[jrockway]

I don't know the industry that well, but do use Fusion 360 and am annoyed by them. I think they have this problem where people that make money by doing CAD use Solidworks, and so only hobbyists want their products, and hobbyists don't have any money. Thus they are having to tighten the screws on hobbyists to stay in business, and it just doesn't work, because like I said... hobbyists don't have any money. You can't get blood from a stone, no matter how hard you try.

I have been tempted to buy it, honestly, but it's a little bit too expensive. I use it for 3D printing, not milling, so I don't feel like I should have to pay for those features. So instead, I am gritting my teeth for the day that I have to jump to some open-source CAD tool, which will be annoying to relearn, but ultimately probably not a big deal after I pick what to use.

[katmannthree]

If you (or anyone reading this) goes for freecad and gets stuck on something, just know that at this point it's to be expected but there are many people online (myself included, email's in my profile) who are happy to help. You can generally make what you need in freecad as long as it's simple but the learning curve is terrible. You might think you have a dozen ways to make a part (and in other cad packages that would indeed be the case) but there are only two that'll actually work. It's an incredibly frustrating software package but at least you're not at the mercy of an inevitable autodesk screw tightening.

[cassepipe]

Oh good to know. I have only used FreeCAD to make simple gears to 3d print and found it an relatively easy experience (compared to Blender). Can't relate to power user frustration yet if I ever do, it's good to know there are people I can reach out to. Thanks in advance.