Hello, I am new to this forum, so I greet everyone and thank you in advance for your help. I am looking for a simple and free CAD tool or other name oriented towards woodworking. I start in restoration, adapting a piece of furniture for a new use and even creating custom objects to order. My manufacturing method is traditional (without robotic assistance). I expect this tool to allow me to model an object in 3D, to see this object from all angles, to correct it, to dress it with a marquetry decoration or a color, to review its dimensions, etc., until I am satisfied with the result. I don't need to submit the model to a 3D printer for the moment. In short, I just need to see if the object once modeled corresponds to what I imagined. I hope there is a tool like the one I am trying to describe to you.
Thank you all.
Kind regards.
Free cad could probably suit you:
It's up to you to test it and see if it suits you.
Hello
@sbadenis beat me to it, if not to choose from these: The 10 Best Free CAD Software - Graphic Designer Blog
For FreeCad from memory, it was former SW employees who developed it
Hello
I validate FREECAD
Hello sbademis,
Thank you for the information, I would also like to use this software, for what I have to do. Thank you again, have a good day.
@+.
AR.
Hello Cyril_f,
Freecad is the most commonly offered tool.
I'm starting to study it, very modestly, I'm at the LEGO brick (Partdesign workshop), it seems very good for modeling and navigation is quite simple, but once the object is made, I haven't found any info on how to have a finish and a rendering like cabinetmaking for example (patterns made by yourself or found on the net).
In fact, in my ideal, it is a " clay " type tool, a ball that you stretch in all directions to obtain the imagined object and the decoration to finish!!
But now, I'm dreaming...
Thank you for your help. Kind regards.
Hello sbadenis,
Freecad is the most commonly offered tool.
I'm starting to study it, very modestly, I'm at the LEGO brick (Partdesign workshop), it's very good for modeling and navigation is quite simple, but once the object is made, I haven't found any info on how to have a finish and a rendering like cabinetmaking for example (patterns made by yourself or found on the net).
In fact, in my ideal, it is a " clay " type tool, a ball that you stretch in all directions to obtain the imagined object and the decoration to finish!!
But now, I'm dreaming...
Thank you for your help. Kind regards.
Hello;
FreeCAD is a lot of precise and parametric modeling, but in terms of "wood effect" finishes or decorative patterns, it remains limited: it is not made for textures or realistic rendering like other tools.
However, you can export your object (STL/OBJ format) to a software like Blender or Fusion 360 that handles renderings, textures and engravings well.
Blender is perfect for adding wood grain or custom patterns, and if you like to sculpt in a clay style, its Sculpting mode is great (and free).
ZBrushCoreMini is also available for organic modeling.
there is also ScultGL in web tools
FreeCAD is great for the technical design stage, but for the decoration and the artistic touch of the wood, you will have to go through a solution more tailored to the rendering, often by combining several software programs according to the desired effect.
note: @Marc_Klein => Beware of the double-post...
I forgot, thanks for the link. I will look at the tools proposed.
Hello
I just took a look at it.
As you seem to be a user, I have a few questions:
Is it user friendly enough?
Close to SW?
The problem of renaming faces/edges (presented here: https://wiki.freecad.org/Topological_naming_problem/fr) is not too annoying to use?
Powerful enough (complicated parts or assemblies)?