Advice on cad programs to create my own 3d prints

Hi all ,

Ok , summer nearly over finished flying my dji mini 4 pro, now looking at winter indoor projects , i have a new creality K1 3d printer in place of my enderc3 pro. My aim this winter is to create a case for my imie power banks . I want to design my ownn cases but so many different cad programs , i am left scratching my head . Now ive tried tinkercad but i wanted to have a software program on my laptop to tinker with , not depend on going online to create a 3d object …

So you clever people on here must use some good cad software , so can anyonee recommend a good fairly basic software to use hopefully not to difficult to learn …

Thanks in advance :smiling_face:

I use SolidWorks every day for business and I think it is one of the best out there. Unfortunately it is also one of the most expensive! I believe they also do a cheaper makers version and a student version. There is also Onshape which has a free version, designed by the same person as Solidworks, although you have to be online to use it. The truly free CAD packages are just not nearly as good as the real thing. I would be happy to design something for you in SolidWorks.

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FreeCAD is pretty good, although I wouldn’t say it’s basic. There are however hundreds of tutorials to get you going. Well worth a look if you want to invest some time in learning it.

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I use Fusion 360 - it’s frustrating at first, but well supported with tutorials.

Solidworks is easier to use I believe.

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Yes i have read up on fusion and freecad , i think i would lean more to freecad , backed up with lots of tutorials on you tube , its nice to know what everyone uses , to get a good idea of a popular cad software … but im am swaying more towards freecad …
Thanks for your input guys … :grin:

Thanks Barry , 1st of all im very tight when it comes to software lol … i personally think i would have to get used to say freecad and then step up to something like solidworks , which seems a bit more in depth than your run of the mill software …
Thanks for the offer of printing me something, but i need to learn myself…

A simple one is design spark mechanical, not your usual format but works well.

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Not heard of this one steve, i will look into it thank you

Using OpenSCAD myself ( https://openscad.org ) has done every thing I’ve needed to do and it’s free.

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It’s free on rs components.

For example to build a cube, you draw a square then stretch it up to form the cube. A cylinder draw a circle and pull that up. But more complex parts are doable.

such as

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I like fusion 360 personally, it is all very well layed out and describes what the tools do if you hover over them. Completely free and I find it the easiest software to use. Good Luck with whatever you choose to learn!!!

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FreeCAD gets my vote. As a 25+ years user of CATIA (you think SolidWorks is expensive? Ha!) it’s the option that comes closest to the modelling techniques I’m used to for free and not web-based. Also similar to SolidWorks. Hey, it’s feature-based 3D modelling.

Tried OpenSCAD but even as a computer programmer it seemed like too much hard work. :laughing:

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Hi Kacey,

I have always used 123Design which was a free application that Autodesk killed off around the time that Tinkercad was launched which seems to be a more limited version but is stll available for free. However, getting a copy of the 123Design is difficult these days because, if you do find one, you have to ensure that it isn’t some malware posing as 123Design.

Like any CAD software, there is a learning curve, but I started as a complete novice and now produce whatever gadget I need that can be 3D printed. Admittedly It can be a little glitchy, in that the application sometimes crashes for no apparent reason, but this is easily overcome by saving regularly and opening the application again.

Because of the glitches I have tried other applications including Autodesk Fusion 360, but always end up reverting back to 123Design, because it is not overly complex and has plenty of capability. You can even still import 123D files into Fusion 360.

As an IT manager, I would never recommend that you download a piece of software from “some random bloke off the internet” but if you want to try it you should be able to find it by searching Google for “WIN64_2.2.14”

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Thanks for all your suggestions, looks like freecad , plenty of you tube videos , but if i dont grt on with it i will be back to look of previous suggestions,
Jaybee i may have a look into your idea , i will have a gander …

Thanks all

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Another Fusion 360 user here. Professional and slick (the software, not me).

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Im looking at youtube vid on fusion looks good …