FreeCAD Design Series pt.1 - Mug Design with Text (Parametric Modelling)

[@thehardwareguy]

▶If you find my videos useful, kindly consider supporting me: www.thehardwareguy.co.uk/membership You can also support the channel in other ways by giving this video a thumbs up and sharing it everywhere! Have a great week. -Gareth

[@TempusWarrior]

Do you have plans on making FreeCAD courses? I enjoy these videos and I'd put up some cash for a course

[@thehardwareguy]

@@TempusWarrior my collection of FreeCAD videos are essentially a course! but my FreeCAD content will always remain free! the membership is just a way to support the channel directly since KZbin ad revenue is pennies :)

[@brycenemerson1061]

I know im randomly asking but does any of you know of a way to log back into an Instagram account..? I stupidly lost my login password. I would love any help you can offer me

[@danieljack9214]

@Brycen Emerson instablaster =)

[@brycenemerson1061]

@Daniel Jack I really appreciate your reply. I found the site thru google and I'm trying it out now. Seems to take a while so I will get back to you later with my results.

[@steffenmuller2888]

Tbh most people don't like the projection for obvious reasons. Freecad can map a sketch perfectly on a round shape using the curves workbench. There are videos available on yt showing exactly this (some extra steps are needed but e.g. you can map a text around the whole mug without perspective distortion). Gereth, maybe you could also give it a try, I like your videos, very helpful and explained well!

[@sigung01]

Speaking as a 68 year old man who has just bought his first CNC router and is facing learning CAD for the first time, I find that these first two lessons have set me on a course of learning of the highest degree - of the scores of other tutorials I've watched on FreeCad these stand out head and shoulders above the rest in terms of well organized, methodical and logical steps, quality of content and overview. Well done. I will be joining your membership site soon.

[@thecriticalpoint]

Thank you for doing what you do and knocking down barriers to entry. This stuff isn't intuitive to the uninitiated and guys like me just can't learn from a wiki unless there's a gun to my head or my career is in jeopardy. You've made something accessible to me that up until a few hours ago might as well have been rocket surgery or brain science and I am grateful.

[@thehardwareguy]

Thank you for the kind feedback. Glad I was able to help out!

[@TexasDellDude]

I'm a home shop hobby machinist (retired from Information Technology) trying to learn FreeCAD. You are helping A LOT! Thank you! Please keep making your videos. A few suggestions for videos: a) A video of using parametric modeling to design slots, specifically slots for Socket Head Cap Screws, b) Designing a round disc with multiple axial holes from the outside edge into the disc to thru holes (think your Beginners pt. 4 video), c) How to use parametric modeling to design a fixture plate 4" x 6" x 3/4" (sorry, old school US guy) with 77 through holes, on 1/2" centers, every other hole alternating between .250" and .203" with the center hole being .250". I've designed a fixture plate like "c" before I discovered your video series but would really like to know how to do it using the spreadsheet. Thank you again! Great videos!

[@allluckyseven]

You can select multiple cells on your Spreadsheet and define their Display Unit once. Then select each one of them and create an individual alias by entering it in the alias text input above the Spreadsheet to the right and hitting Enter. That should cut some time.

[@thehardwareguy]

Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:13 FreeCAD 0.19 00:44 Pre-Requisites 01:01 New Project 01:27 New Spreadsheet 01:40 Creating Parameters 02:08 Activating Parameters 02:32 Make Body Active 02:36 Mug Sketch 03:41 Mug Padding 04:35 Mug Pocket Sketch 06:41 Mug Pocket 07:53 Datum Planes 08:40 Adding a Datum Plane 11:43 Handle Sketch 1 12:03 Arc Tool 15:05 Centering the Handle 16:42 Handle Sketch 2 19:49 The Sweep Tool 21:05 Cleaning up with Fillets 23:06 Changing Your Model Colour 23:34 The Power of Parametric Modelling 26:35 FreeCAD 0.19 Reminder 27:10 Adding a Datum Plane 27:48 Adding Text (ShapeString) 28:29 Limitations of Text in FreeCAD 29:45 Downgrade ShapeString To Faces 30:12 Fusing The Faces 30:47 Hiding The Draft Grid 31:08 Project To Surface Tool 32:49 Outro

[@suleimansalim5340]

Only just stumbled on to this after well and truly giving up on FreeCAD. Watched the UI pt 1 and 2 and after this the demistification is out of this world. Thanks for your time and effort on this.

[@hamdawgms]

i like the way you say mug great playlist, parametric modelling is crazy. Thank you, youre an amazing teacher.

[@isaacbullinger7506]

If it is difficult to grab points you can go into Edit>Preferences>Display and go down to marker size. You can then select a higher number to make the points bigger.

[@thehardwareguy]

Excellent tip! Cheers

[@lihuicai4720]

That is the most interesting thing that I ever saw by using FreeCad!!! Just so amazing!

[@lostnetwork5717]

DUDE YOUVE taught me so much if my products do well im cutting you a 5% royalty for teaching me this stuff. these design been stuck in my head and im just starting to get them out because of you. not joking here thank you youve helped change my life for the better.

[@scrubzgaming7164]

i am loving this series its great for learning how to work in 3d space again

[@IngieKerr]

Wonderful Series, thankyou. I hadn't used FreeCAD until a day or so ago, and now I feel like I can build the universe :) Apologies for the long wall of text, I'm autistic and tend to use as many words as I think constrain what I'm saying accurately, for better or worse :) Tip #1: I find for parametric design I prefer to first ensure just the spreadsheet and the part view are open in the tab list at the bottom (i.e. close the start page tab if still open), then go to Window-> Tile, which will put the spreadsheet on one side of the visible application window, and the view of the object on the other side of the visible window. This way it's then possible to edit the spreadsheet, and view the changes as they happen, without having to switch window tabs at the bottom. Tip #2: Additionally, tho it depends on the complexity as to whether it's worth the effort (but you won't know that until it's too late ;), a useful tip is to use the spreadsheet more than just a simple lookup of fixed values, as you can also add rows into the spreadsheet which are calculated values from other rows, like in a "proper" spreadsheet :) e.g. one might add a spreadsheet row "Inner Dia" and set its cell value to be the calculation _"=Bx - By"_ (include the equals sign) where _Bx_ might be your cell reference, say "B1" for your main object diameter, and _By_ could be the spreadsheet reference (say, "B2") for your wall thickness. (remember to set the units and alias on this new calculated spreadsheet row) - Yes, you can do the maths part in the part sketch constraint directly, but I find it far clearer, and less fiddly when typing in the constraints to have those formulae pre-calculated and visible in the spreadsheet at the start of modelling. This also allows the spreadsheet to highlight issues where you may have set constraints on the sketch where the maths breaks down (going into minus values) - but might not be obvious apart from python debug window errors. But doing the mathematical calculations beforehand in the spreadsheet, and referencing those, makes it obvious on looking at the spreadsheet where, say you've accidentally ended up with a negative/out of range constraint. TLDR; My rule of thumb is: Let the spreadsheet be a spreadsheet :) If a calculated value has any "meaning" in the design constraints, always calculate it in the spreadsheet _first_, using the spreadsheet cell content _=sum_ formula, even if it's calculated from existing values in the spreadsheet. This way you can always reference that _calculated_ result in other constraints, rather than typing .parameter / 2 + .99 / 3.13 into the constraint, as one day you'll typo one of those numbers, or forget what the numbers "mean" in relation to the final sketch :) This may be a personal preference, but as an _ancient_ software developer :), I always start with definition of all variables/constants/mathematical formulae prior to designing the "logic" of some code. The same applies to parametric CAD. There's nothing more hideous in code than to see some "magic number" deep in the bowels of software, where a few weeks after writing the code, you read it back and ask yourself "why on earth did I divide length by 3.52612 here?"

[@rifatburaktozkoparan1454]

What a tutorial ! -> EXCELLENT ! the methodology, analytical approach, the ability to transfer the knowledge, in all aspects, this is a TRUE Tutorial. Thank you so much!

[@niallsimpson]

Worked my way through the lessons over the last few days - printing a mug now - the parameters are a game changer! Cheers!

[@yalnizyildizebegumeci1841]

Great tutorial. Thank you so much Gareth

[@danielwood4786]

Just want to say, I love your series on FreeCAD. Keep it up.

[@rcwillfix-itshop9185]

I tried this, and always have the same problem, the shapestring is not attached to datum plane?

[@sovereignlivingsoul]

Excellent, I love the way you use the parameters.

[@mechadroit]

You're awesome man. This gives me so much more confidence with CAD. You've got me started and I really appreciate it.

[@adrianstealth340]

Brilliant thank you!, Best freecad tutorials on youtube

[@thehardwareguy]

Glad you think so! very kind

[@Ma_X64]

And when you need to put a plane deeper just a little you better do something like (r * 0.99) instead of (r - 2) so you will be able to resize your model in a more wide range. And it would be a more useful to make some parameter named like "handle_base_radius" instead of doing same calculations in many places that can be a way to make mistakes.

[@bladycivilian]

I was just about to try this... Guess i will wait 😁

[@ridiculousdominick]

Great videos! Also the speed at which you teach is perfect.

[@net51cc]

Excellent teacher.

[@thehardwareguy]

Thank you! 😃

[@90MichaelTaylor]

If anyone sees this regarding the spreadsheet bug. I dont think it is a bug but a feature. If you rename your spreadsheet "params" when you go to use it for constraints or other parameters you will see in the list instead. Your new value will be .mug_diameter/2 for instance.

[@ashleycawley5816]

I had difficulty following the video at "The Sweep Tool" section, but I finally overcame it, my FreeCAD behaved a little differently to Gareth's at that point he described and showed that you needed to select the Body1 at that moment, but for me it wouldn't work if I choose the Sweep Tool then it would error, I would have to highlight or select one of the sketches (not just Body1) in order to proceed, once I understood that I could continue. Hope that helps someone else. Great videos!

[@ReaperRandom]

I love ur tutorial .. well explained and u try to teach best way

[@RANDALLOLOGY]

I would like to see what is next. Does the file save as a STL or GRBL and see it printing to see the final outcome. It would make a good companion video.

[@lmcmulle]

Great stuff here, mate. really enjoy your style.

[@jubiaudio219]

Very good presentation. Love the detailed and cleared voice explanation . Nevertheless, it could be cut much shorter by skipping the mug building process and focusing just on the text creation, transformation, projection to the mug surface and extrusion.

[@mugeshrajaram6306]

Nice video keep going. When i export the mug as .stl file and import it in slicer the entire object is solid

[@mch43856]

Wouldn't it be more practical to click the spreadsheet in the left menu then change the values in the left menu below so you can observe the changes realtime instead of opening the spreadsheet fullscreen, or are you doing it that way for tutorial purposes? Great vids btw, thanks for teaching me FreeCAD :D

[@ericbarker3850]

Hi Gareth, I'm new to your channel and 3D printing. Loving what you are doing here. I followed all the steps in your first parametric video, but I was not able to conclude the work. I kept getting a message about "not part of active object" or something. I followed over and over... but never found a solution. double click the part, double click the body, but never got past the error, so I hope I'm able to do better with this video. I am using 0.19, "released version". Question: I would rather engrave on the mug (actually, it will be on a candy dish circular object), but similar. However I want the text to go much farther around the outside of the vessel. and I want it engraved, not extruded. What are your thoughts? Thank you.

[@qzorn4440]

wonderful info... i have been learning fusion-360 by paul mcwhorter which is great stuff...:) however 360 needs to be online, so i am going to use freecad and 360 for the series...😁 this example works well with the learning curve...👍👍👍 thanks a lot.

[@karenma8072]

I ran into trouble when trying to create text using shapestring. My letters seem to be orienting by the XY plane even though I created a datum plane like you did in the video by the XZ plane. So, my letters are perpendicular to the side mug. How do I fix the problem? 🥲

[@bigbellyton]

im having the same problem, i don't know what to do

[@nathankendall2628]

Did you work it out?... I am having the same issue

[@TinBoy56]

Like people here I was having the same problem with this, sometimes with my text not showing up anywhere. After repeated attempts I noticed when I first went into the Shapestring dialogue that the Y value was way off, like millions of milimeters off. I got it back to a more sensible range by moving the model slightly to the left or right and moving my mouse pointer over the datum plain again. After that I put my text in, chose the font and then clicked OK. This seemed to solve the disappearing text problem, but like you my text was on the XY plain. I then had a play around with the Shapestring property values and found that by changing the 'Support' value to 'DatumPlane001', and changing the 'Map Mode' value to 'FlatFace', this put the text back on the datum plain. Voila! After that everything was plain sailing. Hope this helps.

[@frankengels]

HI great tuturials, but I do not get text on the datumplane, it is always in the middle of the mug. I am using 0.21.0, could that be the problem?

[@xxfloppypillowxx]

the brackets in (Spreadsheet.mug_diameter/2) - (Spreadsheet.mug_thickness) are redundant technically because order of operations would have it resolving in the same order. It's still good practice to use brackets to make it easier to understand at a glance but Spreadsheet.mug_diameter/2-Spreadsheet.mug_thickness would resolve the same way

[@MichaelCampbell01]

Have you run into the topographical naming issue sketching directly on geometry faces?

[@justinkabaus7488]

Great tutorial. But how can I projet longer text like going around more than half of the cup?

[@k9slover]

very helpful video.

[@SimiliaSC]

Hey Gareth!,, I loved all your videos i have wathced so far!!!, I started from zero and i was able to do a little project after watching your 2 initial videos, However i cannot understand why sometimes you start a project with "Create a new part" and others you use "Create a new body" i went through the wiki-freecad but at this stage i haven't understood the differecence between them.. do you have a tutorial on this? of do you know of a video i could watch ? Thanks a lot man,,

[@x_ph1l]

Thanks for the tutorial, it was helpful!

[@thehardwareguy]

You're welcome Phil, thanks for watching!

[@like-san]

U R AMAZING... MANY THANKS!

[@MammothPaige]

Thank you

[@Zellogi]

Appearance didn't do anything for me. No menu or settings coming up. But if you press the body and there you have "shape color". Which do the same thing as you did in the video. Dunno if it's this version on Linux. But in case anyone else get the same issue.. You can also change the line and point color there if you want something else than the normal settings. Great beginners guide for free-cad. Been following along and learning a lot in just 2 days.

[@MeriaDuck]

Can you please make a tutorial on troubleshooting FreeCAD exclamation marks in the tree one day? Took me until this tutorial until I ran into a problem. My model didn't update when I updated the spreadsheet. Also, it shows an exclamation mark in the tree for the handle sweep (AdditivePipe). I re-did the tutorial from "Handle Sketch 2" and directly after that the mug did update. Then it still worked after the fillets. -edited to add- I think I found it. When changing parameters, the fillet for the rim ended up being too large to fit, causing a problem. One solution was to make the fillet in the spreadsheet dependent on the thickness (it is a spreadsheet after all, you can do all sorts of stuff).

[@flygarfpv3496]

Thanks for taking the time to do these videos. What problem are you having with naming spreadsheets in 0.19? I have been using 0.19 and haven't run into any issues with changing the names of the sheets. Even renaming the sheet after referencing it in constraints causes all the constraints to update to the new name. Just wondering what to look out for.

[@thehardwareguy]

Thanks for watching! The problem I had was that if I re-named a spreadsheet, when setting parameter it wouldn't detect the name change and I'd still have to use 'Spreadsheet.' regardless. May have just been an issue my end, I'll double check later👍🏻

[@SplitPrqctice]

Okay, so I did everything as you did and my Mug looks as cool as yours. But when Im trying to export it in .stl. The upper mug fillet part does not look the same as the upper mug fillet part in the FreeCAD I tried exporting in different FreeCAD version but nothing worked for me. :/

[@DanielNehemiahJ]

Please do a series on Vehicle Modelling!

[@robertgosz4281]

Thanks mate!

[@thehardwareguy]

You're welcome!

[@astronomyforbeginners-a4b-217]

A huge thankyou for this guide, I have spent months trying to do this. I am using FC 0.19 and have tried using the curve text macro, but have issues of the last letter of the last word overlaying the last letter of the first word! I particularly want to create a text string to follow a arc. I have scoured the web to see if this can be done in Draft. If there is a way and you know how, can you do a guide? - Fletch -

[@kennethjones2849]

Dumb question...But you designed a MUG--but can you actually drink from it? Put Coffee in it? I know PLA is not very heat resistant but I was under the impression that almost all Types of plastic and resin materials were not good to use as dishes or silverware. Am I wrong?

[@side2k]

It seems that these days, Projection tool can work directly with Shape String object, which is quite handy

[@babar112]

Very good Thanks :)

[@YasserAhmed-ht8rx]

Just perfect.

[@mikeg.8585]

Funny I was able to follow the guide successfully but when I exported it to STL, the texts never tagged along with the main body.

[@timothymowder3756]

When you fast forward past the spreadsheet the part and body are reverted back to their original names, "part" and "body"

[@aaauta1]

its has been very interesting for me to know about free cad and also your tutorials, i hope very soon i will be able to support the channel financial. I want to design a 3D model of a knee and elbow protection or shin guard i don't know if you can help me?

[@markvios29]

I wonder how long you have been using FreeCAD and also have you had years in another CAD program?

[@thehardwareguy]

Fusion 360 is my CAD package of choice and I started learning CAD 2 years ago! I've been using FreeCAD for 3 months, so I'm learning with you! Teaching is a great way to learn because it forces you to question what you're doing! My goal is to share what I learn in a way that's easy to understand👍🏻

[@ATMBelgium]

Just downloaded FC, and try to make a sketch. I have only one question. How do I draw a line, square, ...without having to push the ctr button..? Sorry for this basic question...

[@TheLindsay720]

I think you need to watch his first FreeCAD video which covers this. Although it’s been a month so maybe you worked that out.

[@ATMBelgium]

@@TheLindsay720 yes I did, THANKS.! anyway...;-))

[@Not-Only-Reaper-Tutorials]

Datum planes are easy when you offset along an axis. But when you have to offset them to put on the perimeter with an angle among the axis, things are becoming cumbersome (to me)

[@colcol758]

I have followed this guide and simply cannot get it to work. For example at around 27:40 you create a cross reference but all you seem to do is click ok. I never get that option. Later, at 28:11 you create some text. Even to the point of typing your name rather that some other text I never get any text. I have followed your instructions to the letter over and over again but without success. I am using version 0.19.

[@TinBoy56]

See my recent reply to Karen Ma about the disappearing text problem. I also wasn't getting the cross reference dialogue at times, but I was able to get the text back where it is supposed to be eventually.

[@bigbronx]

After watching your videos I've been able to design a few simple parts. The "active body" thing still confuses me, I think I have done it wrong a lot of times cause things appear outside the main body and it ends up being a mess. I haven't paid enough attention to the "bold" body part name probably. The errors on FreeCAD are very bad, almost meaningless in most cases. Another confusing bit is the "Part design" vs "Part", many tools are very similar. I've had problems doing "fillet" on one workspace but succeeded on the other ?¿?¿? Oh and the versions make no sense either: the 0.19 "beta" was released in Nov 2019. But the 0.18.6 was released in February 2021. What kind if beta remains unchanged for over a year? But hey, it is completely free software (libre). It is a decent tool, with a few bugs and "unpolished" sure but usable. Thank you so much for these videos, you are really good at teaching.

[@BrainDeadEngineering]

You rock !

[@ajbowman5647]

When I try to add text it don't show up on the plan infront of the cup but only top view. It is won't go on the right plan no matter what I do :(

[@TinBoy56]

See my reply to Karen Ma.

[@ff-mu6cc]

nice!

[@PushpamPankajPatel]

how can we parametirize polar array in draft workbench

[@randorfja]

But how do you print this in red with green text?

[@Larsbor]

How did I bend the text ?

[@russell4998]

No matter what I do, the text appears on the XY plane, not the new DatumPlane. I'm confused.

[@antonskal]

Hi, new to freecad here, I had a problem similar to yours, I solved it by fidgeting with the "toggle constraints to working plane" button. The button looks like a blue square with a small circle on its lower left corner, and I found it on the right side of a toolbar located in the lower part of the freecad window (which in the video is actually covered by Gareth's window). Tell me if it was of any help.

[@jonmusgrov]

Working well except the mug thickness formula (spreadsheet.mug_diameter /2) - (Spreadsheet.mug_thickness) gives giving me errors Solved it after retrying a number of times and changing mug thickness values

[@thehardwareguy]

It is likely that the top edge fillet caused the error! Make the top edge fillet proportional to the thickness and this should solve the issue permanently 👍🏻

[@makewithmegma]

Cool🔥😍👍

[@samvoelkel2046]

Very interesting. Thanks.

[@tasmedic]

Unless you're going to make mugs for giants, babies, and everyone in between it's much easier and quicker to use the part workbench and solids. Granted that you don't learn as much that way, but you don't get into the bad books with your wife when you miss your meal and also all the jobs she asked you to do. If you're single, a student, intending to work in CAD for a living, and have no life, then knock yourself out with the spreadsheet tool and as many parameters as you can touch type in 3 hours. I know, I know, Freecad's power is it's parametric systems. But I suspect some folk, like me, will just want to bash out a single prototype and move on with their lives...

[@ashleycawley5816]

You're missing the point of this series: this video isn't about "here's the best or fastest way to design a mug" - it is instead about introducing new concepts, tools and techniques to those that don't yet know them, so that people can later use that new knowledge to design and build objects of their own design and making. The mug is merely an example object that has subtle complexities to focus on and to make use of those new techniques.

[@kennethsoderlind5578]

Too fast on your demonstration,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Other OK ,,,

[@thehardwareguy]

Thanks for the feedback. This is due to the editing. I cut out pauses etc so that you can sit through a 30 minute video as opposed to a 60 minute video! Guess it's a bit of a trade off

[@allluckyseven]

You can select multiple cells on your Spreadsheet and define their Display Unit once. Then select each one of them and create an individual alias by entering it in the alias text input above the Spreadsheet to the right and hitting Enter. That should cut some time.