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Absolute beginner with questions
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2023
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Thanks for this. I was initially thinking of starting with OpenSCAD but FreeCAD was another contender. Perhaps I need to go with whichever has the best documentation, examples, and learning resources.
TinkerCAD is free and browser-based. It's remarkably powerful for something that's basically explicitly supposed to be simple enough a child could learn to use it.
And I'll second trying to understand some G-code. When a malfunction causes your print to stop cleanly midway, pretty much your only way to salvage it is to figure out which Z-layer it malfunctioned at, and directly edit the G-code to start where it left off. It's finicky, but a lifesaver on large prints. Nothing is worse than 30 hour print failing 80% of the way in.
OpenSCAD is rather unique; you draw parts by programming them in code, which I never personally hitched horses with. Neat if gimmicky idea.
FreeCAD is trying to be all things to all people and achieving it extremely slowly. You can code parts in Python, and it has an OpenSCAD workbench, though my personal preference for workflow is Part Design; drawing 2D shapes and then extruding them into 3D.
Blender is another option, probably preferable for hand-sculpting/art/etc.