I'm currently deciding whether to do a design in #OpenSCAD or #FreeCAD or maybe some of both?
I may convert an old 12-chord autoharp from my wife's family into a 21-chord unit by making narrow chord bars. If I do that, I'd like to try #3DPrinting the chord bars with integral TPU dampers, programmatically generated.
Button rank: Which of three rows should the button go on?
Notes: Which notes are in the chord?
Strings: Note names of every string, along with their relative station.
Name: Chord name printed into the bar.
Then I could remove from the model sections of the TPU damper part of the bar for every string corresponding with a note named in the list of notes for a particular damper, so that it doesn't damp the notes in that cord.
This feels programmatic, and OpenSCAD would be a rational choice. I know that one can program macros for FreeCAD, but it's harder to make FreeCAD macros part of a project instead of part of an installation as far as I know. On the other hand, I'd love to generate STEP files that express more semantics, rather than STL files, which argues again for FreeCAD. Maybe I could find a way to drive this from a spreadsheet in FreeCAD instead of with code. 🤔
Or maybe we should stick to the 12-chord version for now until we decide this is too limiting. 😀
None of the chiral einstein printable models I found included a CAD file, but one showed an image of the constraints implemented in what looked like SolidWorks. I started over from scratch in #FreeCAD instead. I didn't re-implement the version I found; I made something that looks a bit different. These are for my favorite mathematician, with whom I consulted on tile size and radius of orienting curves.
This would have been a great candidate for Sketcher having a single "add midpoint to line" feature though! It would have made this project a lot easier.
And yes, I'll upload the it all somewhere when I've tested it out. And if you had already printed out some of the ones from RichiH on Printables and would like to use this design to make something that works in his system, it will be possible to edit the BaseLength to 10 and the radius to Constraints.BaseLength / 2 and they should just work together.
The past few days of #3DPrinting has been a set of different sizes of filament rollers for my dry box.
Not satisfied to just tweak my design by hand for my own use, I've made it a fairly robust, highly-parameterized #FreeCAD model that you can adjust to your needs and whatever bearings you have sitting around or find to buy for cheap.
These were inspired by a set I found on a web search, for which only STLs were available, and which didn't meet my needs, but I re-designed it from scratch to be parametric.
Ok, here's where my head is on the topic of an open vlogger's camera. I've designed a shell that will fit a variety of SBCs, sensor & lens combos, custom input systems, power sources, and rear display panels. The FreeCAD source file is to a large extent parametrically driven so that the shell can be rearranged for different dimensions without too much fuss. The idea is to take care of the fiddly camera bits and make it easily hackable for personal preferences. #mdc#openHardware#FreeCAD
My Lenovo T490 laptop broke, so I bought a T16 gen2 (Intel; required for highest resolution screen) to replace it. I've found the 14" to be a little limiting when doing #FreeCAD work, and while doing parametric CAD it's really nice to have a numeric keypad. I'm having a bit of trouble getting used to the offset keyboard, but I think it will end up being a good tradeoff in the end.
I could not find any information online about running Linux on the T16 gen2 — it's only a few months old. So I thought I'd report that everything so far seems to work, including WiFi and the webcam, which I guess isn't the one from Intel that requires a blob on Linux. (This was a big gamble; I can breathe again!)
I don't have the fingerprint reader or WWAN to test Linux with.
I did have to configure in BIOS to trust third party certificates signed by Microsoft before secure boot would work, bringing my SSD over from the T490 to the T16. That was the only change I needed to make.
I'm sad that there's no microSD slot any more. I used mine as a local backup target on the T490 and I have a 1TB microSD specifically for that. Now I need to figure out what to do for local backups, or whether I give up and say network backups are enough.
$ lsusb -t<br></br>/: Bus 04.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/4p, 10000M<br></br>/: Bus 03.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/12p, 480M<br></br> |__ Port 4: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Video, Driver=uvcvideo, 480M<br></br> |__ Port 4: Dev 2, If 1, Class=Video, Driver=uvcvideo, 480M<br></br> |__ Port 4: Dev 2, If 2, Class=Video, Driver=uvcvideo, 480M<br></br> |__ Port 4: Dev 2, If 3, Class=Video, Driver=uvcvideo, 480M<br></br> |__ Port 4: Dev 2, If 4, Class=Application Specific Interface, Driver=, 480M<br></br> |__ Port 10: Dev 3, If 0, Class=Wireless, Driver=btusb, 12M<br></br> |__ Port 10: Dev 3, If 1, Class=Wireless, Driver=btusb, 12M<br></br>/: Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/3p, 20000M/x2<br></br>/: Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/1p, 480M<br></br><br></br>
I'm currently getting by with a mixture of Design Spark Mechanical, FreeCAD, and OpenSCAD for prototyping/editing files, I'd love to find a good alternative that isn't from a predatory company like Autodesk
I'm modeling an index plate (for my Grizzly G0709 lathe) with 120 degree markings in #FreeCAD. The 10° index markings were nearly instantaneous, and 5° index markings didn't take too long with a polar pattern, but the 1° index markings caused FreeCAD to go catatonic for over half an hour. I think this was because of the cuts that overlapped the 5° and 10° marks.
I gave up (force quit) and tried instead rendering the 1° index marks as a sketch with a group of four cuts, then polar patterning resulting cut with 24 copies that didn't overlap with existing cuts, and it rendered in less than half a minute.
I'm doing this with a mostly-transparent scan image in front of it to validate. The dark stripe at the top of the image is the machinists scale I scanned with it to use to make sure it was, well, to scale. The scan wasn't perfectly aligned because the bed on my scanner is a little crooked, though. 😭
Now I just need to get the numbers on it. I might try B612
#3Dprinting people: how do you do #3Dmodelling? I've been using #tinkercad and it's great for simple stuff but I feel like I'm already outgrowing it. What software should I learn? I'm considering #FreeCAD and #Fusion360 but I'm open to other suggestions. I don't want a ridiculous learning curve because I'm just doing hobbyist stuff, but I want something a bit more powerful that I'm less likely to hit the limits of.
A few years ago, I built a #3DPrinting dry box for dispensing filament from a locking sealed plastic container with dessicant. I did two things wrong.
In a container with room for three spools, I hung them all on a common axle, instead of putting rollers in the bottom, which meant disassembling the whole thing any time I wanted to make any change.
I ran the filament out through holes in the lid instead of the side, which made it hard to change even a single roll.
I want to fix both problems, starting with using rollers. I found a design for a spool roller that looked nice in some ways, but uses a fairly restrictive license and doesn't include CAD files for modifying it, and which (for my use with 625 bearings that I have a bunch of) requires M2 countersunk screws whereas I have more M3 available.
So last night I designed a similar set from scratch in #FreeCAD designed for faster printing. Instead of posting a bunch of STLs, I'm going to make the design parametric so that you can adjust it for your own needs and printer and bearing characteristics. For example, the original allows you to select flanged or plain bearings, which means less bearing surface if you are using plain bearings. So I'll let you select the bearing type as well as the size.
I'll release the whole set with a more liberal license when it's tested, along with instructions for modification.
I saw a comment on a recent YouTube video about #FreeCAD that said there was a lot of "toxic positivity" among FreeCAD users. Apparently, this prevents them from seeing glaring flaws when compared against other CAD
I'll fully admit that FreeCAD isn't perfect, and some tasks aren't as convenient as in commercial software...for now. It's getting better thanks to efforts of a small group of unpaid developers
It's a lot easier to improve software when you pay more people to spend the time doing it
When I bought my SK-Tank #3DPrinter a couple years ago, I hadn't learned how to use shape binders in #FreeCAD to design parts around a collection of other parts in particular positions. I didn't like the hotend mount SecKit provided, so I designed my own, but it was hard to make changes to my models.
Of that set, the nozzles I printed in PETG are starting to melt, and before the last time I touched them up had actually caught blobs and caused layer shifting. Didn't happen much, so it took me a while to figure out what was happening.
Today I took my old models, started over from scratch on each body, but used shape binders to the STEP files for the hardware, and between the parts, to design similar but more stable parts, taking advantage of what I've learned in the meantime, like moving the part cooling fan slightly for better airflow, a larger nozzle aperture, . That was substantially faster, and was easier to tweak the models in the middle as I worked through the design.
I left the volcano block in the model even though I changed to a CHC heater block; it is strictly smaller and so will fit, but this leaves my options open if I hate the CHC heater block.
I didn't bother creating an assembly and adding hardware to my design; it's just a bunch of M3 screws and inserts.
I'm now printing the set in ABS on my Qidi X-Max 3 at least to test clearances, and when my glass-filled fiberglass arrives, I might re-print it for additional stiffness after I'm confident in the quality of the design on cheaper normal ABS.
Almost every screw will be fixed with heat-set inserts, which means that I also need to make the pinecil-heatset driver adapter I keep forgetting to get around to making, now that my lathe is back in operational status.☺
Made a new, legible index card for my Grizzly G0709 lathe tonight.
Eventually this might be CNC or laser engraved metal; this print is based on a parametric design in #FreeCAD that I made this past weekend. For now, though, it's a simple laminated print, cut out to fit.
I used the B612 font from Airbus. It's easy to read as promised.
Updated #freecad project: larger silicon carbide crucible mold, a3d printed in PLA. I'll try this out tomorrow. It has thinner and much more upright walls than my previous one, with about 3x the volume in the crucible.
Kia Spectra 56mm throttle body to Mercedes supercharger adapter, design in #freecad printed in PLA, 5% infill for burnout for when I cast this in aluminum.
Using #FreeCAD and my #3DPrinter to make an extremely specific clamp for a laporoscopic repair on a broken plywood #mandolin. This one will go through the f-hole to clamp a loose brace to the top. The holes accommodate an M6 bolt and cross dowel.
I hope this works, otherwise I'll have to take the back off, which is way more hassle!
After 25 years or so, two plastic (nylon) teeth broke in our paper shredder. A bunch of plastic standoffs inside broke into little pieces. Everything else is fine.
I'm trying to convince myself that modeling the gear in #FreeCAD and printing a new one in Taulman 910 PA or PET-CF is a bad idea. (The standoffs would be trivial.) I even ordered a new shredder that is supposed to run longer without being overloaded and cuts into smaller pieces. Yet I'm still looking at the disassembled unit thinking that it's a shame to make one more piece of waste because of a small failure in a nylon part...
As I'm putting my lathe's quick change gearbox back together to start getting the #electronicLeadScrew going, I realized that I don't have a proper bent funnel to get the oil in. The fill port is on the side (the top isn't accessible). But I have a #3DPrinter#FreeCAD and #PrusaSlicer handy.
The angled top is intended to let me print it upside down without supports. The angled bottom faces help the oil go where it is supposed to.
We'll see how that goes.
Hopefully in a bit, some lovely fresh ISO68 oil will fill the sump in the gearbox and I'll be back in business. 🤞
Hardware simulator for a missing tooth electronic ignition system. I need to characterize how sensitive the sensor is so I 3d printed a rotor in PLA using #freecad
A question for #FreeCAD users: For a new part do you make all of your sketches first (ideally on datum planes) and only when they're all constrained do you make the solid?
❓
That's generally how I was taught to make parts to be cut on mills and lathes but for 3D printing I often draw each sketch as they're needed, building up the solid as I go.
Gerade wieder festgestellt: ich mache zu selten was mit #Freecad, hab bis zur nächsten Nutzung einiges vergessen und muss mich dann immer erst wieder reinfummeln. Hilft ja nix. #woodworking
Größere zeitlichen Lücken zwischen der Benutzung von #Freecad lassen bei mir ja wiederkehrende Fragen (Wie war das nochmal?) entstehen. Auch Infos zu Freecad notiere ich jetzt konsequent in #LogSeq
Dann weiß ich zwar beim nächsten Mal die Antwort vermutlich wieder nicht, weiß aber wenigstens, wo ich sie ohne große Suche nachlesen kann. Mach ich ansonsten schon lange. Warum für Freecad nicht? 🤦♂️
I decided to try building #FreeCAD from source. I used a F39 toolbox on my #Fedora 40 #Silverblue and installed the prereqs; most from packages, but pyside2 from pip (inside the toolbox) since it hasn't been packaged in Fedora for years. The segfault I'm getting from libshiboken isn't illuminating to me. I could imagine a missing dependency on a package causing a segfault, or maybe no one is building FreeCAD on Fedora and it just doesn't work on F39. 🤔
Not clear that I'm close enough to the beaten path for this to be worth a bug report, though. Quite likely PEBCAK...
What 3d modeling software do you recommend in the year 2023?
I'm currently getting by with a mixture of Design Spark Mechanical, FreeCAD, and OpenSCAD for prototyping/editing files, I'd love to find a good alternative that isn't from a predatory company like Autodesk