[TriEmbed] Looking for recommendation

[Michael Fulbright]

Interesting this came up as I was about to try out some of the open 
source solutions.  For 3d printing I always use OpenSCAD as all the 
things I print are described simply but combining cubes, cylinders, etc 
or can be made by extruding a 2D profile.  I can whip out most things in 
no time.

I'm making a platform for a telescope so it will track the sky (called 
an equatorial platform 
http://www.reinervogel.net/Plattform/Plattform_e.html) and have worked 
out all the dimensions and would like to mock it up to verify before 
cutting wood.  I tried FreeCAD as I like the idea of using python to 
construct the model but the learning curve appears to be fairly 
substantial and honestly I think I could make a 1/3 scale model from 
foam board significantly faster.  Also the UI felt glitchy and snapping 
didn't seem to work consistently.  I was running a 18.0.3 snap version 
for ubuntu which perhaps is part of the problem.

I've used sketchup and it took almost no time to get a model in it but I 
really don't like using cloud based tools.

I basically want the open source equivalent of turbo cad from years ago 
that I could quickly throw together stuff.

All the components of the platform are rectangular boxes or arcs so 
nothing fancy needed.  I just want to put them together to verify 
dimensions and things will roughly fit/align.

Curious what open source solutions people are using for these tasks.

Michael Fulbright

On 4/14/20 10:52 AM, Kevin McClaning via TriEmbed wrote:
> John --
>
> Yeah, that's true. But open source software is usually good enough 
> (e.g. LibreOffice, Ubuntu, etc).
>
> The problem I've run into is putting the time and effort into learning 
> a package (SketchUp, Komodo, MS Money, MS Office and lately, Windows) 
> and having it either die or go to a software license model (where they 
> want a yearly fee). Or, they want me to put all my info on the web, 
> under onerous license agreements.
>
> My use cases aren't often deep or subtle enough to need the 
> latest/greatest.
>
> Kevin
>
> On 4/14/20 8:48 AM, John Vaughters via TriEmbed wrote:
>> Jeff,
>>
>> You are going to be disappointed with FreeCAD. Open Source CAD has 
>> not and probably will never catch up to paid versions. But for those 
>> on a budget and has time, open source is still pretty good and useful.
>>
>> John Vaughters
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Monday, April 13, 2020, 05:42:37 PM EDT, Jeff Highsmith via 
>> TriEmbed <triembed at triembed.org> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I haven’t tried FreeCAD, but I have Rhino and SolidWorks at work 
>> (designing exhibits for a kids museum, some electromechanical) and I 
>> prefer OnShape, for its ease of use (over SolidWorks and Rhino) and 
>> its parametric modeling (over Rhino). It’s also great to be able to 
>> use OnShape on a variety of devices. My understanding is that OnShape 
>> was created by the folks who created SolidWorks.
>>
>> But now I’m off to download and try FreeCAD.
>>
>> Jeff :)
>>
>>
>>
>>>> One more vote for FreeCAD, which I have used for several years, but 
>>>> I will say that I started using OnShape a few months ago and I 
>>>> haven't used FreeCAD since. I love being able to design a part 
>>>> right on my mobile phone.  I still have to use my PC to slice the 
>>>> part before printing, but everything else I do on my phone.
>>>>
>>>        I too use FreeCAD (you can create your objects by coding if you
>>> are comfortable with python) and openscad. If you are going to use a
>>> commercial solution, you can choose not to beat around the bush and
>>> just go solidworks, which has a cheap/free .edu license. Everyone
>>> else is measured against solidworkds.
>>
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>
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