#freecad — Public Fediverse posts

From the "shit I should not be doing with time I do not have" department... I printed my FrankenJouleThiefCat a shadow. Without a battery in it it is a little unstable, this should fix that, and also includes a cable tidy so the USB cable will be neater. (That exit bend radius isn't fantastic, I know.)

The process for this was:

1. Photograph cat with flash against white paper.
2. Clean up to a B&W silhouette in #GIMP
3. Trace to an outline in #Inkscape, skew the image, and do the extended rear base and some of the cable channel design.
4. Use #FreeCAD to build the 3D thing from the 2D, including finishing the channel as its Sketch tool is better for that sort of detail.
5. #PrusaSlicer
6. Elegoo Neptune 4 Max #3DPrinter

Job done (in about 2hrs I guess).

It could be improved, esp as the spool tangled and there is a small spot of top surface slightly thinly printed as a result... but it'll do. Might do another iteration on it another time. The shape needs a little improvement too.

There. Some #FreeCAD and #3Dprinting later I have an item that does what I want and it even has the look I wanted.

The cup is PETG and the mount solid PA as it gets squeezed pretty hard.

I'll upload the model once I've cleaned it up a bit and try out some printing enhancements to the first model.

Tinta — the mount, in real life and in FreeCAD

https://makertube.net/w/mA87YPqUCbvhNC2caq17F7

https://www.crowdsupply.com/wake-electronics/tinta

#FreeCAD #oshw

Wowzers. I completed the list!

That's about a first.

And whilst it was a short list, some of those items weren't exactly trivial.

• Car refuelled & shopping done ✅
• French pattress box extender (redesigned in #FreeCAD and printed) ✅
• Suffolk printed (after a lot of svg/cad fettling!) ✅ (No Nofolk alas)
• Joule Thief Cat soldered, with added backup USB power injection for when I don't have "dead" batteries for it ✅ (needs cleaning up, but works! I broke my flush cutters a while back, so have ordered a nice fancy Knippex pair to arrive tomorrow.)

And made a (fairly basic) BBQ dinner of Barnsley chops, garlic/chilli potatoes & broccoli, and BBQed eggplant.

Bonus: got a hair cut by an actual hair cutting person for the first time in well over a decade. (My usual thing is I just shave it off every 2-3 months.)

You'd think #FreeCAD would have a simple and intuitive way to "copy" a sketch, aka "duplicate" - but buggered if I can find it, and DDG/Google searching isn't helping much. (I am very very impatient with software these days lol.)

@freecad After getting disappointed with the new version of the pinball drink holder, I resurrected my old design from the early 2020s I had done with OpenSCAD and re-did it with #FreeCAD instead. Here's a work-in-progress model.

Of course, at some point in the 2000s a designer at #renault decided that a flat roof rack is practical but not looking nice. So they curved it by 15mm (7.5mm on each side).

My "new" 1983 vintage roof box is not curved on the bottom side. It got steel tubing and a sturdy zigzag pattern on the bottom. It. Will. Not. Bend. And that's fine.

So to mount it in 2026 I need spacers. And as we live in the future™ now I just fired up #freecad and let the #3dprinter do the work.

This is no shiny fancy thing, just a wedge with a hole. But in 2026 it just makes sense to let the machines do the job - I would not be faster/better if I started to cut and grind plastic or wood.

Tested at up to 130 km/h the roof box is nice: nearly no sound, just a silent "sssshhh" wind noise, and its not noticeable regarding driving dynamics at least in empty state. and the whole thing is just 2m tall.

Of course, at some point in the 2000s a designer at #renault decided that a flat roof rack is practical but not looking nice. So they curved it by 15mm (7.5mm on each side).

My "new" 1983 vintage roof box is not curved on the bottom side. It got steel tubing and a sturdy zigzag pattern on the bottom. It. Will. Not. Bend. And that's fine.

So to mount it in 2026 I need spacers. And as we live in the future™ now I just fired up #freecad and let the #3dprinter do the work.

This is no whiny fancy thing, just a wedge with a hole. But in 2026 it just makes sense to let the machines do the job - I would not be faster/better if I started to cut and grind plastic or wood.

Tested at up to 130 km/h the roof box is nice: nearly no sound, just a silent "sssshhh" wind noise, and its not noticeable regarding driving dynamics at least in empty state. and the whole thing is just 2m tall.

FreeCAD Swag Shop Now Open!

We are super pleased to announce that the FreeCAD official swag store is now open! All the designs in there are made in FreeCAD and we have tee, hoodies, mugs, water bottles and more....

#FreeCAD #Swag #Merch #Opensource #FreeCADFriday

https://blog.freecad.org/2026/09/11/freecad-swag-shop-now-open/

FreeCAD Swag Shop Now Open!

We are super pleased to announce that the FreeCAD official swag store is now open! All the designs in there are made in FreeCAD and we have tee, hoodies, mugs, water bottles and more....

#FreeCAD #Swag #Merch #Opensource #FreeCADFriday

https://blog.freecad.org/2026/09/11/freecad-swag-shop-now-open/

FreeCAD Swag Shop Now Open!

We are super pleased to announce that the FreeCAD official swag store is now open! All the designs in there are made in FreeCAD and we have tee, hoodies, mugs, water bottles and more....

#FreeCAD #Swag #Merch #Opensource #FreeCADFriday

https://blog.freecad.org/2026/09/11/freecad-swag-shop-now-open/

FreeCAD Swag Shop Now Open!

We are super pleased to announce that the FreeCAD official swag store is now open! All the designs in there are made in FreeCAD and we have tee, hoodies, mugs, water bottles and more....

#FreeCAD #Swag #Merch #Opensource #FreeCADFriday

https://blog.freecad.org/2026/09/11/freecad-swag-shop-now-open/

FreeCAD Swag Shop Now Open!

We are super pleased to announce that the FreeCAD official swag store is now open! All the designs in there are made in FreeCAD and we have tee, hoodies, mugs, water bottles and more....

#FreeCAD #Swag #Merch #Opensource #FreeCADFriday

https://blog.freecad.org/2026/09/11/freecad-swag-shop-now-open/

Hey wonderful people, it's #FreeCADFriday once again! What are you working on in #FreeCAD at the moment?!

One further design iteration of my 3D printed lens hood/light baffle seems to have done the trick. v5b goes back to the 5 mm long, 2 perimeters thick telescope interface but bumps up the diameter just slightly for a snug push fit into the aperture on the 'scope. The thread is in place to stop it dropping on to the concrete patio tiles when the Seestar closes itself at the end of the night so hopefully I won't get any more broken lens hoods.

I've designed all these so that they shouldn't induce any vignetting at all, but I'll still take some new twilight flats shortly just in case the illumination is slightly different to the previous version.

The weather forecast says it'll be clear pretty much all night but that humidity will hit 99% by around midnight so it'll probably be foggy before morning. Definitely a night to turn the dew heater on, but the lens hood should also help keep condensation off the lens.

#Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #3Dprinting #FreeCAD #FreeCADFriday #TMMT #ThirtyMillimetreTelescope #Astrophotography #SmartTelescope #SmartScope

One further design iteration of my 3D printed lens hood/light baffle seems to have done the trick. v5b goes back to the 5 mm long, 2 perimeters thick telescope interface but bumps up the diameter just slightly for a snug push fit into the aperture on the 'scope. The thread is in place to stop it dropping on to the concrete patio tiles when the Seestar closes itself at the end of the night so hopefully I won't get any more broken lens hoods.

I've designed all these so that they shouldn't induce any vignetting at all, but I'll still take some new twilight flats shortly just in case the illumination is slightly different to the previous version.

The weather forecast says it'll be clear pretty much all night but that humidity will hit 99% by around midnight so it'll probably be foggy before morning. Definitely a night to turn the dew heater on, but the lens hood should also help keep condensation off the lens.

#Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #3Dprinting #FreeCAD #FreeCADFriday #TMMT #ThirtyMillimetreTelescope #Astrophotography #SmartTelescope #SmartScope

One further design iteration of my 3D printed lens hood/light baffle seems to have done the trick. v5b goes back to the 5 mm long, 2 perimeters thick telescope interface but bumps up the diameter just slightly for a snug push fit into the aperture on the 'scope. The thread is in place to stop it dropping on to the concrete patio tiles when the Seestar closes itself at the end of the night so hopefully I won't get any more broken lens hoods.

I've designed all these so that they shouldn't induce any vignetting at all, but I'll still take some new twilight flats shortly just in case the illumination is slightly different to the previous version.

The weather forecast says it'll be clear pretty much all night but that humidity will hit 99% by around midnight so it'll probably be foggy before morning. Definitely a night to turn the dew heater on, but the lens hood should also help keep condensation off the lens.

#Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #3Dprinting #FreeCAD #FreeCADFriday #TMMT #ThirtyMillimetreTelescope #Astrophotography #SmartTelescope #SmartScope

One further design iteration of my 3D printed lens hood/light baffle seems to have done the trick. v5b goes back to the 5 mm long, 2 perimeters thick telescope interface but bumps up the diameter just slightly for a snug push fit into the aperture on the 'scope. The thread is in place to stop it dropping on to the concrete patio tiles when the Seestar closes itself at the end of the night so hopefully I won't get any more broken lens hoods.

I've designed all these so that they shouldn't induce any vignetting at all, but I'll still take some new twilight flats shortly just in case the illumination is slightly different to the previous version.

The weather forecast says it'll be clear pretty much all night but that humidity will hit 99% by around midnight so it'll probably be foggy before morning. Definitely a night to turn the dew heater on, but the lens hood should also help keep condensation off the lens.

#Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #3Dprinting #FreeCAD #FreeCADFriday #TMMT #ThirtyMillimetreTelescope #Astrophotography #SmartTelescope #SmartScope

One further design iteration of my 3D printed lens hood/light baffle seems to have done the trick. v5b goes back to the 5 mm long, 2 perimeters thick telescope interface but bumps up the diameter just slightly for a snug push fit into the aperture on the 'scope. The thread is in place to stop it dropping on to the concrete patio tiles when the Seestar closes itself at the end of the night so hopefully I won't get any more broken lens hoods.

I've designed all these so that they shouldn't induce any vignetting at all, but I'll still take some new twilight flats shortly just in case the illumination is slightly different to the previous version.

The weather forecast says it'll be clear pretty much all night but that humidity will hit 99% by around midnight so it'll probably be foggy before morning. Definitely a night to turn the dew heater on, but the lens hood should also help keep condensation off the lens.

#Seestar #SeestarS30Pro #3Dprinting #FreeCAD #FreeCADFriday #TMMT #ThirtyMillimetreTelescope #Astrophotography #SmartTelescope #SmartScope

I was asked to help with a new fiber connection, so I assisted with some planning and provided these 3D-printed conduit seals:

They are made up of two symmetric halves that fit together without slipping. Clamp them around the cable and push them into the tube. Simple.

As always, I provide the @freecad file along with the printable files so you can inspect and adapt the model.

https://www.printables.com/model/1838517

#FreeCADFriday #FreeCAD #CAD #3DPrint #DIY #Repair #Fiber #Fibre

Every Free App You Actually Need Explained (Part 1-4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGWSs6laAO0

#OpenSource #freeapps #LibreOffice
#VLC Media Player
#DaVinci Resolve
#OBS Studio
#GIMP
#Audacity
#Blender
#Obsidian
#Scratch
#Godot
#Krita
#Photopea
#Inkscape
#LMMS
#Shotcut / Kdenlive
#KeePassXC
#Thunderbird
#Calibre
#Joplin
#MPV
#Affinity
#ProtonVPN
#Bitwarden
#PDF24 Creator
#LocalSend
#VirtualBox
#Notepad++
#FreeCAD
#Ardour
#WinRAR
#Everything
#Syncthing
#Penpot
#Proton Pass
#KDE Connect
#Parsec
#VSCodium
#Scribus
#HandBrake
#7-Zip
#ShareX
#qBittorrent
#Free Download Manager
#totalcommander

FreeCAD E-Sport Speed Run Challenge at EMF camp 2026

EMF Camp has recently taken place in the UK. This, every two year, festival/hacker camp sees around 4000 people descend on the grounds of Eastnor Castle UK.... #emfcamp #esport #freecad

https://blog.freecad.org/2026/07/27/freecad-e-sport-speed-run-challenge-at-emf-camp-2026/

Hackaday Links: July 12, 2026

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://hackaday.com/2026/07/12/hackaday-links-july-12-2026/

Hey, it's #freecadfriday and I just got done making chips with the first operation I've done from the #cam workbench in #freecad

@freecad

Couple of fun things today with the 4 axis #CNC Hot Wire Foam cutter... after lots of lovely suggestions for a name I've gone with @gilesdring offer of "FoamO" which made me chuckle. Also today spent a tiny amount of time further exploring #FreeCAD FoamCut workbench and made some test g-codes and cut them. Awesome to have a #FreeCAD to #FoamO #CAM system!

But with the latest version of #FreeCAD, I can no longer import the curves that are inside IGES and STEP. Is there another way to do it now? #fc3d #CAD #nurbs

Ok, I'm back to making models with Surface Psycho. It's been a while since I did anything in #Blender. Anyway, after a lot of testing and experimenting, for now I've decided to do the G1 and G2 continuity alignments between NURBS patches manually, without all the parameters, I find that works better for me. #SurfacePsycho #CAD #boat #design #freecad #b3d #hull #ship #Blender3d

An old hull, rebuilt with #NURBS.

It's not bad to have a native #Blender add-on like Surface Psycho that lets you create #NURBS models and also convert SubD models into #STEP files to open in #FreeCAD and other #CAD software. The SubD models aren't perfect, but with a bit of work you can get great results. ATTENTION, do not use too complex models with SudD😅 ☠️ #SurfacePsycho #b3d #Blender3D

Warum nicht gleich so, und out of the Box? Nach mehrstündigem, hartem Kampf endlich die #SpaceMouse von #3dconnexion unter #FreeCAD 1.1.1 zum Laufen bewegt. Neue Version aus den Quellen kompiliert, den #AppImageLauncher ebenfalls und die Benutzergruppe des konstruierenden Users angepasst.

Benutzerfreundlich ist was anderes.

#Linux #Debian #Nerdkram

Working on a mechanical enclosure.

Using my #3dconnexion mouse again for the first time in a long time.

#freecad feels like it always has... a bit too many error messages flying by on the screen.

But I'm so happy to be doing this!

#foss for the win!

Another video promoting #FreeCad. In this video this guy shows you how to model a bike frame in FreeCAD, covering all the techniques that professional designers use to create this model.

Educational and clear how complex designs can be created with open-source tools!

#fablab #makerspace #CAD #fabacademy

https://youtu.be/STNWOpwYJKw

Watch this video! It is a clear introduction to #FreeCAD 1.1 and shows tips and tricks on how to make optimal use of the new features and workflows.

#fablab #makerspace #CAD #fabacademy

https://youtu.be/JjFh8vtMBC8

🎩✨ Behold, the grand odyssey of FreeCAD’s "Topological Naming Problem," where clicking through an endless labyrinth of menus and FAQs becomes an Olympic sport. 😂 It’s like a treasure hunt, but the treasure is more menus! 🗺️🏆
https://wiki.freecad.org/Topological_naming_problem #FreeCAD #TopologicalNamingProblem #MenuMaze #TreasureHunt #OlympicSport #CADCommunity #HackerNews #ngated

Nachdem ich jetzt endlich wieder einen eigenen #3DDrucker habe, habe ich den Sonntag mal genutzt, um von meinem bisherigen eher einfachen (aber beschränkten) Konstruktionstool wegzukommen und mir mal ein wenig #FreeCAD basics beizubringen. Natürlich am praktischen Beispiel, einem Haken für die Garderobenstange. Ich hab zwar etwas geflucht auf dem Weg bis zum fertigen Objekt - aber es passt super und so Formschön hätte ich das früher nicht hinbekommen.

A definite quality of life improvement in FreeCAD was to set the sizes of the points in a sketch a LOT bigger. The default is 5 px which on my 4k screen was about 0.2 mm and almost impossible to hit. Trying to set up constraints was so bloody frustrating as lining up the mouse pointer on a point took ages. Much better now, could go even bigger than 20 px.

#freecad #frustrating

I now made inline filament clips for spools from #Extrudr, #BambuLab and #3dkberlin

https://www.printables.com/model/1242324-3dkberlin-spool-filament-clip

https://www.printables.com/model/1242081-bambulab-spool-filament-clip

https://www.printables.com/model/1203127-extrudr-spool-filament-clip-v2

Would love to hear some feedback.

Funny how that started, just because I wanted to fix someone else's model, but that guy sadly (or fortunately? :-) did now answer my request to change away from Makerworlds restrictive default license. So I just made my own parametric and hopefully much better and versatile version.

#3dprints #freecad

Not long ago, I've got me this #Polyphemus filament dryer, and it has made a huge difference. I used to struggle with stringing when printing with PETG, but it's almost completely gone now.

Anyway. I designed this stackable rack in #FreeCAD, which allows me to dry other stuff, like reusable silica bags. (And printed it in PETG.)

FreeCAD file is on #Printables:

https://www.printables.com/model/1198095-eibos-polyphemus-stackable-silica-drying-rack

#3DPrinting #CAD #FreeCADFriday

Not long ago, I've got me this #Polyphemus filament dryer, and it has made a huge difference. I used to struggle with stringing when printing with PETG, but it's almost completely gone now.

Anyway. I designed this stackable rack in #FreeCAD, which allows me to dry other stuff, like reusable silica bags. (And printed it in PETG.)

FreeCAD file is on #Printables:

https://www.printables.com/model/1198095-eibos-polyphemus-stackable-silica-drying-rack

#3DPrinting #CAD #FreeCADFriday

Not long ago, I've got me this #Polyphemus filament dryer, and it has made a huge difference. I used to struggle with stringing when printing with PETG, but it's almost completely gone now.

Anyway. I designed this stackable rack in #FreeCAD, which allows me to dry other stuff, like reusable silica bags. (And printed it in PETG.)

FreeCAD file is on #Printables:

https://www.printables.com/model/1198095-eibos-polyphemus-stackable-silica-drying-rack

#3DPrinting #CAD #FreeCADFriday

Not long ago, I've got me this #Polyphemus filament dryer, and it has made a huge difference. I used to struggle with stringing when printing with PETG, but it's almost completely gone now.

Anyway. I designed this stackable rack in #FreeCAD, which allows me to dry other stuff, like reusable silica bags.

FreeCAD file is on #Printables:

https://www.printables.com/model/1198095-eibos-polyphemus-stackable-silica-drying-rack

#3DPrinting #CAD #FreeCADFriday

Not long ago, I've got me this #Polyphemus filament dryer, and it has made a huge difference. I used to struggle with stringing when printing with PETG, but it's almost completely gone now.

Anyway. I designed this stackable rack in #FreeCAD, which allows me to dry other stuff, like reusable silica bags. (And printed it in PETG.)

FreeCAD file is on #Printables:

https://www.printables.com/model/1198095-eibos-polyphemus-stackable-silica-drying-rack

#3DPrinting #CAD #FreeCADFriday

Nutzt hier jemand #FreeCAD mit der #3DConnexion #SpaceMouse?

Für umme lesen: Bücher zu FreeCAD, Snap! und zur Medientheorie

In den letzten Tagen haben sich in meinem zweiten Gehirn in paar Links zu kostenlosen Ebooks eingefunden, die ich Euch nicht vorenthalten möchte. Daher hier – wie immer – der Reihe nach: http://blog.schockwellenreiter.de/2022/09/2022091701.html #FreeCAD #Snap #FreeEbooks #Medientheorie