TOP 5 Pitfalls with FreeCAD and How To Win (Especially for beginners)

Are you failing when you try to follow tutorials on freeCAD, not getting the same results as the author? Are you becoming frustrated. I have been through the comments of my tutorials that I have answered and picked out the top 5 problems that viewers have faced and how to fix them.
#FreeCAD , #CAD , #3DPrinting
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[@paulwood5870]

Practice makes perfect right? Well, nice to be able to come back to this and see it again.

[@billstoner5559]

Cant tell you how many times I’ve created these very same problems. Thanks for clarifying the problems and how to solve. 👍🏻😊

[@MangoJellySolutions]

You're welcome! Glad it was useful 😊👍

[@Flockman3065]

This series has become the comprehensive guide to free-cad for me, still amazes me just how much you cover

[@Cristi4n_Ariel]

We need more of these videos! These are extremely helpful and save lots of time during the design process. Thank you again!

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Glad you like them! And thanks for the comment. The short quick fire facts seen to be very popular. I will have to do more 😊

[@thabaninyandeni3250]

Thank you if been struggling with the multi body problem for days now 😭🙌🏾🙌🏾 💯

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Happy to help! :)

[@This_Account]

You make FreeCAD usable. Thank you

[@MangoJellySolutions]

You're welcome :)

[@pellcorp]

Setting refine to true is super handy, I have found it useful for remixing from steps where I am filling in holes and such, so good.

[@JosefdeJoanelli]

That refine trick is super handy to know, thanks!

[@mikehess4494]

Thank you.

[@joeoconnor4126]

Excellent work - this has been very helpful, and it’s good to have the small things that can stump you explained by someone clearly

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Thanks for the feedback, glad you enjoyed. I wish I only made this earlier.

[@Shenanigans3D]

Very informative video. Thx

[@IGBeTix-Electronique]

Génial, merci beaucoup !

[@davidapp3730]

Great video. Thank you

[@paulwood5870]

Great idea to cover common problems. Really helps me.

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Glad it was helpful!

[@sjn8099]

Thank you for explanation 🙂

[@GapRecordingsNamibia]

Noice! Yes the different size fillets is something I have run into..... How to solve that would be some good knowledge Thank you for this.

[@davidgorman2665]

OMG, I so needed this video. Thank you so much!

[@MangoJellySolutions]

No problems, glad to help 😊👍

[@Not-Only-Reaper-Tutorials]

always super helpful. Thank you.

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Happy to help! 😊😊👍👍

[@Marty72]

Brilliant. Very helpful.

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Glad you found it useful, 👍👍

[@basilwatson1]

I use freecad alot. Yes I run into these problems, such as the fillet ! However, the BIGGEST problems are; imho, Not intuitive, such as trying to run a tube along a path, and having to use the German technique extruding planes , moving objects , in draft workbench, and workbenches in general Imho there should be a clean up of basic controls so One workbench with all basic controls ( i know you can use preferences ) Also again in my wish list I would like sketcher to be like librecad with similar drawing techniques, @90,100 offset 100 ... u get the drift ( that is just my personal wish though!) other than that its a very useable package

[@JSBISHOP]

I have been following your tutorials and I have to say Thank You!

[@MangoJellySolutions]

You're very welcome! It's a pleasure to make these for such a supportive community :)

[@FilterYT]

Thank you, this is great content!

[@MangoJellySolutions]

You're very welcome!

[@davidbawden6567]

This helped me no end, thank you...

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Great to hear, I have a lot more to come like this 😊

[@jakobhansson1341]

Awesome!! 👍👍

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Thanks! 👍

[@brianprice7020]

Thank you for highlighting the problem of extra clicking for luck !! ( Double clicking ). I thought that when I was adding a sketch to a surface of a pad, the plane created was the default option. I developed a work around by using datum planes.

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Glad it helped! It's was a realisation I had when I was trying to stop someone at work from double clicking on the close button of another program we use. It took them ages to get out the habit. I had a bit of a light bulb moment and went through the comments of the video. I sat through the exact steps except double clicking and I was getting exactly the same problems. It was a bit of a break through moment and was the main reason I created this video. Glad it's helpful 😊

[@Dr_Mauser]

Yup, I've hit that fillet one before. That Refine is an interesting, buried feature.

[@brickmason26]

thanks man !!!

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Happy to help

[@Larsbor]

The first one seems elementary… the last one really informative (like a program error)

[@keinschwein8467]

More of a tangential question as you show 2 or so problems that may occur when referencing sketches to faces/edges of previously created features: Having had CAD lectures by old-school CAD dudes, I was taught to, where- and whenever possible, NOT glue sketches onto features, but use global/absolute references (independent xyz planes + linear offsets and/or angles where needed, construction sketches for more complicated stuff). The software used there did not suffer from FC's very distinct flavour of TNP and could actually handle building features upon features quite well - it was still advised against (because changes to earlier elements in the history might still in some cases break stuff, which may be a hassle to track down yada yada). To this day, I consider this good practice with any history-based CAD; but with FC and TNP, I 'd even say it should be pretty much an iron rule. Did they solve TNP / is that just not an issue anymore?

[@MangoJellySolutions]

On the new features for 0.22 video I have pinned a post by one of the Developers to the top who explains the progress made towards this issue which is very promising.

[@robgoodsight6216]

😃...ohhh it definitely helped

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Nice to hear 😊

[@nagesharas5136]

1:16 I just noticed that the *Model* tree does not help us see the distinction between a single-click and a double-click on a face. In both cases, the same node is highlighted! Even the *Properties* table below the tree is practically the same in both cases.

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Unfortunately not. But you can enable the selection panel which will show exactly what has been selected.

[@ludovanginderen6850]

like it

[@mussanalgi]

👍👍👍

[@nagesharas5136]

9:48 In my experiment, I removed one coincidence constraint from a rectangle, and kept the two separated points very close to each other. The validation command failed to locate the break. Then I increased the tolerance in the *Missing coincidences* section (just below). There was no effect initially. But when I raised the tolerance sufficiently, FC could find where the wire was broken. I wonder if FC can snap the points together within a specified distance (like Blender)?

[@MarkFraserWeather]

I find the main cause of wire not closed is when using the trim tool where it doesn't close the sketch after trimming & you can't see where the issue is.

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Ah forgot about that one. Yep that can be a right pain when that happens.

[@Cristi4n_Ariel]

@@MangoJellySolutions A second part to this video would be great!

[@geneh9210]

Excellent troubleshooting video! I just started doing more serious CAD a few weeks ago and decided to go with FreeCAD. One quick question. When creating a sketch on the YZ plane, FreeCAD defaults to a view from the right side. Typically, I make my draft design on paper from the left side view. Is there a way to change that setting? (I know it's basically just viewing it from the opposite end, but it's easier for me to visualize.) Thank you!

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Glad you enjoyed the video. So in regards to your question if your using part design after you created your sketch you can exit the sketch and look at the data tab. You will see a map reverse option about 3 properties down. Set this to true and double click your sketch and you will be on the other side. If your making sketches directly from the sketcher then there is a check box on the pop up called reverse direction. I have been looking through the preferences to see if it there is a default that can be set but I can't find anything which is a shame.

[@geneh9210]

@MangoJellySolutions Thank you very much for the detailed response. I will keep those settings in mind when developing future projects. It's also interesting that you sometimes can't select the origin as a reference point. For example, if you try starting your sketch from the opposite of the default (i.e., left side instead of right), the origin is visible but can't be selected. You have to switch to the default view to select it. Maybe this can be "fixed" in a future update? With all of your knowledge, I really hope you're working closely with the developers to keep making improvements. Thanks again!

[@Antyelektronika]

It is possible to change support in attachement to another face?, I tried but without any result.

[@timosmand9386]

Can I have your workspace setup? My workflow sucks because I can't access what I need all the time. I spend more time messing with the interface rather than being creative. Solidworks did a phenomenal job with the interface but I don't make Elon musk money to afford it. Can't do dog crap with my old university edition. Thanks