FreeCad Tips for Beginners

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Revision as of 10:45, 12 January 2018 by Russ hensel (talk | contribs) (→‎End)
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This is an article started by Russ Hensel, see http://www.opencircuits.com/index.php?title=Russ_hensel for a bit of info. Look at the page history to see if I am still actively working on it. If not I still may come back at a later time.

Introduction

FreeCAD is a nice, powerful, Python enabled, free, open source 3D Modeling Program. It is not cloud based, it needs no Internet connection. It is however not finished, not well polished, and not entirely intuitive. It does have a community devoted to its use and development. Despite the shortcomings it is a very nice program ( and getting better). This instructable is a supplement to other tutorials and tries to fill in some gaps, expose some gotchas, and give you a mental model for using the program. There are lots of useful web pages and tutorials on the program, see the Links section and check them out.

How To

To best understand this document you should:

  • Install FreeCad
  • Download the Files from this instructable ( will be at github in a bit ...... )
  • Work along In FreeCad as you read the information here
  • Look at the other FreeCad links I have provided.

The files I have provided are easy to mess up if you open them in FreeCad and make an unintentional change. So keep the files in a safe place and work on copies. If a file seems messed up delete it and make a new copy from the original.

+ FreeCad Orientation: Look at the Object =

Lets open FreeCad and then open the first file: object_1.FCStd ( use the menu File → Open ). This item is not a anything useful, but it is just complex enough to illustrate a few of the techniques of making objects in FreeCad. It is a combination of a sphere, rectangular solid and cylinder. It has a long hole drilled down through its length. Lets take a look at it.

<Image of objedt>


Gotcha – the FreeCad User interface is highly customizable, I am using it here just as it default downloads and installs. Use care if you modify the interface; I have not found a one button way of returning it to its default state ( aside from a clean installation ).

Just below the menu is a list of icons that looks like this:


< icons >

Each icon has some pop up ( or hover text when the mouse is over the icon ) that names the icons function, I will use these as names for the icons. The first icon (Fits the whole contents on the screen ) should be pressed on pretty much any occasion you are having trouble figuring out what is going on. This is because FreeCad can easily get zoomed in way to much, or on the other hand, zoomed way out. Either can stop you from seeing anything like what you expect; tis is another Gotcha.

Farther along there are a series of icons that rotate the object ( this can also be done with the mouse or keyboard key, but that is more confusing, so learn how later ) The first of these icons ( Set to axonometric view ) is often good for a general view of the object. The rest set the view along one of the three axies ( x, y, or z ). ( Set to bottom view ) is one example. Try them all. Get comfortable.



What a Simple Object is Made of: Look at the Components

Find the Combo View Panel, if you have trouble finding it look at the menu: (View → Panels → Combo View checked ) Also note that panels can be resized and pushed around in the FreeCad window so it could be a bit hard to find. Click on “Model Tab” at top of the Combo View Panel


< image of tree view >

Fuse Difference

Any 3D solid is a drill or a punch. You can “machine” parts using any solid a a tool.


Gear Part PartDesign Mesh

Cutting out unnecessary material in a gear

Circular holes or other regular shapes Using sketches for holes

Additional Links

End