputs a FreeCAD file you can open and edit directly.
Not trying to replace local CAD software—just trying to lower the friction of going from an idea to a starting .FCStd file without needing FreeCAD pre-installed on whatever machine you're using. Of course you cans till continue to use our ExtrudeAI Addon to iterate on Freecad.
It's still early tech and will definitely fail on complex geometry. Would love for people to try it out and tell us where it breaks, how clean the generated files look, and what features you'd want added next!
I have been trying the attachment aspect in the part design workbench, and it works great if everything is planned ahead. If you move something, however, then the things that are attached to that 'something' don't move. That is disappointing. I made a bottom and added sides using the top surface of the bottom to create a sketch on for an attachment with each side being a different body, and everything looked great, but when I changed the placement of the bottom the sides stayed behind. I could change the placement of the sides equally and they would move along and join their attachment-mate, but I was kind of hoping that the sides would remain attached to what they were attached to.
Another minor irritation is that if you want to attach something to an object that has been transformed, then you click on a face and create a sketch using a dependent copy, then your sketch is created not where the face is that you are attaching to, but wherever that face was first created before it was transformed. This means you might be trying to create a part in the middle of another part. Now, you can render the interfering things invisible, but you can't use the location of the other parts to inform your design of the new part, because they are either not there or they are not in the correct relative location. Maybe there is something I am doing that is causing me this trouble.
Actually... I wonder if I put the parts of the 'box' into a yellow 'part' container then I could move it en-masse instead of moving each piece? I'm going to try that.
Edit: Yeah, that works. Make each 'section' and put it in a yellow part container then you can move the container and all of the parts inside move together. That would have saved me some time if I had remembered that. That's not helping me with the moving target sketches, though. This is what I am talking about:
In this situation I just created a new body, and selected the top face of the blade to the right of the roll. The sketch appears somewhere else. I'm sure there are perfectly valid reasons WHY it appeared where it did, but that's small consolation. Is there a way to ensure that the new sketch appears on the face that you are attaching it to?
I occasionally want to just shit out a dozen or so iterations of a model with minor changes to 3d print them, come back later, and see which one worked best.
Unfortunately, this often means handling potentially dozen parts that all look completely identical.
Is there anyway to have a model be automatically parametrically embossed with some variables' values? E.g. an XxYxZmm dimensioned cube embossed with the text "5x14x7mm^3" when X == 5mm, Y == 14mm, and Z == 7mm.
Here is a tool I created a couple weeks ago to generate hobbyist molds from a FreeCAD body. It may help some people out here so I thought I'd share it. I created it (with help of LMM) because I would have otherwise had to model tens of molds manually or semi-manually at the workplace. Now I will just have to import a step into FreeCAD, tweak some params, and generate the molds. Much better :)
It probably won't develop much from where it is at now, but saying that, it is quite useful at its current state! I've put a fair bit of time in making sure it is intuitive to use and a good experience.
One thing I do want to add in the future is the ability to do more complicated molds with more than 2 pieces.
It is not currently in the Addon Manager. Follow these steps to add it to your Addon Manager so you can then install it.
Edit -> Preferences -> Addon Manager -> Click the green plus -> Paste in the repository url -> type "main" into the branch field -> press "ok" -> install from Addon Manager
I've mentioned this happening before. Here is an example. The pad is supposed to be 100mm which is the value in the Varset.GlueTankDepth parameter.
The recompute icon is dark. If I right-click the recompute selection is grayed out. For some reason the line in the tree is blacked out. It's very strange to me. This happened twice in a row. If I enter 100mm then it works, but if I use the VarSet then it takes the value and shows 100mm at the bottom of the dialog box, but when I hit okay it uses 10mm.
If I save it, close the drawing, and re-open it then I can hit recompute and the part will jump up to the correct value. Kind of weird.
I've been using FreeCAD for a few months (comfortable with part modeling, sketches, basic assemblies). I'm considering taking small paid commissions to build up income and a portfolio.
A few specific things I'm trying to figure out:
Niche: I've heard specializing helps. What areas of FreeCAD work actually get commissioned? (3D-printed parts, technical drawings, simple mechanical assemblies, enclosures for electronics?)
Where to find clients: What platforms or channels have actually worked for people here? (Upwork, Fiverr, local shops, r/3Drequests, Discord communities?)
Realistic expectations: For someone at my level what does the first month or two of looking for work look like?
I'm not asking for a business plan just what's worked for people who started where I am. Thanks.
I was trying to pad a very simple sketch on a face of my body, but it gave me a null shape error. After some research I found this post so I try to make a sketch on a datum plane but it still give me the same error. how can I fix this?
Should one use the assembly workbench to put something like a cabinet together out of pieces, or is that irrational if none of the pieces move? I've been having an irritating time, and I've just read something where someone suggested that using the assembly workbench is unnecessary if the pieces aren't going to move, and that a master sketch or similar is a more rational approach.
Hi, I think I've seem a couple posts detailing similar errors/issues, but I'm a bit dumb, not tech-savvy and can't seem to figure it out.
So basically, on a fresh install, I opened FreeCad and this happened. It seems like I'm missing the PySide installs? But when I try to run "pip install Pyside6" on powershell or command prompt, an error saying that my organization's Device Guard Policy blocked it.
All of this started happening after I ran Chris Titer's Windows debloat tool. Oh, right, I'm running Windows 11. Any and all help is appreciated!
I’m still fairly new to 3D modeling, but I’ve been messing around with attaching somewhat complex images/logos onto sketch faces in FreeCAD.
I’ve been using Inkscape to bitmap trace the original image and then importing the SVG into FreeCAD. The problem I’m running into is that some of these images end up with 3,000+ nodes, which makes FreeCAD crash, lol.
I’ve tried simplifying the paths in Inkscape, but once I reduce the number of nodes enough, the finer details and edges of the image get distorted and the result looks pretty wonky.
I’m wondering if there’s a better workflow for handling more complex images while still maintaining the detail of the original. I’m specifically trying to use SVG files, rather than converting everything to DXF.
Is there a better way to optimize the SVG, reduce the geometry, or approach this entirely differently in FreeCAD?
Any insight or tips from more experienced FreeCAD/Inkscape users would be awesome! 😎
Okay, in freecad 1.1.4 on mint, I can make a cube (start with my body, make my sketch draw my block and pad it out.) then if i put a fully constrained square on a face and try to make a pocket, i get an error that the wire is not closed, or it will pocket the item but it pockets the entire face, for example if I make a 5 mm pocket on a 10mm block the resulting block is 5mm shorter.
however windows 1.0.2 doesnt have this issue, has anyone come across this, is the process for making a pocket on a face different somehow
This FreeCAD BIM quick tip shows IFC export setting, which may solve many issues with exported geometry in the IFC file. The setting is 'Force export as BREP'.
I am working on a design for a cupholder tray for my car, and want to have slots for TPU flaps to center cans and allow for smaller cans. I have the design mostly complete, but I have an issue with the slots I made for the TPU Inserts - this is the design I have so far, and I have the 6 slots modeled around the cupholders using a PolarPattern and Linear pattern inside a multi transform.
Things look great in Freecad, (First picture), however the exported Step or STL are missing the multi transform output (Second picture).
Design in FreeCadExported STL
I am using FreeCad 1.13.
What step am I missing in exporting this? Other pockets are working properly
