There are a variety of free programs around, I have personally tried:
(Posting this here for future makers asking the same sort of question.)įor that I'd recommend a CAD software as used by engineers, where you work with solids extruded from defined shapes as opposed to mesh-based modeling (like blender). You printer will probably be different, unfortunately you'll need to work with your printer to discover the right amount. My experience has been with a Felix 3.1 to use about 0.1 mm under or oversize.
Most OpenSCAD parametric models work around this by including an undersize (for example width) or oversize (for example bolt holes) to allow for a bit material overflow. This make holes a little too small and other dimensions a little too big.
OpenSCAD exports directly to STL as part of the main work flow (featured as a dedicated button on the console).Īs far a filament maker, you've probably already seen this project/ thing: Īnnoying side note: As you already know the fused filament fabrication printing has bit of an accuracy problem due to the the extruded filament flowing. Before anyone objects, already agree that OpenSCAD has a learning curve and can be especially daunting without a coding background. The time invested into OpenSCAD is well worth the effort on reusable (parametric) objects. Those folks are long dead or greeters at WalMart.įor accuracy I use either Rhino or OpenSCAD depending if I'm making a one off or reusable object. There was a time when people would not give up their drafting boards to go to CAD.
And most of those shops won't install the latest version until the 3rd or 4th service pack (or until one of their customers upgrades and they are forced to do the same). Consider that each release of SolidWorks in a fairly large shop with more than 10 seats pretty much shuts down engineering for a day or two. The elimination of admin costs alone is quite attractive. But for companies who do actual work and make money (as opposed to hobbyists), the OnShape model works quite well. The industry will help mold the direction forward as to where files are stored and who as access and for what cost. I'm not touting OpenShape as the end-all, be-all but I believe they're on the right track. It's driven by the potential to recover billions in infrastructure costs. Whether you want it to happen or not, the cloud is the way of the future.
And eventually, my version of Solidworks will not function on modern hardware, so I'll be stuck with antiquated hardware if I want to run it (witness users of Mach3 who won't upgrade and are stuck using Windows XP). So, to stay current I have to pay "rent" ($1500/year fee). At least, not if I want to make any changes. But I can never do any work with anyone who has the current version of the software. I have my own seat of SolidWorks for my own personal use. Sure, you can buy a seat and never buy maintenance. You think you 'own' Solidworks or Inventor or PTC? I was a Solidworks reseller for years. I will resist efforts to steal those things from me. If I want to be charitable, I demand to do it on my own terms. Sorry, but I will not use any software that forces me to give away the value of my time and the value of something I have created. You are not an individual, you are simply an asset to the screaming mob who demands that they are automatically entitled to your work. If you aren't allowed to own anything, you become a slave to the collective. Property rights - the concept of ownership lies at the very core of individual freedom. "We will get past this fear and one or two generations from now, no one will "own" anything design related. Eventually, nobody is left to produce anything and everybody has their hand out. Once the makers realize they are being screwed by the takers, they eventually come to resent the theft and they withdraw their efforts. They've tried it over and over and it always fails miserably. Utopian socialists have dreamed about a society based upon these principles for centuries. If you choose to create something, you become a slave because you are forced to give it away for nothing. No ownership, no way to receive compensation in proportion to the time and effort you put into your work and the value that others judge it to have. If everyone has unconditional access to everyone else's intellectual property, there will essentially be no intellectual property rights at all. The concern for letting your IP be in the cloud will vanish." "I think in the future, most (all?) software will be cloud based.