Peter Uithoven - Open CAD solutionsOpenCAD solutions:FreeCAD:

• Website: http://free-cad.sf.net/

OpenSCAD:

• Website: http://www.openscad.org/

• Manual: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OpenSCAD_User_Manual

• Download:

• Windows: https://github.com/downloads/brad/openscad/OpenSCAD-2012.04.01-Installer.exe

• MacOS: http://www.kintel.net/public/OpenSCAD-2012.07.14.dmg

• Linux (32bit): https://github.com/downloads/openscad/openscad.github.com/openscad-2012.06.15.x86-32.tar.gz

• Linux (64bit): https://github.com/downloads/openscad/openscad.github.com/openscad-2012.06.15.x86-64.tar.gz

http://www.fablabamersfoort.nl/nl/book/openscadFreeCADbasics

• Start with a workbench selection for what you want to do.(view -> workbench)

• Start with the "part design" workbench.

• Part design starts with a 2D sketch.

• In Part design you can set constrains, like "this needs to be straight" and "these needs to be parallel".

• In the "part" workbench you can work with 3D shapes

• Moving components in 3D view is very hard and needs to be done in the "data" tab at the bottom let, at "placement"

• To create an .STL: go to "Mesh", give a tolerance (e.g. 0.1) and this gives you a new Object "Mesh"

• Navigation: if you used to a certain 3D navigation (e.g. Blender), you can change that in the preferences

It's not really production ready:

• For instance, It's not very easy to move things: in "Draft" you can move things (but doesn't seem to work in every version and OS)

• Sketch-View: You can not copy stuff and there is no way to create components (e.g. a screw that you copy several times - and if you change something on the original screw, the copies change as well)

ComboView via view->views->comboviewOpenSCADimport from inkscape:
in OpenScad, type: 
linear_extrude(file = "filename.dxf", height = 5, center = true);
Hints

• Press F5 (on Mac: fn+F5) to update the view
  • You can also use an external editor: (later)

• Modifiers: 
  • //: comment out: this line is ignored
  • #: to see the shape behind it
  • !: only show this part (or do this action)
  • %: makes the shape transparent and ignored
  • *: everything after the star is ignored (not just the line, but until the next ;

• you can define variables in a module, but only at the beginning, not afterwards
• you can export the file for instance to DXF and open it in inkscape (for instance to add a nice font or hand-drawing)
• using another editor:
  • open the file in another editor
  • in openSCAD set Design>Automatic Reload and Compile
  • voilà

Limitations

• you can not create lines

examples

• cube(10)

• cube([10,20,30])

• translate([10,0]){

• square([10,10])

• circle(5);

• }

• translate([10,0,0]) rotate(45) square(10);

• functions:

• module shape()

• {

• translate([10,0,0]) 

• {

• rotate(45) square(10);

• }

• }

• shape();

• translate([-20,0]) shape();

• square(2);

• Boolean operations

• difference

• difference{

• shape();

• translate([6,0]) shape();

• }

• Intersection

• Union

• variables

• width=100;

• x=10;

• cube([x,width,10]);

• Extrusion

• linear_extrude(height=20, twist=50) square([10,20]);

• Inclusion of external parts

• include

OpenSCAD has the limitation that it only can create 'solids': it can creates 2d circles and squares but not lines. If you make a very thin rectangle a lasercutter will still follow the outline of the rectangle. May a simple postprocessing script can replace thin rectangles by lines in the DXF.
MCAD library
Other

• you can do animations (example of the spiderbot, link?)

Few simple examples:

• A  printable mini chair: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:14057

• Simple crate http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:11805

• A twisted pillar http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:11777

Inkscape
Set the default units to mm in the document properties
It's possible to draw a shape and then set the specific x, y, width, height in the menu.
Keep in mind: you enter the top left position of circles 
OpenSCAD can't import curves so you have to convert them:
- select them
- extensions -> motify path -> add nodes
- select all
- press button: make segment lines of it 
- save as dxf desktop plotter 
Plugin to make this easy:
http://libregraphicsworld.org/blog/entry/inkscape-gets-openscad-converter
[please check]
Making clones
edit -> clone 
In OpenSCAD you can then make it 3D by extruding it. 
Using linear extrude you give the 2D shape a height. 
Using rotate extude you can do revolutions
My notes: http://companje.nl/inkscape
LibreCAD (based on QCAD?)

• 2D CAD program
• nice user interface
• toolbar on the left changes based on context, really good!
• Not always very intuitive

PyCad

• very basic
• too basic to be usefull yet
• "don't use the tool, it's not very useful at the moment"

K3D

• looks nice, you can connect variables of different objects

Writing SVG files by hand: A parametric SVG editor by FabLab Amersfoort

• http://fablabamersfoort.nl/svg

• example

• size=100

• dist=0.2*size

• mood=1

• x=105

• pretty basic, but very nice and useful to generate small SVGs

• can do things, that OpenSCAD can not do, e.g. lines

JS Bin
Writing svg elements in JavaScript
http://jsbin.com/ehayep/71/edit
this is also possible in open scad
BRL-CAD
.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Website powered by hypha.