Intro to FreeCAD workshop March 26th and 28th

Events and Announcements
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I’ve been playing with FreeCAD for almost a month now, and I’ve started to get to the point where I am able to model more complex objects pretty easily. I thought I’d put together a little intro workshop to help get people up and running and get past the fairly steep learning curve.

A case modeled in FreeCAD
A case modeled in FreeCAD1214×800 48.3 KB

The same case, but with the modelled PCBs inside it
The same case, but with the modelled PCBs inside it1142×739 32.8 KB

The same case, 3d printed
The same case, 3d printed4032×3024 2.74 MB

Topics covered:

  • Basic part modelling workflow / terminology.
  • Parameters.
  • Building things with multiple bodies that reference each other.

We probably won’t go into the assembly workflow (for making interconnected moving parts) since I haven’t done any of that yet.

  • The workshop is open to anybody, members and non-members alike. Some CAD experience is strongly recommended, but not required.
  • Capacity: ~8 people
  • Duration: 1-2 hours - I’ll have something around an hour of prepared material, and then I will stick around for another hour to chat/problem solve.
  • Bring a laptop with FreeCAD 1.0 installed so you can follow along / try stuff
  • Cost: Free, as in CAD

Friday March 28th, 1-3pm - Main table @ VHS

  • Yes I am attending!
  • I would like to attend but that date doesn’t work for me!
0 voters

If it gets over filled, or there’s lots of interest from people who can’t attend this date, I can run another session.

3 Likes
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I’m interested but probably not available that day, and also usually only free in the evenings.

1 Like
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i’d love a fusion 360 iteration of this class one day too. Just throwing that out there in the world if someone’s interested.

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Lots of interest!

Adding another slot next wednesday evening - please undo your vote in the poll above if you’re coming to this one instead!

Assuming this goes well, I will do this again in a few months, so if you can’t make either - fear not!

  • I am attending: Wednesday March 26th, 2025 - 6-8pm
0 voters
2 Likes
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I could host a beginners one! I actually started in freeCAD recently, and then switched to fusion 360. I felt about 1000x more productive in 360 :cry: (which I didn’t want to happen because, open source)

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Interested, but sad that I spent the last month or so crawling up the broken-glass part of the Freecad learning curve by myself already…

Would like to figure out Assemblies but no luck so far.

Anyone used VarSets vs Spreadsheets much?

I managed to use a spreadsheet config table to drive a parametric variable part , but it required following a youtube video and doing weird stuff in Just the Right Way, so couldn’t do it again w/o rewatching that video.

“Save Often”!

1 Like
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I’ve tried varsets and spreadsheets, and spreadsheets seemed glitchy and changes wouldn’t always show up immediately. VarSets seem to work great 10/10 would use again.

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I tried doing a tentacle bit using varsets and then again w/ spreadsheets.
I found varsets really painful because the UI is half baked - the only way to rename / set the data type is to delete and recreate, and the only way to edit the mouseover info string is via the python interface.

I gave up on trying to use subshape binders to make an assembly of variants - couldn’t get them to keep their positions - when the master body recomputes they all pop back to it’s pos.

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First workshop is tonight, 6-8pm

Bring a laptop with FreeCAD 1.0 installed, and if you’ve got a project you want to build there’s no better way to cement new knowledge than to start using it immediately!

Looking forward to seeing some of y’all tonight!

3 Likes
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Workshop #2 is on for today, 1-3pm. Looking forward to seeing y’all!

2 Likes
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Great session Cory. Thanks for putting it together and for building a real world non-trivial model we could follow along with.

1 Like