Starting to Learn FreeCAD: Any Tips Are Welcome

[gellfex]

I am curious. You say you had to start over? Fusion 360 also had constraints but you could change or eliminate them if they were a problem. And I found that it helped a lot to think the design through before starting, at least as much as possible.

I guess I would want to avoid such problems. Why could you not just change those constraints in FreeCAD?

It was 8 years ago so I don't remember the details, but I couldn't. The job was to copy an existing part, make some changes, and get them made. I did my design in Sketchup, which cannot export an STL, so I had to redraw it in FC. It was not a terribly complicated part, no compound curves, but a painful slog even using tutorials.

[CountZero]

Something to be aware of if you want to change your model without problems is this: https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Topological_naming_problem

Now, I started using freecad a long time ago and I think mapping sketches to faces was the only option so I continue to do so most of the time and I havn't had any issues with this. But my models are usually not very complex.

As far as constraints, no problems deleting offending constraints. Sometimes the smartest thing to do is avoid "auto" constraints(i.e. if you start a lie from another line or a point the start point of the new line will be constrained to this point(or line..) sometimes you want more flexibility.

Also it is usually best to define constraints as geometric constraints and use as few fixed lengths and such as possible, this has been what I have changed most about my workflow since starting out. Not that it dosen't work, but it is often easier if you want to make changes later.

[RMinMN]

Something to be aware of if you want to change your model without problems is this: https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Topological_naming_problem

Now, I started using freecad a long time ago and I think mapping sketches to faces was the only option so I continue to do so most of the time and I havn't had any issues with this. But my models are usually not very complex.

As far as constraints, no problems deleting offending constraints. Sometimes the smartest thing to do is avoid "auto" constraints(i.e. if you start a lie from another line or a point the start point of the new line will be constrained to this point(or line..) sometimes you want more flexibility.

Also it is usually best to define constraints as geometric constraints and use as few fixed lengths and such as possible, this has been what I have changed most about my workflow since starting out. Not that it dosen't work, but it is often easier if you want to make changes later.

I have learned to start lines away from another line as sometimes I miss the auto attachment. Instead I use the "tangent" command to move the endpoint to the line I want it attached to.