FreeCAD Secrets Unleashed: Supercharge Your Workflow for Effortless Edge & Vertex Selection

[@crackyflipside]

Best channel for consistent FreeCAD content. What would be cool is if you could explore how to use path workbench for carving CNC machines (with z-axis carving). The CNC hobbyists are always complaining of the lack of free or open source software for carving, I know path workbench can be used for CNC but I haven't seen any tutorials for cutting out 3d carvings or geometries.

[@AlexDoesYouTubes]

Oh my god, the hours I've wasted zooming in and rotating a part to try and select an edge are now forever in the past! Thank you!

[@MangoJellySolutions]

You're very welcome! Glad to help 😊👍

[@Bob-el3iw]

Very handy tips Darren, thank you, very useful 👋👋👋

[@ChazmillsADLT]

Excellent, thanks. So many programs have these hidden away

[@MangoJellySolutions]

You're welcome! 😊

[@NUeB_net]

I've overlooked pick radius all the time… Thanks for this! 😍👍👍👍👍👍

[@NigelSheldon]

Thank you for your great content. I've learned how to use FreeCAD from you. Brilliant!

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Happy to help! And thank you for the kind comments 😊

[@NigelSheldon]

@@MangoJellySolutions Thanks again! I just sent you 20 pounds via PayPal as a further thanks! Keep up the brilliant work!

[@QEngineering]

I always forget we're these settings are located and have to hunt around to find what I need. Now I have a reference. 🍻

[@nopidou]

Thank you 👍

[@TechieSewing]

Oh, I've used most of these already but never thought of raising pick radius so much. At 40 it works almost as well as snapping in Inkscape. Would be nice to have a shortcut/button to switch it on and off, I use that in Inkscape all the time, but for that devs have to admit that it is indeed snapping :)

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Glad to help, I am wondering if changing the setting shows up in the python console as a command. If so could write a macro to toggle the setting then add it to the toolbar

[@timinwsac]

I'm still using an older version of freecad. I found the pick radius option is in display under the 3D view tab.

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Thanks for pointing that out, really helps with others trying to find the setting in older versions. I found this post showing some more information of its development from one version to the other github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/issues/9205

[@Daniel-cc5ph]

Thanks! How do i select the "other" line in sketcher, when to object are right above each other?

[@TheScotsalan]

What did I miss ? I dont have pick radius option in the selection tab. Do I need to have another option activated ? Some snap option perhaps ? Ver 0.20.2 windows 👍

[@MangoJellySolutions]

From a recent comments from a viewer they have helpfully added it's actually in a different section for older versions of freecad, it's in the display settings towards the bottom. I have added a link to show where it was moved from and to in later versions of freecad github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD/issues/9205

[@TheScotsalan]

@@MangoJellySolutions Cheers 👍. I need doenload the latest version too.

[@JosephStory]

Anyone noticed on the latest version that when you do an operation, like pad, the input for the pad amount is highlighted(ie "10 mm") but yet if you start to type a number the keyboard focus is on the render pane so it just switches different view angles. Causing you to have to click in field you want to change even though the text was already highlighted. Frustrating and requires more clicks than I was used to in previous versions.

[@Gumball_W]

Recently, there has been a PR changing the default settings to make the selection easier.

[@RockyPondProductions]

I have a tangentially related question: Does freecad have the ability to snap or grab to a mid point of a line or a quadrant on a circle etc. (inside sketcher for geometry creation and adding constraints)? I am currently making refrence lines and trimming them back in order to do this and it is incredibly clunky. The ability to snap or grab positions like these would be incredibly helpful and useful.

[@MangoJellySolutions]

There is grid snaping in the sketcher in 0.21 which makes life a bit easier. Other than that your left with the constraints.

[@basilwatson1]

why isnt this set by default?

[@MangoJellySolutions]

I think they give a default ball park setting that probably hasn't changed since the early days, since then bigger monitors, more sensitive mice and these settings get over looked. That's the only thing I can think of why.

[@SianaGearz]

Working at around 106-109dpi monitors and 1500cpi gaming mouse I am finding the defaults quite adequate and wouldn't push them much further. Large picking radius selecting something you aren't even pointing at is extremely annoying and the line weights are good for a mix of high and low complexity elements.

[@zoptrik]

I think point selectblity diameter should bigger than lines. If multipl line connect 1 vertex, vertex selecting is impossible.

[@loicnicolas5002]

Hi Darren, I would like to have a part editing function and be able to move the points and edges as I want, wouldn't it be nice to be able to do that ? So we could modify the geometry of a cube without going through a sketch to do it, for example 😊Just an idea like that 😉

[@imacmill]

Difficult, or outright impossible to do, in a parametric modeling CAD program.

[@loicnicolas5002]

@@imacmill You are sure, it seems to me that in an earlier version of Freecad, it was possible to edit the vertices and edges of a solid, via the Drafth workbench. But that was before 😊

[@imacmill]

@@loicnicolas5002 I didn't know that, and if so, I wonder why the functionality was removed.

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Parametric co-existing with direct modelling. Whole can of worms when mixing non destructive and destructive operations together, I am finding just that in Blender CAD sketcher. . The program really has to have a solid foundation with that in thought from the beginning to work to allow for those kinds of edits. But it would make things alot easier if they can get the concept working.

[@loicnicolas5002]

@@imacmill No problem, I've been using FreeCAD since 2007, but I also wonder why there is no longer this functionality. But I remember that this could create artefacts on the solid thus modifying

[@rupangchannel888]

Thank you 🙏

[@sjn8099]

Thank you 🙂