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this post was submitted on 07 May 2025
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What were you using BEFORE FreeCAD if it has MORE sketch constraints?? Man, I found it so limiting compared to NX. Especially the sketching. And surfacing appeared to be basically nonexistent. Maybe I'm too spoiled with NX, but I dont think I could function for even a day on FreeCAD. It's worse than SolidWorks (and I hate SolidWorks). I really, really wanted to like it. I even gave it a second chance when 1.0 dropped.
Fusion 360 and before that Google Sketchup
Ah, ok. I've been using NX since it was still Unigraphics, so I am admittedly biased. I haven't tried any of the newer things like Fusion or Sketchup. Might I ask what industry you use FreeCAD for at a professional level? Just curiosity. I'm automotive interiors tooling, so I'm pretty dependent on strong surfacing tools. Lots of A-surface stuff.
Also, how would you model this up in FreeCAD? This took me about 15 minutes in NX, with one sketch and some offset curves. I was making a 3D printed tag for my daughter.
I tried for over two hours in FreeCAD, but only got this far. I could not extrude individual bodies from one sketch, I had to make separate sketches for each shape. Offset curves didn't appear to be a thing, and I couldn't find any form of synchronous modeling tools. So, making those raised outlines was a whole other challenge. I ended up having to extrude a sheet taller than the main body, then thicken it. I couldn't figure out how to select face edges for use in other commands, either. I ended up giving up.
I use freecad for mainly functional 3D Prints, many of which I sell on Etsy and eBay. You can see my designs here: https://www.printables.com/@16bitvirtual/models
As for how to do yourbunny. For the most part, you are falling into the biggest hurdle for FreeCAD. FreeCAD has constructing geometry which cannot interfere with the model. But it also means that if you aren't very specific with your design it will fail. For example with the Bunny you need to define in your sketch what you'd like to pad or pocket out.
Then you work on adding details
The constructor lines are why I love FreeCAD since in other software I had to be very specific on what I can add without voids being accidentally added into my model.