
FreeCAD Version 1.0 Released
After more than twenty years of intense and sustained development, the FreeCAD community is proud to announce the release of version 1.0. FreeCAD 1.0 is now available for download on all platforms.…

fixing the toponaming problem, and having a built-in assembly module
when the company doesn’t want to pay for a mechanical cad licence and you need to whip up a drawing quick to get something manufactured. I’ve used it multiple times and it’s sweet for that.
On the flip side, software doesn't write itself and the engineers who can effectively work on software of this complexity are *expensive*.strangle away the functionality of the program behind a labyrinth of ever growing paywalls
For business use fusion could easily make sense. Investing time into it as a hobbyist is risky though in my eyes as they jump straight from free to commercial pricing. And they also move features from the free plan to the commercial plan, and from the commercial plan to the “extensions”. And the commercial plan goes up and up and up.On the flip side, software doesn't write itself and the engineers who can effectively work on software of this complexity are *expensive*.
Autodesk's net profit margin is about 17%. That's a low margin for the software space - compare to Adobe who fleece 33% out of their user base, Microsoft at 37%, or Nvidia at 55%.
Discovering that Fusion added circuit design while I wasn't paying attention and that it's available in their "free" version, albeit with their 10 designa limit? I appreciate it.
I fight this all the time at the Makerspace. Their IT lead is a big Ubuntu guru. If it isn't open source they hate it. doesn't matter that I can get a 1 year free Edu version of Mastercam for everyone that wants it. They still want to push this FreeCAD. I haven't the time of day to bother with it.. As the zone leader and teacher. I choose the software to be taught. One requirement is simulation with proof before someone with zero time goes and wrecks the router for everyone.. Free will cost them 5 K to buy a new spindle.That's a sad indictment of Freecad. Basically, what I read into what you just said is that Freecad is good drafting software......
I agree that drafting is very useful in and of itself, especially for specifying a part for manufacturing, but it falls really short of ringing the bell for any modern design needs.
That’s my plan as well.The dream for FreeCAD is to become as well supported as Blender is. I don't use Blender, but it has a fairly large percentage of its market versus FreeCAD is probably less than 1% market share if I was to guess. That increase in user base would help support development, again in turn making a better tool that more people could use. I'm going to say I'm hopeful that they've started the process of going down that road, by fixing (or at least mostly mitigating) the fundamentally broken things. Now they can focus on the nice to haves: better UI, better workflow, etc. I'm going to start learning FreeCAD in parallel to my Fusion work so that when Fusion eventually screws me I'm not caught totally flat footed.
Doesn't it have built-in CAM?As far as exporting to CAM software,
I’ve never used it lol. I’m not commenting on features I’ve never tried.Doesn't it have built-in CAM?
I'm going to have to dive in and get my FreeCAD feet wet.I’ve never used it lol. I’m not commenting on features I’ve never tried.
I’ve sent drawings to manufacturers made in freecad though, many a time. And 3D printed things myself.
So I can attest to that end of it working. The built in CAM is supposedly there, but completely un-tested by me, I don’t even think I’ve entered the workbench.
If someone else has more experience with freecad CAM they could chime in.
My suggestion is to watch some tutorials. It has a different work flow that can be frustrating coming from fusion, solidworks, etc.I'm going to have to dive in and get my FreeCAD feet wet.
My suggestion is to watch some tutorials. It has a different work flow that can be frustrating coming from fusion, solidworks, etc.
The tutorials are very very helpful.