[HN Gopher] FreeCAD v1.1
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FreeCAD v1.1
Author : sho_hn
Score : 112 points
Date : 2026-03-25 19:19 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (blog.freecad.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (blog.freecad.org)
| sho_hn wrote:
| Highlights reel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9biWv_M8p8
|
| Release Notes: https://wiki.freecad.org/Release_notes_1.1
| bartvk wrote:
| To add to this. MangoJelly offers very good tutorials, as well
| as a full course on Udemy. He released a 4 minute overview:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSwvnZ1jsXg
|
| DeltaHedra, another great YouTube channel, also released a good
| video that shows the previous and this version next to each
| other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYdobpjTypg
| ChristianJacobs wrote:
| Thumbs up for both of them, but I must say that DeltaHedra
| has become my new favourite FreeCAD content creator.
| Especially after he started using his own voice. His old
| content was good, but his current his magnifique! The quality
| of the content he pushes is above and beyond.
| GaggiX wrote:
| I was not expecting so many improvements in this version alone,
| I'm impressed. I was already using it for 3d printing but now it
| seems it's getting actually good, makes me wonder how I was able
| to use the previous version.
| vjvjvjvjghv wrote:
| I am also impressed by how much they are improving things. It
| just sucks that they are stuck with the OpenCasacade kernel so
| making stability improvements are hard to make in areas like
| fillets and others.
| sho_hn wrote:
| I don't follow Open CASCADE very closely, but it looks like
| they're on the verge of a new major release (v8.0) themselves
| that looks like a lot of refactoring and cleanup.
|
| I don't know hat version FreeCAD is actually bundling, but
| from GitHub it looks like a fork of 7.8.1?
| jepj57 wrote:
| This is awesome! Kudos to the developers, they really went above
| and beyond for this release.
| _whiteCaps_ wrote:
| I post this in every FreeCAD thread: If you're going to start
| designing something with it, use the spreadsheet tool to make
| everything parametric. You'll save yourself a ton of time as your
| designs get more complicated.
|
| Maybe this isn't anything new to experience CAD users. I don't
| know if other CAD tools do this as I started using FreeCAD after
| playing with 3D printing.
| sho_hn wrote:
| It's very common (Fusion calls it User Parameters, etc.) and
| indeed nice practice. FreeCAD has a few ways to do it,
| Spreadsheets but also free-form properties on objects. It's
| very flexible in this regard.
| gligorot wrote:
| The Fusion implementation sucks. A spreadsheet is a far more
| natural way to do this, Im surprised FreeCad is doing it
| better than the paid variant.
| sho_hn wrote:
| The Fusion implementation is awful - you can adjust one
| variable, one time, then you have to reopen the dialog to
| do another. At least for me it's always become non-
| responsive after a single edit, for years now. I've always
| assumed I'm just holding it wrong, but I don't know. I've
| moved on.
| Lukas_Skywalker wrote:
| The only issue I have with the Spreadsheet is that I need
| to add an alias for every value I want to use in the Sketch
| or Part Design workbench. In practice, this usually looks
| like A B width 2mm
| length 3mm
|
| and for every cell in B I add an alias with the same value
| as in column A. Is there a way around that?
| _whiteCaps_ wrote:
| https://wiki.freecad.org/Macro_EasyAlias
|
| EasyAlias macro maybe?
| Lukas_Skywalker wrote:
| Oh. I didn't even know there were macros. But that looks
| very useful!
| jjkaczor wrote:
| Hmmm - I seem to recall there was at least 1-2 scripts or
| macros available to help with aliasing.
| _whiteCaps_ wrote:
| Super flexible. I love being able to use Python to manipulate
| spreadsheet data.
| acrophobic wrote:
| You can also use VarSet[0], which I think is easier than
| spreadsheet since you don't have to switch the workbench.
|
| [0]: https://wiki.freecad.org/Std_VarSet
| IshKebab wrote:
| Other cad tools do support this but in my experience it's
| always pretty awkward to use. I haven't tried the FreeCAD
| implementation.
| lagrange77 wrote:
| Some CAD systems, i think NX for example, let you give it a
| reference to an actual Excel (or csv?) file, that you edit in
| Excel.
| bmicraft wrote:
| Or don't and adjust it in the sketcher? If you name your
| constrains you can just reference them directly elsewhere.
|
| I think that's much easier as you don't have to go back and
| forth with a spreadsheet.
| Alupis wrote:
| Recently one of the magnet holders for my window shutters broke,
| and I thought I'd take a crack at designing a replacement to 3D
| Print. I'd never designed anything in CAD software before, so I
| had no real reference.
|
| I found FreeCAD extremely easy to use and intuitive. I watched a
| couple videos and followed-along with the tutorials, then started
| on my own item. It's a relatively simple 3-part component. I took
| measurements with digital calipers, and in a few hours was
| printing the first prototype.
|
| A couple prototypes later (small measurement adjustments to
| account for plastic shrinkage, etc), I had the final model.
| Replaced all of the magnet holders since they were sure to go
| soon, too.
|
| I had fun, and finally used my 3D printer for something "real".
| Pretty cool.
| Ccecil wrote:
| Learning to design parts was a huge "unlock" for me.
|
| Wasn't just printing other people's designs.
|
| Great feeling to measure and design something then have it fit
| perfectly.
| TacticalCoder wrote:
| That is the spirit! A friend recommended me to buy a Bambu P2S:
| there are parts I want to print and I don't want to model then
| send them to have them printed, nor to bother my friend all the
| time. Funnily enough I've got magnets falling too: for an alarm
| system on the doors/windows and they don't hold well anymore
| after the years. Then my car's radar detection device (fully
| legal) doesn't fit nicely in the phone holder I use to that
| effect: I want it a specific angle (I want it both inclined and
| facing towards me a bit). So I'll model those and just print
| them. There are a few things like that where I keep thinking:
| _" If I had a 3D printer, I'd just print a part"_.
|
| Most importantly: I've got a 11 y/o and I think it's cool for
| the kid to see how it works.
|
| Already watch a few vids. Doesn't look too hard for simple
| things.
| cgearhart wrote:
| Slightly unrelated to this story, but I'm curious if anyone has
| good resources for learning FreeCAD. I have quite a lot of
| experience with SolidWorks, AutoCAD, OnShape, and similar
| software, but FreeCAD has always been hard for me to pick up.
| Alupis wrote:
| YouTube was very effective for me to learn FreeCAD. I just
| searched for some FreeCAD tutorials and followed-along. I had
| zero prior CAD experience though, so I was a "blank slate" in a
| way.
| jjkaczor wrote:
| MangoJelly on YouTube was my primary learning source, and a few
| other channels - but his "gelled" with me the best.
| jjkaczor wrote:
| Oh wow - over on Reddit, someone mentioned that the
| Deltahedra YouTuber has started using his own voice, rather
| than a generated one - and - well, his content is now far
| more watchable than it was previously!
| mft_ wrote:
| I often recommend https://youtube.com/@deltahedra3d - some good
| tutorial videos and other excellent FreeCAD content.
| mentalgear wrote:
| Congrats - the release video is very impressive !
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