Any recommendations for easy to learn 3D cad software (1 Viewer)

[Gromett]

Preferably not online and preferably on Linux.

I have not done any 3D stuff since the early 90s and the only cad I ever did was a a bit of work in Autocad also in the early 90s (DOS version).

So I am really starting from scratch.

It is only to design really basic things, not full houses or complex shapes. So easy to use, easy to learn is more important than feature set.

I Don't want to spend weeks learning how to use it

So, any recommendations please?

 

[Lenny HB]

Fusion 360 is one of the best known and fairly easy to get into. My SIL teaches it at school and there are loads of YouTube videos on it including his.

 

[ianp]

Preferably not online and preferably on Linux.

I have not done any 3D stuff since the early 90s and the only cad I ever did was a a bit of work in Autocad also in the early 90s (DOS version).

So I am really starting from scratch.

It is only to design really basic things, not full houses or complex shapes. So easy to use, easy to learn is more important than feature set.

I Don't want to spend weeks learning how to use it

So, any recommendations please?

I use Solidworks and followed the tutorials of this great guy.......



You can be drawing well within a day or so....... for the software I downloaded the 2017 edition ( about 4 years ago!) and looked on line for a fix.......still ( touch wood) going well !

 

[Gromett]

I use Solidworks and followed the tutorials of this great guy.......

£2750 a year + VAT? out of my price range thanks though.

 

[Gromett]

Fusion 360 is one of the best known and fairly easy to get into. My SIL teaches it at school and there are loads of YouTube videos on it including his.

£510 a year. Closer but out of budget for my use case I am afraid.

I should have been clear in my original post. I am look for free software ideally, or if commercial then very budget friendly.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[olley]

Fusion 360 is free for domestic use Gromett

 

[Lenny HB]

£510 a year. Closer but out of budget for my use case I am afraid.

I should have been clear in my original post. I am look for free software ideally, or if commercial then very budget friendly.

It's free for personal use.

 

[Gromett]

Fusion 360 is free for domestic use Gromett

It's free for personal use.

This is for business use If I get caught using it either of them for business It will not be cheap. Then I will have to learn a free version and start from scratch.

I really do appreciate the recommendations though. But I was really looking for the free/opensource versions.

 

[olley]

Blender is open source and free.

 

[Kannon Fodda]

LibreCAD is free and OK for 2D stuff.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[MisterB]

Tinkercad is the one i use, its really simple, mainly drag and drop and set the sizes. you need to use a mouse though to get the best out of it,

also check thingiverse, in case what youre looking to has already been 'designed'? when you come to 'slice' (prepare for printing) you can alter the heat of the nozzle and bed, thats quite important, if the design fails to print, its usually one of those settings in my experience.

just make sure your bed is reasonably level and set correctly, its actually a lot easier than it sounds !

 

[Gromett]

Tinkercad is the one i use, its really simple, mainly drag and drop and set the sizes. you need to use a mouse though to get the best out of it,

also check thingiverse, in case what youre looking to has already been 'designed'? when you come to 'slice' (prepare for printing) you can alter the heat of the nozzle and bed, thats quite important, if the design fails to print, its usually one of those settings in my experience.

just make sure your bed is reasonably level and set correctly, its actually a lot easier than it sounds !

Thanks. It's not for 3D printing. It is for designing projects made with sheet materials. Plastic initially but also wood and later on Metal etc.

I need to be able to visualise the product in 3D then generate a cut sheet for a 2D flat bed CNC router.

 

[Gromett]

LibreCAD is free and OK for 2D stuff.

But I need 3D thanks though.

 

[Gromett]

Blender is open source and free.

I will look. But I thought that was more for animation and video production to see what stuff looks like etc. Rather than producing engineering drawings and generating G Code?

 

[68c]

FreeCad. Not too hard to learn. I use it to make simple bits on my 3D printer.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Gromett]

FreeCad. Not too hard to learn. I use it to make simple bits on my 3D printer.

That was the one I was looking at but seems quite complicated. But if that is what it takes then I will have to knuckle down.

 

[scotjimland]

Have you looked at SketchUp .. ?

Broken Link Removed

 

[Gromett]

Have you looked at SketchUp .. ?

Broken Link Removed

Will take a look but I tend not to use online software as it can be pulled without warning and doesn't work if the internet is down.

 

[namwaldog]

There is a free version of SketchUp on Windows ( dont know about Linux) If you find it OK to use then you can upgrade to Commercial for £295.

Loads of tutorials on YouTube.

Sorry for the repeat,scotjimland beat me to it!!

 

[olley]

I will look. But I thought that was more for animation and video production to see what stuff looks like etc. Rather than producing engineering drawings and generating G Code?

Never used it grom, just heard of it that's all.
Fusion is what I use.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Bernie P]

That was the one I was looking at but seems quite complicated. But if that is what it takes then I will have to knuckle down.

I use FreeCad. Yes it takes a bit to get your head around it but I found it the best by far of the free ones. The help and tutorials are pretty good.

 

[Tombola]

3d slash uses block based system (beginners) and is linux friendly
OpenSCAD does have a beginners version too

 

[the1andonly]

If you need sheet metal folding then i suspect the cheap/ free versions may not have that capability. Also a pain to do and get it right initialy. May be simpler to do a 3d model and say make this rather than hand over a drawing of a flat sheet and bend requirements. I used creo4 (was pro engineer) well out of your price and also high end workstation required. Was over £3 k a seat but can do anything my company everneeded (including thermal analysis). The animation feature is usefull if you are making moving parts or clamping you can see interference problems. If looking to make injection moulded parts look for " draw angle" capability. This is more a decide what you need want to do and see what fits advice rather than use creo. itl do the job, is beautiful but what a price. Are you a student? Special rates.

 

[Gromett]

If you need sheet metal folding then i suspect the cheap/ free versions may not have that capability. Also a pain to do and get it right initialy. May be simpler to do a 3d model and say make this rather than hand over a drawing of a flat sheet and bend requirements. I used creo4 (was pro engineer) well out of your price and also high end workstation required. Was over £3 k a seat but can do anything my company everneeded (including thermal analysis). The animation feature is usefull if you are making moving parts or clamping you can see interference problems. If looking to make injection moulded parts look for " draw angle" capability. This is more a decide what you need want to do and see what fits advice rather than use creo. itl do the job, is beautiful but what a price. Are you a student? Special rates.

Thanks

For the sheet metal I would be to make the template based on the outer face. But that is a long way down the road. Plastic and wood is the first priority.