[timothyb89]

I've been using it for light CAD work to design stuff for (hobbyist) 3d printing. You can use exact measurements just fine. The main issue is that it isn't parametric but for my needs that isn't a big issue, and the one-time $150 pricetag is wildly easier to swallow than a Fusion 360 subscription.

It's a lot like Blender, if Blender was a few degrees more usable for CAD. That said, I've yet to try the Blender CAD Sketcher addon (https://www.cadsketcher.com/).

[dotnet00]

I've tried that add-on and while it works, it still feels rather incomplete. I don't have much CAD experience though so my expectations might just be out of the norm.

I've ended up preferring to use cadquery instead, since copilot makes iterating designs with it pretty easy. But it looks like Plasticity might have the kind of workflow I'd like.

[declaredapple]

Oh I need to try that addon.

I've been meaning to look for a Fusion360 alternative that can run on linux and doesn't cost $$$$/yr.

[graypegg]

There's also FreeCAD, which is getting better! Definitely worth trying the RealThunder fork [0] that handles some geometry better than the upstream branch, and is kept up to date.

It's still weird. That's for sure. But very much usable as a fusion360 replacement for simple to intermediate 3D printing work.

[0] https://github.com/realthunder/FreeCAD/releases

[rcarmo]

I try every FreeCAD release in hopes the UX and tool naming improves, but so far no dice. It’s almost amazingly obscure by design.

[thrtythreeforty]

I really want to like it. I am well accustomed to dealing with quirky FOSS UIs. But it is so bad. Something that takes one click in Solidworks or Solid Edge takes ten, and at any point if there is an error, there is no feedback.

If it looked like FreeCAD was trying to improve the UI I think I'd be throwing some money their way to fund it. But it appears they're happy with the way it works, as these paper cuts have actually gotten worse over time.

It's just FreeCAD, not FOSS-CAD-as-a-whole. Kicad gets better and easier to use each release and I am well aware what a gift it is to engineering work.

[jononor]

Are you familiar with parametric modelling in general / from other software? Fusion360/NX/Onshape/Inventor etc? Cause while there are a bunch of UX issues big and small in FreeCAD, some of the complexity and learning curve does come with the territory.

[declaredapple]

I need to give FreeCAD another try,

but last time I tried it I couldn't figure out how to do almost anything. Fusion 360 and solidworks (and I think onshape) all just "made sense". Throw down a sketch, extrude some surfaces, etc. FreeCAD was a struggle for me and I went back to fusion 360 mostly because I was already familiar with it.

[rcarmo]

I use Fusion360 (unwillingly) and Shapr3D, plus I learned Solidworks and used a _lot_ of 3D design (mesh) and parametric apps (like OnShape, Solvespace, etc.). It’s not the territory, it’s FreeCAD’s inscrutability by design—even Solvespace has a better workflow.

[treflop]

As a hobbyist, Fusion 360 is free, no?

I don’t pay for my Fusion 360.

[etrautmann]

You're limited to 10 design files total for a hobby license right?

[jdietrich]

10 editable files at any one time. You can have an unlimited number of files that are set to read-only, and you can freely switch files from read-only to editable or vice-versa.