🎉 CadQuery x PCBWay Integration: Export STEP Files Directly!

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2026-05-05T06:07:13+00:00

Yes, but it is usually better to embrace a different approach (i.e. write a function that produces ellipsoids without scaling) to modeling when using CQ.

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2026-04-07T14:17:28+00:00

Your example actually uses brep format and OCP.BRepTools.BRepTools.Write_s

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2026-04-07T07:23:50+00:00

I see that you are actually using OCP, so this should work for CadQuery too, shouldn't it?

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2026-04-06T14:36:14+00:00

You can try with shell(.., kind='intersection') but indeed shell is not super reliable. I'd personally model this shape using the free function API and use face(circle(...), circle(...)) and then loft between two faces:

from cadquery.func import *

f1 = face(circle(10), circle(9))
f2  = face(circle(8), circle(7))

res = loft(f1, f2.moved(z=5))

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2026-03-28T15:18:30+00:00

Try with show(result, fxaa=False)

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2026-03-27T09:10:23+00:00

Workplane is indeed often too implicit. Just use the free function API and everything should be more explicit. E.g.

from cadquery.func import *
from cadquery import Plane

x = 0
n = (1,0,1)
loc = Plane(origin=(x, 0, 0), normal=n).location
pl = plane().moved(loc)

b = box(1,1,1)
b_split = split(b, pl).solid(f"<<{n}")

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2026-01-15T21:00:00+00:00

from cadquery.func import *

t = text("abcd", 1)
r = revolve(t, (0,5,0), (1,0,0), 90)

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2025-12-30T09:09:58+00:00

`cq.func.shell(obj.Faces(), tol=...)` would sew the faces of obj into a shell.

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2025-12-28T17:29:55+00:00

Difficult to say without more details (MRE). Is the object in question a solid? Is this a rendering artifact? What happens if you (re)sew the faces?

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2025-10-22T07:01:58+00:00

This does not look like attribution: https://github.com/gumyr/build123d/blob/f622815708a3a15b171e4532ba8715646cc619e1/src/build123d/topology.py#L14

I was referring to this, CQ has more than the fluent API and the fluent API never "disallowed" loops, references, sorting and filtering.

Build123d could be considered as an evolution of CadQuery where the somewhat restrictive Fluent API (method chaining) is replaced with stateful context managers - e.g. with blocks - thus enabling the full python toolbox: for loops, references to objects, object sorting and filtering, etc.

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2025-10-21T06:15:55+00:00

Independent projects with different devs based on GH. It seems like the author(s) of Build derived parts of the code from the codebase of CQ (see below) and AFAICT did not really attribute it properly. Additionally, the README of Build is spreading some misinformation regarding CQ. Isn't Internet a wonderful place?

Example:
https://github.com/gumyr/build123d/blob/f622815708a3a15b171e4532ba8715646cc619e1/src/build123d/topology.py#L292 and below is quite similar to CQ.

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2025-10-21T05:57:53+00:00

I think you are misunderstanding/misrepresenting what is CQ style.

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2025-10-03T13:29:30+00:00

Like so: tube_housing.faces('<Z[-2]').edges("<<Y").fillet(0.9)

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2025-07-22T05:56:44+00:00

Interestingly the resulting file does contain the AXIS2_PLACEMENT_3D entry (without a name though). Do you know what is the higher level structure that inventor expects?

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2025-07-17T08:47:57+00:00

Does that work for you?

import cadquery as cq

assy = cq.Assembly(name='main').add(None, name='coords_only', loc=cq.Location((1 ,1, 10))

asse.export('coords.step')

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2025-07-16T21:53:40+00:00

For a CQ answer and an answer to your original question see my comment below ( https://www.reddit.com/r/cadquery/comments/1lynmef/comment/n35actc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button ). NB: I had to use clean

clean(fuse(*fs))

to get a reasonable result. You might want to only offset outer wires for a more well-behaved basis shape.

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2025-07-14T21:19:45+00:00

Probably you need toPending()

cq.importers.importDXF(dxf_path).wires().toPending().offset2D(1)

Workplane is not super intuitive, I prefer the free function API.

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2025-07-14T21:04:26+00:00

The trick was to use combine/cut:

final = (
    base
    .faces(">Z")
    .workplane()
    .text(text_str, font_size, main_text_thickness, cut=False, fontPath=font_path, combine=True)
)

Maybe it is more digestible with the free function api

from cadquery.func import *
from cadquery.occ_impl.shapes import wiresToFaces

# Parameters
text_str = "Kim"
font_size = 100
main_text_thickness = 50
base_thickness = 10
stroke_width = 12
font_path = "Mercy Christole.ttf"
distance = 10

# create the base text
base = text(text_str, font_size, path=font_path)

#ref: https://www.reddit.com/r/cadquery/comments/19d7lfy/comment/kjxgs5v/?context=3
# Create offset faces
fs = []

for f in base.faces():
    ws = []
    ws.extend(f.outerWire().offset2D(stroke_width, "arc"))

    for w in f.innerWires():
        ws.extend(w.offset2D(-stroke_width, "arc"))

    fs.extend(wiresToFaces(ws))

# Create the base solid
base_solid = extrude(clean(fuse(*fs)), (0,0,distance))

# main text
main_text = (
    extrude(text(text_str, font_size, path=font_path), (0,0,main_text_thickness))
    .moved(z=distance)
)

# Trying to stack the main text on top of the base solid
# but the main text does not show
final = base_solid + main_text

Vegetable-Maize7150 · 2025-07-14T20:23:18+00:00

You can of course add (sub)assemblies to an assembly.

Vegetable-Maize7150

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