What modelling software??

[Magmoormaster]

Between the PoP and some other projects I have, I'm looking to do some modelling for 3d printing. Mostly involves modifying existing files. I'm running into issues with the software; Blender is too imprecise, FreeCAD is insanely tedious (and I can't delete anything??), Meshmixer seems too rudimentary. What (ideally free) software should I be using? I am professional drafter, very familar with autodesk products. I don't feel like this should be as difficult as it is.

[Chemical-x.....ahain]

fusion 360 is an autodesk program, it may have functionality youll adapt to quicker. Im running OnShape. I tried so many programs to get on my feet along with a tremendous amount of tutorials and nothing was sticking, Cadsessions on YT was the rosetta stone for me. the OS tutorial wasnt anything really all that different but it was the structure it was taught that got me up and going.

[RedLeaderSB]

Onshape is free and browser based
that said I am a decade deep into other CAD software and can’t be bothered to learn it

[Magmoormaster]

Tried Fusion 360, I can't edit anything without buying it. Even though I signed up for a free trial.

Onshape appears to be functionally the same as FreeCAD. Unless I'm stupid (and I probably am) I can't do something as simple as deleting the hole for a safety in a triggerframe. Frankly this whole thing has gotten more and more frustrating the more I try.

[BrickHaus]

You can edit on fusion free, but its a bitch. I've done it to a redundant degree. You need to make the mesh back into a component first. Its been a while, and Im not at home to look, but I know you can do it.

[StaticShocked]

I also use autodesk products professionally and it really, really bothers me they dont have a "hobby" subscription. I prefer Inventor, hands down for CAD models and detail drawings.
But, solidworks does have a "makers" subscription which is access to the full verson for a low price. The only caveats are regarding income earned with the software and a watermark on detail drawings. It is $50 annually if i remember correctly. It has taken me a while to reprogram myself for modeling at home, but it has been worth it to have a full featured, professional level piece of software to work with.

[The Hobbit]

Yeah I struggle with the free fusion because it is just different enough from inventor (that I use heavily at work). I would love an inventor lite that I could pay a nominal fee for at home.

[devilzcall]

Autodesk allows you to register for a free makers license which is perfectly adequate. It’s my go to software for hobby projects. I especially like its included free form/ box-Modeling tools.

Not being able to edit an object just seems to be a matter of properly converting an imported mesh into a solid. Here are My tips for editing stls with fusion:

- Don’t upload and open the mesh file into your project folder, but create a new part and use the insert -> mesh tool. That allows you to properly scale the imported mesh as well.
- once imported, right click the mesh body and use „convert mesh to brep“
- check if the body has turned into a solid
- deleting one face on a flat faceted surface should turn it into a singular face which makes it easier to work with.

i always use fusion in parametric modeling mode and you will too; right click your top level part in the browser and enable „capture modeling history“.
being in the wrong mode is a common cause for stuff not working as expected.

[Rainmaker]

All of this. Good stuff!

[Rainmaker]

I use Inventor for work, and Fusion at home. Honestly I haven’t really felt much limitation with the free version of fusion. What are you trying to do, that you are running into issues? There may be a work around?

[SETHZILLA!]

Good to hear the recommendations of each software in here. Thanks for the info. Trying to this in TinkerCAD for the POP is frustrating as hell....

Sent from my SM-S921U using Tapatalk

[Magmoormaster]

The problem I’ve had with fusion is that it says I can’t save anything unless I upgrade my license. I’ll try again today, and follow those tips devilzcall shared.

At the moment there are three tasks I’m trying to accomplish. I want to modify a gog enmey body down to just a tray and detent cover, with a ring going around the narrow part of the back cap (kind of like an ar15 lower). I also want to modify an enmey trigger frame to include removing the safety hole, reshaping the snatch grip, possibly including a double trigger guard, and possibly some special mounting hardware at the back (dont want to spoil my idea just yet). And lastly I want to modify a tippmann 98 centerfeed to a cram and jam stock class feed. I have the base files for everything, so theoretically it shouldn’t be too hard but freecad and onshape wouldn’t let me do something as simple as delete the safety hole. Trying to delete a single vertex deleted the whole object.

[Rainmaker]

I set my Fusion up for personal use a long time ago, and I haven't had to mess with it much. But here is a recent guide on setting up for personal use. There IS a way to do it, hopefully this video does it right?

[_Boris_]

ugh, stay away from Fusion. I've used their free version and then paid version, their CS is horrible and as a product I don't have anything nice to say. Also I'd stay away from anything "online" ... today it works, tomorrow they push a new version or have an outage. It's not a dependable model and there is a reason a lot of people choose to own a software that's on your machine, it's a real market.

Solidworks is very tedious to get up to speed with.

FreeCad 0.x was awful. 1.0 is awesome and a huge improvement. I never tried 1.1, it suppose to be even better.

I also started up as a paper draftsman. FreeCad works for me. It may take time and a bunch of tutorials to get going though.


I believe that Blender has ways to precisely manipulate shapes, but it has a very steep learning curve.

[Chemical-x.....ahain]

(222) CADSessions - YouTube this was my rosetta stone. through it I began to understand other programs.

[ChoSanJuan]

Fusion is a pretty standard go-to so I'll just say if you can get a makers llicense, do it.

If you don't mind the intrusiveness, I would suggest eMachineShop. Free and very capable software, including a web based version too. Export to STL and you are golden.

Also, if you know what you are doing with it... Blender with CADSketcher plugin is pretty formidable. Also fits your pricepoint.

[Criticalhammer]

Blender is open source, runs on all major OS platforms, and can be used very simliar to CAD. Just remember to set up your scale correctly before using.

[Magmoormaster]

Fusion has actually been working well for me so far, it looks like I was just importing the file incorrectly. Now I just need to learn how to use it haha.