You can do this by selecting both elements and clicking on the ‘Make a union of several shapes’ button.įreeCAD Tutorial Part 3: Creating A 2D Sketchįor creating more complicated designs, Bram prefers to create two-dimensional sketches first.

You will also learn the opposite of subtracting two primitives: combining them. Changing the height and radius of it will now affect the height and radius of the hole. However, the cylinder can still be edited. For example: if you place a cylinder within a box and subtract them, the box will have a cylinder-shaped hole. You’ll also learn how to subtract different primitives from each other with the ‘cutout’ tool. For example, you can rotate them by changing their angle. In this second video, Bram will teach you some more tricks on how to use primitives.

In the video below, your instructor Bram will first show you the very basics: how to choose the ‘Part workbench’, how to start your first project, how to navigate (press Alt + left mouse button), how to add basic primitives (a box, a cylinder, etc.), and how to change the size, radius, and position of these primitives (under the menu ‘Property’).įreeCAD Tutorial Part 2: Subtracting and Combining Primitives However, we will start by using the ‘Part’ work bench – because we are here for creating a real physical object! For example, you can create a draft by choosing the ‘Draft’ work bench. These are basically a pre-defined set of tools that you are going to use. It’s less suited for creating organic objects such as figurines of humans, animals, or plants.Įnough of the small talk – we’re here to design! Let’s get started with the FreeCAD tutorial! FreeCAD Tutorial Part 1: Creating and Editing PrimitivesįreeCAD comes with several ‘work benches’. This 3D modeling software is most suitable for geometric designs, such as precise technical parts, replacement parts, gadgets, cases, scale models, etc. It can be used on Windows, Mac and Linux, and reads and writes many open file formats including popular 3D printing formats such as STL, OBJ, and DAE.

Best of all it – but you already know this – it comes for free (just download it from on the FreeCAD website)! The ‘CAD’ in its name simply stands for ‘Computer-Aided Design’.įreeCAD is a 3D design program that allows you to easily navigate and modify your 3D model by browsing back into the model history and changing its individual elements. About the 3D Modeling Software FreeCADįreeCAD is a popular open source design software for creating 3D models of real-life objects. In this tutorial you will learn to create a 3D file in FreeCAD:įrom a sketch (left) to the final 3D model (right).

Freecad to 3d printer