Thanks. I’ll take it for a spin. > On Jul 31, 2020, at 2:53 PM, Bruce Layne <[email protected]> wrote: > > I've been using FreeCAD and I do like it quite a bit. It's very > powerful. The two downsides I see: > > 1) It's currently at version 0.19. It's not polished software. It's > definitely usable as is, but I save my work often. It does crash > occasionally, usually when I do something stupid but sometimes for no > reason that I can discern. > > 2) Like GIMP, the open source user interface isn't the most intuitive. > Engraved text in FreeCAD is a good example. Switch from the Part > workbench to the Draft workbench. Select the ShapeString tool. Enter > the text, text height and set the path to a TrueType font (it doesn't > use the system installed fonts). Switch back to the Part workbench, > select the shape string that was just created and then select the > Extrude tool to make it into a 3D object. You can then make a union of > the 3D text with another 3D object for raised text, or make a cut of the > 3D text from another object for engraved text. > > I've been using FreeCAD to put website addresses on the custom parts I'm > designing that are 3D printed on my MSLA resin 3D printer. The > resolution is good enough that a simple font would probably be legible > in 1mm tall font (not with my old eyes!), although I usually make the > text 2mm or 3mm tall. > > The above FreeCAD disadvantage #1 is helping with disadvantage #2. The > less intuitive user interface features are evolving to be more intuitive > as the software matures, and that's a good thing. Unfortunately, it > introduces a third disadvantage: > > 3) The FreeCAD demo videos on YouTube are quickly obsolete. Many times, > I've found a video that explains some feature I want to use in FreeCAD, > but I'm using a later version of FreeCAD so the demo is fairly useless > because not only have the buttons all moved, many have disappeared to be > replaced by different buttons as a more intuitive method is > implemented. Overall, it's moving in the right direction but FreeCAD > still has a few growing pains. > > I'd be a jerk to complain that the completely awesome free open source > software isn't perfect, and doesn't work exactly the way I think it > should. I currently have three different parts that I designed in > FreeCAD, printing on three different 3D printers. I've only scratched > the surface of what FreeCAD can do (finite element analysis, anyone?), > but I'm definitely a satisfied customer. > > > > > On 7/31/20 3:09 PM, Todd Zuercher wrote: >> Other free Linux based options might be Inkscape with G-code Tools, or >> Freecad. But both of them might be more painful to learn/use than what >> you're doing now. Of those 2 Freecad is probably the most powerful, but >> also the most cumbersome and difficult to use. > > > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
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