![]() However, as I would like a 3D printer then 3D CAD is a must. Working at the time with sheet metal, laser cutters and CNC folders, it was frustrating that they didn't understand its potential and I finished my career with 2D. I always wanted to use 3D as I could see the huge potential but the people I worked for did not have the vision I had. This will allow me to open and edit existing drawings I have. My learning of the 2D side will be more understanding the user interface and commands for the free version I start to use. I started learning at night school on the R12 DOS version before we got the first AutoCAD LT version on Windows 3.1 which I then progressed through until the 2016 version. It's not free, but it's not that expensive and I'd definitely consider that as an option if I hadn't already built up a library of designs drawn in other tools.Ĭlick to expand.No, not learning 2D cad as started using AutoCAD way back in 1995. SolidWorks now have a "budget" version as well. There are plenty of others, but those are probably the most widely used options. I've used CADQuery a lot when I want to produce lots of similar models as it can be automated easily. OpenSCAD & CADQuery - good if you like programming, not good if you want an interactive GUI.I think the free version is a bit limited, but I don't know the details of what is different. It suits some people but it's very hard to work parametrically and hence tweaking a dimension on which other stuff depends will result in a huge amount of repeated work. Completely different way of working to parametric CAD applications. DesignSpark Mechanical: the free version is lacking a lot of (arguably) essential features so I would give it a miss.Once you've figured out you need to use the "Part Design" toolbench, it's fairly easy to transition back and forth between FreeCAD and OnShape (or SolidWorks or ZW3D or SolidEdge or.). FreeCAD: Not as capable as Fusion or OnShape, but for simple-ish models (those without complex assemblies) it's very powerful and being open source it'll stay free and available for ever.SolidEdge community edition - no idea what it's like: I haven't tried it, but SolidEdge professional is very good.It also works a little differently to many other CAD applications so can be a little hard to transition to/from it. Autodesk Fusion 360: powerful, but bear in mind that you'll have to renew the free licence every year and they have a history of removing features for the free version so you might get stung in the future.It's only likely to be an issue if you later want to patent something or possibly if your plagiarising someone else's work! For most hobbyist applications, that really doesn't matter (in practice no one will ever find them amongst the millions of online projects). OctoPrint is an open-source, free, and browser-based interface for controlling and monitoring the Ender 3 and the printing process. However, it's only viable if you don't mind the fact that others could (in theory) get hold of your designs - they're all available online. The best (by a wide margin) free one I've found is OnShape.
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