I REALLY loved how many people came up to me whilst I was trading #StoRPer to talk about @FreeCAD I freaking LOVED that people knew my tee logo was out of date, loved the excitement people had around the coming V1. Also properly humbling how many of you thanked me for the FreeCAD book. Ace. #opensource#CAD
Say I wanted to do #3Dmodeling (for #3Dprinting), which #CAD software should I go for? Maker, selling some stuff. Parametric is a must.
I use #Shapr3D which is great but getting pricier ($300/year). My subscription is up for renewal and I’m on the fence. I don’t know if I want to get into #Fusion360 because I don’t trust Autodesk (free for <$1000 profit, $680/year otherwise).
Oddly enough, #SolidWorks has a maker version now ($48/year for <$2000 profit, a bajillion otherwise).
I'm at a crossroads with 4.0 and future development. For a long while, I've been considering a complete re-write. The only way I think I would consider that is if other devs signed on. Otherwise, there are various paths forward with refactoring. And/or splitting out CAM from the rest of the package to provide more freedom of UI expression.
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there are so many things I would do differently looking back. JS has evolved, browsers have evolved, tool chains have evolved. I would like the final product to be able to be served statically without a server and retaining the options for cloud connected features (as long as they're not necessary for normal functions). I would focus on making a CLI / library for everything first instead of building the UI in lock step. nodejs was not a thing when this project started. I'd like to offload more code into WASM from the start, etc.
What's the intersection of the #javascript#cad and #maker communities here? Anyone interested in both high-performance JavaScript and CAD/CAM want to join in?
Met a really interesting person this morning who is setting up a bike business which includes frame building from recycled materials. They want to learn @FreeCAD so they have DL'd my book. I know very little about frames, but I wanted some #CAD practice so... #biketooter#fc3d
Feeling relatively clear today so thought I'd get a few of the wife's requested prints designed but for some reason #FreeCAD just wouldn't start so went looking for alternatives and stumbled upon #dune3d and OMG what a banging new #CAD tool, it's a very fast core clearly built around keyboard shortcuts but has a lovely context menu you bring up with space and for designing simple parts has absolutely everything I need today. I am very impressed. #3dprinting#design#partdesign
I'm looking at a CSG to STEP convertor[1] and ask: why not make @OpenSCAD export STEP? No need for any extra libraries, hopefully. Also, one fewer step for impedance matching. All you need is to generate hulls and minks automatically, using primitives available in STEP. Surely someone has done that before, right? Github is vast, it must be in there somewhere.
I don't know if I shared this tool, F3D, or not:
Anyway it is a fast compact 3D model viewer for Mac, Win, and Lin. https://f3d.app/
Recommended as it is free and fine. #3d#cad#viewer
@inkscape isn't just a beauty and powerful application for #artists, but with extensions like #gCODEtools and #LinuxCNC it becomes a free & open hub for #CAD & #CAM projects. It only requires the investment of a @Raspberry_Pi 5 to set this up. Amazing that it works so much better than #Adobe#Illustrator while cheaper as an iMac (including the CNC machine), isn't it?
Synthesiser oscillator control panel schematic, redesigned to use an ARM microcontroller instead of logic chips. The second image is a sketch of what it will physically look like. 6 LED switches and 4 faders. #synth#electronics#cad#kicad
Unsere letzte Folge ist zwar schon etwas her, aber wer sie noch nicht gehört hat: Wir sprachen u.a. über #KiCad 8.0 – #Electronics#Design#Automation mit vielen
Okay I have to say having thumbnails for all #3dPrinting / #CAD files is an immense help and very satisfying, especially when drag'n'dropping files around or into :prusaslicer: #PrusaSlicer for example 👍
What? A comprehensive platform for the design of electronic circuits / printed circuit boards.
◉Tools for editing electrical / PCB diagrams
◉View designs in 3D for better understanding
◉Extensive library of electronic components
◉Facilitates the generation of Gerber files for manufacturing
Realizing #CAD tasks (#Blender) work well as escapism. You can lose yourself in such work, fully immersed in 3D design world, and hours will just fly by without notice.
Eventually I got a trial 3D print started and I've shifted back to a software integration task I've been neglecting. Made some progress there, so it wasn't a total escape today.
Turning my attention to supper now I think, while tending that rough first 3Dprint.