#FreeCAD (https://www.freecad.org/features.php?lang=en) is good but missing enough features to make me truly miss #SolidWorks

If pirating SolidWorks or using FreeCAD are my two options I'm actually not sure what I'd pick.

Honestly? If there was a #CAD3d option with a reasonable subscription ($50-200/year) that didn't make me relearn my workflow I'd definitely pay for that.

Onshape is online only and makes all your designs public unless you pay them $1500 a year, which.... nah. Hell nah.

I kept getting strong Mario Odyssey so I made some cappy eyes and I cannot stop giggling!

#cad3d #3d #3dprint #3dprinting
#onshape #parametriccad #WLED #led #ledshow #anikimakes

Poor Bridget is an eater and cannot be trusted to wonder the house when we're out and about so we have recently got her the absolute largest crate we could for her while we're not home.

I am making her a magnetic water bowl that will mount to the side of the crate.

She loves having the bowl in there already and now we won't have to worry about it spilling all over the place.

#cad3d #3d #3dprint #3dprinting
#onshape #parametriccad #WLED #led #ledshow #anikimakes

So I worked out a modeling technique and with a pattern generating plugin I was able to model and print this structure which printed beautifully and can cover the whole print bed, and is SUBSTANTIALLY stronger than solid PLA would be at the same thickness.

#cad3d #3d #3dprint #3dprinting
#onshape #parametriccad #WLED #led #ledshow #anikimakes

Anyone who's worked with large prints can tell you that there are limits to what you can get away with successfully and what is a huge waste of plastic. To that end, I always found large solid walls and floors to have poor results.

#cad3d #3d #3dprint #3dprinting
#onshape #parametriccad #WLED #led #ledshow #anikimakes

This is going to be a nice little door spring for the dog crate so that the door can fail open, that way she can always go and lay down if she wants and will only be closed in if we intentionally want her to be in there.

#cad3d #3d #3dprint #3dprinting
#onshape #parametriccad #WLED #led #ledshow #anikimakes

Finished! Hopefully the plants like them and thrive in their new permanent homes

#cad3d #3d #3dprint #3dprinting
#onshape #parametriccad #WLED #led #ledshow #anikimakes

I went back to my self-watering design with the new thread and had something workable in no time. So after a weekend of printing, and forgetting to get any dirt, I'm super pleased with how they came out and how easy it will be to swap water reservoirs when they are low.

ad #cad3d #3d #3dprint #3dprinting
#onshape #parametriccad #WLED #led #ledshow #anikimakes

I got tired of the trial and error approach and found a post on Thingiverse with some Python that generates an STL file that fit really ok, so I converted it into an OpenSCAD script with the help of some AI and after fiddling with the fitting, I was able to work out an absolutely rock solid thread. This fits PERFECTLY.

#cad #cad3d #3d #3dprint #3dprinting
#onshape #parametriccad #WLED #led #ledshow #anikimakes

This is how you reverse engineer when you're an idiot like myself. 😅

#cad #cad3d #3d #3dprint #3dprinting
#onshape #parametriccad #WLED #led #ledshow #anikimakes