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Is SolveSpace for me? (by Ferdinand)
Greetings,

I'm an apprentice mechanic at a company that works a lot with cnc turning and milling.
In the company itself they usea proprietary program "(not sure if allowed to name)" but the people who own that are dicks and don't even answer emails about student versions. So I've looked around for free alternatives and stumbled upon SolveSpace.

Tried the tutorial, really like how it works so far.
Now someone has recommended a free version of some other proprietary program and I'm at a loss.

The thing is, I don't know if SolveSpace could do everything I'd ever want, because I don't even know what I should look for, being a newbie at this.

I'm obviously not looking to create commercial stuff, if I should ever have to do that I'd probably get company access to the program they bought.

So just small stuff, some small machinery that I could sketch, test and then make. Don't need automation capabilities.
I do have access to CNC machinery in the company, can I use SolveSpace to create anything that the machine can then read?

Really lost a bit here, sorry for the rambling. In the opinion of someone who knows, is SolveSpace for me? Or - what would you need to know about my needs to answer that question?

Cheers,
Ferdinand
Tue May 22 2018, 15:41:10
(no subject) (by Andrew)
Try using it for a bit, it is not going to cost you anything.

It does export STL files, for 3d printing, and step files for import into other packages.

The one thing I will suggest is create parts in individual files, and then assemble them into machines.
Tue May 22 2018, 18:40:00
(no subject) (by Ferdinand)
Yes, I think you're right and I'll just try it for a while!

What I'd absolutely want to do at some point is create a technical drawing out of any part that was modeled. Possible?

Cheers
Wed May 23 2018, 10:57:39
(no subject) (by Andrew)
What you can do is produce pdf's, which show outlines (if the solid model is turned off), along with any visible dimensions of the view. This would be useful for manual machining. Hope this helps.

There are other free cad programs available, especially on Linux:-

Openscad for a programming approach to solid geometry models.
LibreCad for 2d drawings.
Freecad for 3d Modelling(more complex than solvespace, with a steeper learning curve.
HeeksCad/Cam probaly more useful for its cam side.
And the granddaddy BRLcad.

I use both Solvespace and Openscad for models for 3d printing.
Wed May 23 2018, 15:55:11
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