Fusion360 to FreeCAD - Introduction

7 dislikes from Autodesk representatives. Thanks for the quick how-to video Brodie.

Fusion 360 exile here. Thanks for the useful intro.

Another Fusion 360 refugee here - sub'd and waiting for LOTS of content on FreeCad ! Thanks !!!

For anyone new to CAD design, don't be fooled: The Hole tool is very useful. The hole tool allows you to define a hole with a radius, counterbore/countersink, and optional tapered point at the bottom. The software will then create a revolved cut with the defined profile shape. This can be later edited as a single feature with a single defined center point, which will reduce the number of sketches and features that you might mess up. Additionally, if you are designing something to be machined from a solid material, properly modeling the taper from the end of the drill bit is important. It allows you to correctly analyze the model, and the machinist doesn't have to call you up and ask how deep the hole should be because flat bottom holes can't be drilled. This is less critical for 3D printing applications, but the ability to create more complex hole geometry in less steps is still helpful.

This is exactly the video I was searching for! The new license changes prompted me to look for alternatives to Fusion 360, plus I realized it won’t run natively on the Linux workstation I’m building next year. I’m still pretty new to CAD in general so I figured better to switch now than later, but all my experience so far is with Fusion so I was looking for a tutorial just like this to get a jump start on switching. Thanks for taking the time to make this!

I started learning and using Fusion 360 couple of months ago after getting a bit frustrated with FreeCad, and I was considering paying for subscription when I got better with Fusion 360. But the stunt AutoCad pulled opened my eyes to the fact that I will always be at the mercy of Autocad and they can change the terms any time they like and there's nothing I can do about it. So I am back to learning FreeCad where no one can dictate what I can or can't do, and I will be donating to the project whatever I can when I can.

Love your narrative style. I'm using FreeCAD for 3D printing and look forward to more guides.

This introduction was just what I needed to get started! Thank you for creating this video!

The trim tool was a revelation - thank you sir!

Thanks Brodie!! You are Just the guy we need to get us going in Freecad

Thanks for this video! I appreciate your concise comparisons and demonstrations of basic operations and also pointing out "gotcha"s. The hint about the pocket tool, for example, being unable to cut a body in two is very helpful.

This series is helping me so much with designs for projects on my channel. Thank you so much for taking the time to make these videos!!!

This will be valuable to a lot of people including myself. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Thanks, Brodie! This video helped me with a couple of FreeCAD features I was struggling with. Very much appreciate the video!

You did a fantastic and I mean fantastic job of explaining things. You are a either a natural at this or you have instructed before. In a short time you gave clear information on how Freecad works including things to watch out for! Really hope you do more! Cheers!

Thanks for not making an hour long video, great and short, straight to the point.

Thank you Brodie. I am a intermediate F360 user mostly for 3d printing and paper templates for cutting materials. I don't spend enough time per year on F360 to warrant a massive yearly subscription. Your video is also exactly what I need and coming in at the first video means I can learn at a pace rather than wading through loads of videos trying to catch up. I'm still not convinced FreeCad is what I need but you have prevented a premature binning of the software. I look forward to your next instalment. Aiden

I have been using FCad v0.18 for about two solid months now. I am nowhere experienced in CAD generally, but I have become very comfortable in using FCad. The only real issue I have now is learning how to get text on my objects. It works sometime and getting the orientation of my text is a little troubling. But I am quite satisfied with its performance and the current tools it has. I still have a lot to learn. Its is an enjoyable application with a nice CAD community involved. Thanks for your input on this application.

Nice Introduction Video, Brodie. I like your methodical tutorial approach. Nicely done.

Thank you so much for the "Highlight open vertexes " button! That has been a big frustration.