this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2024
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3DPrinting

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Can't even take a short break from 3D designing stuff. Glad I'm switching over to FreeCAD. All I wanted was to grab some dimensions from an old model.

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[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 4 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Here is a tip: constraints don't need to behave. You can leave parts unconstrained and it will still work.

You can just eyeball the placement, and make sure the constraints that matter are constrained. The rest you can leave floating freely.

[–] nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Doesn’t thaT really scare things up later if (when) you need to make adjustments?

I’ve almost never left something unconstrained that I haven’t regretted later.

[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 2 points 8 months ago

FreeCAD is already wonky if you try to adjust things later, whether they are constrained or not.

It actually makes it easier to adjust, because when it is loose you can move things around without it affecting the rest of your work.

Some things need constraints of course, but a lot of it can do without.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Doesn’t that create wonky geometry if you try and alter the parameters?

[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 1 points 8 months ago

On the contrary, because they are not connected they don't affect other parts. So you can just freely move things around.

And if things move, you can always just eyeball it again.

For many parts of a drawing, exact measurements aren't important.