UPDATE - SOLVED:

u/SoulWager and u/DesignWeaver3D hooked it up with what I needed. This video particulary from SoulWager is what got me to a solution. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtkJWGZm6Fs

I'm working on a new design for a drone, I want to add a similar shape as this, but I want it to be seamless, and with control over the thickness and overall shape. Currently I used a pipe function to create the more vertical piece, and a helix function to create the other part. I originally had the idea to pad out a curved shape, and then using the hole function to cut it out, but I wasn't able to get it exactly how I wanted. Does anyone have any tips or a video they could point me too to make a pipe essentially that curves on two axis so I can make a more organic truss. Any help is appreciated.

Hello all,

First time poster - been trying to recreate a mirror cap. Im running into the issue that either the Gordon Surface generation tells me i dont have enough guide rails, or it keeps loading indefinetely. What to do?

Yes i made the sketch with Intersected Projection, and the top guide rails and bottom guide rails are separate splines.

Hello wise ones!
I am trying to create a cone with several 1mm high ribs on the internal face of a cone?
has me beat, any help appreciated, thanks

I am just tinkering around and have only a few hours in FreeCad but I am tying to modify an STL. the original is two parts that combine in the middle, but I want it to be all one solid piece. Part → Boolean → Union combines the two pieces when lined up how I want, but the channel groove and two smaller holes on either side are still there, so what's the best way to get rid of them so the faces are flush?

https://reddit.com/link/1v39fdj/video/hxy2p71biqeh1/player

Can anyone explain this ( please click on post to view video). I'm very new to freecad and I have no clue as to what is going on, for reference I was following a video by Deltahedra titled
New to FreeCAD? Start HERE (Ultimate Beginner Tutorial)

Hello everyone,

As a long-time SketchUp user, I decided a few months ago to try switching to FreeCAD, mostly for financial reasons since I was on SketchUp’s Make plan.

I won’t sugarcoat it, but the transition has been really painful so far, and as I write this, I’m still not sure if I’m going to stick with it. Despite watching hours of video tutorials, I just can’t grasp the logic behind this damn software. Right now, I’m simply trying to design mortise and tenon joints, and I’ve tried three different approaches, all of which ended in total failure.

I took a quick look at the Woodworking workbench, but I’d rather avoid adding another layer on top of FreeCAD. I want to properly understand the fundamentals first, and I’m not in a hurry with my designs anyway.

I started by creating just the tenons, thinking I could create the mortises using a boolean operation later. But trying to align the tenon with the future mortise turned out to be absolute hell. End of game.

Next, I tried using the Assembly workbench, but boolean operations aren’t allowed there. Failure.

Then I tried using LCS (Local Coordinate Systems) to position the studs relative to one another, but I ended up with dependency loops. Failure.

It feels like my only remaining option is to build each part individually with its own tenon and mortise (pocket), and then bring them together in the Assembly workbench. It’s super tedious.

What I completely fail to understand with this software is how and when you are supposed to position elementary parts relative to each other if you actually want to use Boolean operations… assuming that’s even a viable workflow. It totally boggles my mind. How do you guys do it? What approach would you recommend?

Thanks!

Hello FreeCAD community!

I am a mechanical engineer and solo developer. I picked up software development about 8 years ago and found tools I wish I had back when I was making physical designs. Something to prevent the old issue where Bracket.FCStd turns into Bracket_v5_final_final.FCStd and I would probably would not have lost some of my designs from a decade ago.

Software developers have a tool called Git and a hosting service built on it that most of them use called GitHub. Git has been around for about 20 years. If you are unfamiliar, it tracks changes in files so every save point records who changed what and why. It can get quite complicated but it is how just about every major (and minor) piece of software is built and collaborated on.

Unfortunately, the people who move atoms and not just electrons did not get the same opportunity unless you have enough money for a PLM seat. (Don't get me wrong, there are reasons. Merging text is rather simple while merging binaries is nearly impossible.)

I spent the past few months building Nurbly, version control for CAD built on a real Git backbone, made for people focused on physical designs. I have attached a video showing a FreeCAD plugin I have been working on so people who are uncomfortable on the command line don't have to use it as often.

I am looking for a small group of alpha users to run real projects through it and tell me what breaks. If this is interesting to you, please message me and I will send you an invite code.

I do not want to blindside anyone about the business model. The system is designed for open source hosting and there will always be a free tier for open source, plus at least one private repository if you do not want to open source your designs. Unfortunately, CAD files are large compared to text files and when teams get large or need multiple private repositories, there will be a small cost to keep the servers spinning.

Thank you again u/tehfink, u/hagbard2323, u/Kkremitzki, and u/drmacro1, for letting me post here!

https://reddit.com/link/1v3g2xq/video/d85dad72zreh1/player