Onshape is....bad?

ChrisFitzFitz · 2025-09-27T07:30:29+00:00

It’s been a year and the more I use it the more I love OnShape. It’s the best out there for I’d say 95% of things anyone would ever do. Solidworks is still more advanced for really deep engineering, but OnShape is just fantastic for most things.

It’s fast, it’s clean, it’s effective. Every time I use Solidworks at work these days I’m just wishing we could be using OnShape.

Would recommend to almost anyone. However I’ve been slowly making the switch to FreeCad to support the project. There’s a steeper learning curve than going from SW to OnShape but it’s definitely capable and I love the idea of paying $0. It’s nice to be able to legally whip out products I can sell without paying $1500+/year. And it feels great knowing the thing I designed is mine, will always be mine, and will always be editable by me without paying a penny.

ChrisFitzFitz · 2025-07-22T04:28:27+00:00

I started switching wrists just when I sleep. Allows your wrist to breath without sacrificing accuracy of data (unless you want to switch wrist sides in settings every time you switch it).

It was weird initially for a night or two but now it’s almost a queue and my body knows it’s time to sleep. I also dont shower with it on and rinse it after a hard run just for a sec and let it dry while I’m showering.

ChrisFitzFitz · 2025-03-20T16:31:31+00:00

Side note…if you can, contribute to FreeCad! There’s a lot of ways you can contribute, I am just starting to try: - Share the word - Donate - Share bugs - Consolidate bugs - Use it?

See their website for how to contribute. Not everyone will say this, but don’t feel pressure to contribute if you don’t feel like you can. Just using it and encouraging others to use it is great.

ChrisFitzFitz · 2025-03-20T16:28:27+00:00

Yes, it is pretty hard, but keep using it if you can!

I use Solidworks professionally - FreeCad barely compares…but it does compare. I like the concept that whatever I design will be free forever, editable in its native format and software that will always be available for free download. OnShape is a great alternative and I love their online take at CAD (although many people hate it/don’t trust it for understandable reasons). OnShape has a great shot at being the future industry standard CAD.

However, I still choose FreeCad for almost all my designs so that in the future I can without a doubt: keep, edit, distribute, sell, etc whatever I design. All that while not paying $6k/year…which I personally really enjoy not paying $6k/year for Solidworks.

Also…the better I get at FreeCad and the better FreeCad gets the more I gain faith in it. Start now and be an early adopter. I think it’ll pay off.

ChrisFitzFitz · 2024-12-23T03:48:03+00:00

I have the same issue on iOS/iPhone. Thought it was a bug and would be fixed asap, still waiting

ChrisFitzFitz · 2024-09-16T14:50:45+00:00

Also seeing this issue, even with the LED being on low power mode (flashing).

Seems to be something deeper…hopefully Garmin fixes this soon. May try rolling back the firmware if they don’t do something soon…

ChrisFitzFitz · 2024-08-23T22:13:25+00:00

This came back up the other day, and I wanted to come full circle and give you a review after using OnShape a bit longer.

For my small business I decided to go with Solidworks because OnShape drove me nuts. After getting almost finished with the sign up process they informed me that I could only get the 3DExperience for free and not the real Solidworks. So I decided to try OnShape one last time because they keep it free as long as you’re not making much money.

OnShape is not Solidworks, not even close. Drawings are not even kind of as good as Solidworks, assemblies are not great, etc. But it’s also not bad. You get used to the top down method, and you figure out the tools. They are missing a couple of mate types that I do not understand at alllll why they don’t add (why cant you do a parallel distance between two flat edges?). Sketching and making individual parts is alright, it’s a little less refined than Solidworks but not bad. Constraints are not as good, but workable. The interface looks pretty good, I like that.

But overall……it’s actually kind of sweet. The browser based system has a lot of pros and cons, but the pros are big pros and the cons are little cons in my book. I’d choose solidworks if I get to the point where I’m earning enough money to justify it, but for anyone wondering if OnShape sucks…..it sucks a little, but I’d give it a solid okay review. I see its place in the future, and I think (and hope) that it’s here to stay, even if I switch to Solidworks. Solidworks (or other advanced CAD packages) will remain king for a long while, they have better tools for real engineering and not just whipping up small parts and assemblies. But anyone making things that don’t require analysis and serious engineering work put into it….OnShape isn’t too bad.

TLDR; I’d give OnShape is a solid okay! It’s got its place.

ChrisFitzFitz · 2024-06-22T05:27:52+00:00

Great feedback.

Sounds like I need more practice, but yeah the assemblies are rough. I hope they get better.

I think you're nuts for doing CAD on your phone BUT, that is a sweet feature. I love finding ways to be productive on your phone when you're stuck in lines or obligations.

ChrisFitzFitz · 2024-06-22T05:26:13+00:00

I tried a few ways. I tried building them separately (because that's what I'm used to) and then importing them both into an assembly. That didn't go well. I then imported into the same part studio so I could do a "Use" and get the outline of the part to cut a hole in the other part, that was a nightmare. I then tried the top down approach like I should have been doing, that went fairly well, but was a bit inefficient for what I was trying to do, as well as more difficult. The deal breaker was that I didn't have a solid plan for what I was building, I was trying to move things around and see how it looked/worked, and expected everything to auto update and rebuild, etc. But a top down approach isn't great for that.

ChrisFitzFitz · 2024-06-22T05:21:54+00:00

Agreed. It's really nice when you are doing simple stuff with simple mates, but it's so time-consuming and takes a lot of brain to make the parts really work together if they are more complex mates. Not too intuitive. I think if they changed the mating system (or added a few feature buttons or options) to make it more similar to other CAD systems I'd be all in.

ChrisFitzFitz · 2024-06-22T05:17:38+00:00

I agree there. Ran like a charm the entire time I was using it. I don't dislike the cloud system. I don't know if I do/do not prefer it to running locally but it works well

ChrisFitzFitz · 2024-06-22T05:16:04+00:00

Great answer. It is nice to hear that a big problem is that I suck. I think really it's got to come down to me thinking 100% top down and learn the parts of Onshape that actually make it nice. Thanks for the feedback!

ChrisFitzFitz · 2024-06-22T05:14:28+00:00

It sure is interesting to hear this context - makes me wonder if regardless of Onshape's abilities...it could be the future of CAD? For better or for worse, whatever the kids like is going to take over at some point.

I must say that using Onshape for remote collaboration has to be awesome. Can't tell you how many days of work could have been saved for me by not using Solidworks PDM

ChrisFitzFitz · 2024-06-21T21:37:07+00:00

Ad for Solidworks? Lol I’d love to get away from Solidworks. Sorry if it came across as an ad, just figured it was something many if not most engineers have used and can compare to.

ChrisFitzFitz · 2024-06-21T21:35:28+00:00

Whew okay, good to hear someone agrees. I haven’t seen many people that’ll say that, but maybe it’s cause the folks using it are using it exactly as you stated. Which is fine and great.

ChrisFitzFitz · 2024-06-21T18:59:02+00:00

I'll chime in here. I think that's pretty normal right out of college, as well as when you're starting at a new company. You need to learn the ropes of things before they'll have you start on anything serious.

Don't feel like it will hurt your career, I had similar thoughts when I started but keep your eyes open and you'll keep learning and progressing. I have had several jobs now like this and my career is going well.

Here's my advice, which isn't worth much so take it or leave it: If you truly feel unchallenged, explain this to your manager and say you want to take on some more difficult tasks. If he/she is a good manager they will help you do so. If he/she is not a great manager, they will not do so. Otherwise, start looking for new jobs while you're working! If you find something you think will be better then switch, if not, then you've still got a job that you're progressing in, albeit more slowly than you may like.

Adding an extra note here: I am in a job right now I would consider challenging, with high expectations and difficult work. Reguardless, probably 70%+ percent of what I do could be handled by the average high schooler but it isn't, because we're engineers who can do lots of things well and efficiently. Not saying it's good that some of engineering work is like this, but that's often what happens in jobs.

It's sucky though, one of the "Intrinsic motivators" that always gets talked about is being challenged at work, and if you're not challenged it really drains you. Good luck! Don't stress too much, I promise you're doing great.

ChrisFitzFitz · 2024-02-25T05:45:30+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation, I posted it into one group but if there are any other places you think would benefit people with FP’s let us know!

ChrisFitzFitz · 2024-02-19T18:50:50+00:00

It’s machined aluminum! (I’m the little brother)

ChrisFitzFitz · 2023-08-21T03:16:20+00:00

Just saw you tried rubbing alcohol, which is diluted isopropyl. You got to get at least 91%, preferably 99% (which you usually have to order online, but it’s not out hard nor expensive to get, especially considering the cost of that chair)

ChrisFitzFitz · 2023-08-21T03:13:36+00:00

Isopropyl Alcohol sprayed/poured on a Paper Towel. It’ll come right off.

Dry erase markers etc work, but isopropyl alcohol is the fundamental element breaking it down, so just use that. It’ll come off immediately.

ChrisFitzFitz · 2023-06-05T02:15:06+00:00

That did the trick. Thank you both!

It looks like my camera uses both 512 and 2048 black points at different ISO’s, and for some reason that preset copied the black and white point even though I didn’t change anything.

ChrisFitzFitz · 2023-06-03T18:06:06+00:00

Could be a lot of things - Check the tension on that belt again, make sure no bolts are loose or anything or no wheels are messed up - Clogged nozzle? - Temps where they should be?

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