CAD Software Suggestion

I am currently on win10 but have been toying with mint and liking it. I intend on fully switching over soon. I have also been toying with the idea of some simple 3D modeling, like making custom parts for projects around my house. Maybe using a CAD software to generate stls for a 3D print or using it to spec out parts for a design made out of aluminum extrusion (like 8020) little things like that. I was thinking about getting a solidworks hobbyist license for 45 a year but solidworks doesn't support Linux. I could keep a Windows dual boot HDD, but fuck that. Any suggestions on a CAD software that fits? Have a gaming PC with a 3060 and some beefy hardware.

ScottE ,

FreeCAD. It's fantastic but takes some getting used to. I recommend the Ondsel fork - it's still free and open source except for the cloud storage which you can ignore. Ondsel includes some newer features and some interface changes.

Nebulizer ,

I would also recommend checking out salome. It has a parametric CAD module like you would be used to in SolidWorks. It felt a little less finicky to me than freecad , and I also think it has more controllable STL generation compared to freecad.

eugenia ,
@eugenia@lemmy.ml avatar

FreeCAD is what you need for 3D cad/cam or 3d printing. And for 2D cad, or 2D cad/cam, there's the free GPL version of QCad (recommended to buy the full version for $40 to get cad/cam and more import/export file support from autocad). Anything else (librecad, openscad, Design etc) are not as well rounded imho. And then there's onshape, but that's not Free software.

Prunebutt ,

I use FreeCAD, but if you don't want to learn that stuff (it's quite fiddly), maybe give Dune 3D a shot.

Or OpenSCAD

rambos ,

Im trying to move from windows to linux and from solidworks to freecad completely. Its not easy at all, even SW 2008 is so advanced. Im not giving up tho 😉

IceFoxX ,

Plasticity

wargreymon2023 ,

MS paint

Doombot1 ,

I’ve tried out FreeCAD and it’s decent - but it’s really tough to get a hang of. Ondsel has a bit of a better interface imo and is based directly off of FreeCAD. Maybe give either of those a shot?

tpihkal ,

Have you looked at OnShape? It's browser based and cloud based (your models are open to the public if you use it for free) but it's pretty solid for basic parametric 3d modeling. As well, it comes from an ex-Solidworks founder and feels very familiar but very limited.

I'm a Solidworks Certified Pro and would definitely use it myself, but I'm primarily on Windows so I'm always using Solidworks.

a_fancy_kiwi ,

I've seen some youtubers recommend OnShape. It's a browser based CAD app so it should work fine.

Shdwdrgn ,

A lot will depend on your preferred workflow, and since you mentioned SolidWorks I assume that means you prefer a more GUI-oriented approach. However as an alternative, if you are comfortable with more of a programming approach, you might look in to OpenSCAD. Most things are done from a more primitive standpoint in how you create each part of an object, but I like having the direct control over every aspect.

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