I didn’t notice until just today, but it turns out that FreeCAD 1.0 was released a couple of weeks ago.
FreeCAD is an open-source project that provides a multi-platform CAD tool with parametric capabilities. This makes it ideal to design mechanical parts that require specific dimensions, and that’s precisely what many FreeCAD users do.
The best part is that because it’s an open-source tool, it’s available at no charge. Versions are provided for 64-bit Windows, Mac OS (Intel and Apple Silicon), and 64-bit Linux, so basically anyone can run this software.
After many years, the project has finally released version 1.0. While many people have used pre-1.0 versions for quite a while, the 1.0 signifies that the project has reached the point where it’s considered highly usable by the project team.
What’s new in 1.0? Some changes include:
- They’ve fixed a major problem with naming, where operations might break the chain of changes.
- A new “Assembly Workbench” for creating mechanical systems, including joints, sliders, revolves, etc.
- A rotation centre is now visible in the display.
- Filters for selecting geometry types added.
- Improved transform dragger design.
- Light source position setting.
- Tree-view preferences window.
- New “align to selection” feature moves the view towards a selected face or edge.
And there is a cascade of other minor changes.
There’s one more change that’s pretty noticeable: they’ve changed their logo. The new version, shown at the top, seems to be quite an improvement over the rather old-looking earlier version.
FreeCAD isn’t quite as powerful as some of the paid 3D CAD tools, but for many it will be quite sufficient to design mechanical parts for 3D printing.
If you haven’t tried FreeCAD, you should — it’s free, after all.
Via FreeCAD
