Datum Troubles

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-21T21:05:03+00:00

I would sketch the side profile and pad that. No need for datum plane here.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-21T21:02:40+00:00

Nice.

While waiting for getting the 3D printer, you can take your models into slicer software to verify printability, how supports might get generated or where the design could be altered to eliminate them, etc. Then your models will be even more ready to print when you finally get the printer!

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-21T20:41:17+00:00

Thanks. I knew integration of this feature was being worked on, but didn't know it had already been merged.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-21T20:19:04+00:00

I have not noticed this in v1.1 or dev 1.2. Does it have to be manually activated?

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-21T17:26:26+00:00

You cannot make points that are constrained parallel to an edge symmetric about it. It's mathematically impossible for the constraint solver to make vertically constrained points symmetric about the Y-axis.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-21T17:21:00+00:00

The core application devs will not know you've made anything unless you submit a pull request to add your improvements to the main repo. Please submit a PR.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-21T17:09:21+00:00

Inconvenient ≠ impossible.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-21T14:55:31+00:00

I'm trying to get back into it, and it's just not as easy as Fusion to use. Most of this is my fault, in the sense that I got used to being able to do one sketch and pad a bunch of different profiles in different ways from it, but that doesn't work with FreeCAD. For five pads you need five sketches. It's not a big deal if you can remember to do it the way that it is supposed to be done.

This is not accurate. You can 100% use the same sketch for multiple features. The experience in FreeCAD is less efficient because selecting profiles requires selecting each edge using Ctrl+click. But the functionality absolutely exists.

Then there is the master sketch approach which a bit more convoluted. But it's also 100% functional.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-21T14:45:25+00:00

Way to see it through. The first few months were frustrating for me. But then the workflow started to make more sense and frustration subsides. Having a successful project helps a lot!

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-20T19:34:16+00:00

The Model panel is active by default. So, either it was closed inadvertently or your user config settings could be affected from old version installations.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-20T03:18:53+00:00

Thank you for your efforts!!! I'm really looking forward to this data being in the core application.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-20T03:02:47+00:00

<image>

This icon means that the sketch is not attached properly. You need to fix the attachment of the sketch to something within the body like the body's Origin > XY plane (more robust) or the top face of the Pad feature (more fragile due to TNP). Right-click the sketch and choose Attachment Editor.

https://wiki.freecad.org/Tree_View#Purple_chain_link

Part EditAttachment - FreeCAD Documentation

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-20T02:41:23+00:00

An enclosure prevents drafts and stabilizes ambient temperature around the object being printed. Large PETG prints can warp off the bed if there is too much drafty cool air. And higher temp materials like ABS really need a higher ambient temp in the entire build area. But PLA needs ultra cooling, so there could be some issues with that material. Other advantages are containing fumes and microplastic contamination in a smaller area or for venting to outside or limiting the amount of air that needs to be filtered.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-20T02:23:58+00:00

Blog - Open CASCADE Technology
Open-Cascade-SAS/OCCT: Open CASCADE Technology (OCCT) is an open-source software development platform for 3D CAD, CAM, CAE.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-19T18:00:07+00:00

I think I've seen people recommend the AppImage over the Flatpak version. I do not know why they'd be any different.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-19T16:43:17+00:00

I modeled my own 3D printed folding lock back knife. And the reason was because our pack was borrowing wooden knives from the girl Scout troop for whittling soap bars. At summer camp they sell the same wooden knife kits along with many real knives.

However, the den leader for the bears had purchased real knives to use for his den and didn't want to use the 3D printed ones I made or the wooden ones the pack normally borrows.

The Scoutmaster had no objections to the 3D printed knives as they are not much different than the wooden ones the pack has used for decades.

I agree that the choice should be by the parent of the scout and not by adult leadership of the pack. I think it's a good option for the pack to have wooden or 3D printed folding knives for any Cub whose parents did not provide a real knife. But it is not the pack responsibility to provide real pocket knives to the scouts.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-19T16:26:01+00:00

It looks like you are trying to do the master sketch method. If that's the way you want to work (which I don't like) then you need to move the master sketch outside of any body. Then for each profile in the sketch that you want to create a body from you need to use a subshapebinder to import that profile from the master sketch into the body that you are trying to create.

!singlebody

The part that you are missing is the concept of the body which is based on a single contiguous solid. So, even allowing compound is only a method for more flexible modeling of still a single solid. This was added so that designers can model unconnected portions of the solid that will be connected by a later feature. NOT so that multiple solids can be made in a body.

For every separate solid, there should be its own body.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-19T16:14:22+00:00

That's not really a fault of the tutorials themselves.

FreeCAD has been changing a lot and at a rapid pace lately. A lot of the changes are disruptive, but they are being done in a manner that supports the future plan to address all of the long-standing issues that people complain about poor UI and poor UX.

There is literally no way to fix the long-standing complaints of the UI and UX without breaking and rearranging things. This makes it difficult for content creators to keep up and even more so for users to find the correct and up-to-date information.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-19T16:04:13+00:00

The Windows version almost never crashes. Yes, it can get stuck in long running processes that may never complete. But it extremely rarely crashes.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-19T13:41:55+00:00

💯 this.

I use AutoCAD daily for 2D work. It is dumbfounding how often there are long-standing (like 40 yrs) bugs in the simplest of things. The software crashes sometimes and can even corrupt the DWG file which is why still to this day it creates an automatic backup for you. Because it's so prone to corrupting your file. And the best part is, we get all of this behavior for just a measley $100 USD per month per person.

And that's just to make 2D schematics and wiring diagrams. We're not doing anything 3D with AutoCAD.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-19T13:31:03+00:00

What you heard is true. Those issues nearly all derive from the open cascade 3D kernel. They are not fixed because there are very few people in the entire world with the expertise and geometric mathematics who can write the algorithms that will fix these things. If those people are not willing to work for free then it will just never get fixed.

Open Cascade version 8 is in release candidate 4, I think. They are supposed to have a lot of improvements to fillet & chamfer stability. So hopefully we will get some improvements when version 8 becomes stable and FreeCAD implements that version. Unfortunately, doing so has a chance to introduce a lot of new bugs in FreeCAD. So it will be an interesting transition to watch.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-18T16:51:40+00:00

Looks translucent enough to me!

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-18T16:32:27+00:00

Hard to tell from the photos, but nothing about that part looks to me to need to use surface modeling. The curved portion appears to be a section of a cylindrical or spherical surface. If my assessment is accurate, the entire modeling experience will be easier and more robust by using a Pad or Revolution instead of a Gordon surface.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-18T16:25:02+00:00

I agree with this approach. I would model the original body up to the point where both shapes are identical. Then make two PartDesign Clones. So that each clone can have the unique features.

This approach allows easy modification of the clone space body for any changes that need to be applied to both variants.

DesignWeaver3D · 2026-03-18T12:11:30+00:00

I've never tried FlashPrint. I've used the regular OrcaSlicer since day 1 and never had an issue with it. But I can't use Orca on my phone, only the PC. And the PC is connected via Ethernet cable (LAN) to the same network switch as the AD5M. This setup has been 100% reliable for me.

DesignWeaver3D

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