Yes I used the 3D print addon but still had non manifold issues. I generally goto windows bambu studio to correct it. I’m on Linux generally
Yes I am on Linux as well when I can, and I end up having to use an RDP client to connect to a Windows VM for stuff that doesn’t want to run on Linux. There is plenty of software that exists solely on Windows. So it is.
The nice thing is, Bambu Studio, Orca Slicer, and Ondsel run natively in Linux. It makes life so much easier.
I have used Lychee slicer appimage on Linux to correct these files. Seems to work okay but takes an age to open. I think it’s intended for resins prints whereas I’m just filament printing
I found this course very helpful on youtube. Fusion 360 in 30 days.
https://youtu.be/d3qGQ2utl2A?si=GAQn14dPbbQTqElz
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Thank you, this guy is great! Slow enough for a complete novice like me & I have made a few Lego blocks without any repeat guidance.
For information Fusion 360 is not limited to 10 cloud storage project at all !
It’s limited to 10 concurrent editable projects which is very diffrent.
I have more than 300 designs stored in the cloud, never stored anything locally, never had a paid licence. When you need to edit a project you temporarily pass another to read only. But all of them are safe in the cloud. All the read only project can be opened, and the stl exported. And you can access your designs on any computer that has fusion360 installed when you log on to it.
All for free
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Yeah I feel like he addresses a lot of the stupid questions I’d ask. I find myself pausing his videos, doing the step(s) a few times to practice the process or shortcut then continuining.
I’ve also found the Shortcut Keys (E for Extrude, R for Rectangle, C for Circle, etc.) really helpful and, if you can’t remember where the cool function is or what it’s shortcut is, hit “S” and just type the word to find the function. 
Final thought - I’m on a macbook and kept getting frustrated trying to zoom and look around the piece: checkout the Pan, Zoom, Orbit mouse(pad) tricks for your device & operating system. This link is just a different format of the same shortcut list. Cheers!
Nothing is ever free, even death costs you your life… Somehow you always pay with something… with what, when and who is a different story.
If something is free, read the signed agreement twice.
Blender – I assume it is open source. The free slicers are probably unbelievable but true and probably really free. A program from a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, we’ll see, miracles can happen but they are rare…
yeah I know if it’s free, i’m the product, but IDC about my personnal data, I don’t care if I loose all my designs when (if) they put a price on the hobby license. Right now and from the first time I used it it cost me 0€. That’s free in my opinion, but yours may differ.
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Well than everything is fine. I also think that even Bambulab will by a small fish for them (at least now) if they start fishing. And they know how to fish. And when they go fishing, they’re may more likely to catch Bambulab themselves than its users…
AutoCAD of Autodesk was also ones in a lifetime really affordable. Than they convinced customers of the annual rather than one-off payment for the license and those how get relay dependent on are now pay every year 2000 USD for one single licences.
Well yes – Fusion is may for free but they confirm several times that they know how to higher prices. And they know as well that costumers first need to getting heavy dependent on the program before they start pricing…. and they have a lot of time - Autodesk, we’re talking about a league like Microsoft. And not about a few people who are still programming in the garage and then the prices might go through the roof
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I am 77 and have been learning Fusion since I got my first 3D printer back in 2020. I had been involved in learning commercial software for various industries over the course of my thirty plus year professional career and also during my military stint.
Fusion is continually challenging however that’s what keeps my productivity and interest level up so I can’t complain to much since it keeps the cobwebs from forming in the gray matter.
There are many avenues of support and a plethora of information sources out there if you need them which is more that most of the available softwares can provide.
I have tried some other programs like tinkercad and such but have quickly found them to be too much geared toward entry level usage and from my experience rather limited. So I will stick with Fusion and continue to be challenged by the learning curve.
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Some do crosswords, some do sudoku, some do jigsaw puzzles,
I create and re-create parts.
Fusion has always been capable of getting the job done. I sometimes struggle to find the right tool and use it in the right sequence. That’s when I learn.
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I have been using FreeCAD for 10 years, specifically since version 0.14! I don’t have any particular issues with crashes. However, I see many people experiencing crashes due to poor modeling practices.
That said, having trained quite a few people to use this software, I can understand the frustration with learning, as it is probably a little less intuitive than software marketed as “Pro.” In fact, they do the same thing, in the same way, but they ensure that the user puts in less effort!
I can’t say it’s better or worse. Everyone does what they want, but it doesn’t crash more or less than others.
Regarding corrupted files, the latest versions include a recovery solution. I also don’t see any reason not to be encouraged. I can only advise you to try it again and form your own opinion.
I guess I would interpret “poor modeling practices” as “performing operations in an order that makes FreeCAD crash”.
Failure to produce the desired result is OK, crashing is not. Especially when a “correct” order is unknown until you’ve crashed repeatedly and found the incorrect methods by trial and error.
Inability to back up and try again is also unacceptable.
I can understand your frustration with having tried.
What I meant is that FreeCAD doesn’t require a particular order as long as you ensure that all your drawings are attached to the same block of material.
Take a cylinder, for example: if you need to add a cube, you should ensure that your cube touches the cylinder, not floating in the void.
In other software, at best, they will signal an error; at worst, they will try to understand and add unnecessary material.
I hope this encourages you to give it another try. As for me, I won’t give up on FreeCAD! 
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Are you seriously employing the “It’s the user’s fault” defense?
The point here is that well-designed software does not crash; instead, it provides clear error guidance and directs the user to an appropriate solution. In Computer Science 101, we learn that software crashes when the operating system detects an undefined state and terminates the program. As I previously mentioned, FreeCAD is poorly designed in that it neither offers helpful guidance nor terminates in an orderly fashion. It is easy to reach a state where one cannot navigate back in history, unlike in SolidWorks, Fusion360, or Onshape, which is why I abandoned FreeCAD. Additionally, the FreeCAD user community is hostile. The community often projects an attitude of intellectual superiority, and if one questions a particular method, there is a high likelihood that the question will remain unanswered and the individual will be ridiculed. This behavior contradicts the open-source ethos, which promotes the free sharing of knowledge and assistance, not the marginalization of those who challenge the established norms.
BTW, I’ve been using it since 0.15, and with each revision, I keep my fingers crossed that it will somehow get better. But don’t the revision numbers say something in and of themselves? When will they ever finish it and get to version 1.0? This is the heart of the problem: it is in terminal Beta, and since its inception in 2003, you would hope that after 20 years, the product would be finished.
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I think, as free software, free as in beer, LGPL2+ licensed source code which is available in it’s entirety on GitHub, developed by people who offer their spare time and energy for it, it can very well take forever if it needs to, to get good enough for user X or use case Y. Because it is not developed by a commercial entity trying to make money (by what, scamming people with subscription costs and taking ownership of their creative output unless high fees are paid?).
In fact, there is now a company that is making a derivative of FreeCAD commercially available, with the goal of making money off of it! Ondsel! And since they want to make money, and are charging money for some versions of it, they can hire developers and indeed have an interest in changing the interface and the capabilities and the stability of the product in what ever way they think they need to in order to make more money. And they seem to already have made quite some improvements in what came from FreeCAD.
And even better, since FreeCAD is free, Ondsel has to also be free in some of its forms. In fact, much of what Ondsel improves has to be made freely available to everyone in source code as a derivative of FreeCAD code, and FreeCAD has incorporated this back into itself
Anyhow, FreeCAD is truely and utterly free, and will never ever rake you over with loss of control of your creative works or access to the software you used to make it. And if that is not what you are interested in, then don’t use it. However to compare it to the proprietary products of multi-million Dollar companies that don’t actually really offer a free version of their products without severe restrictions, and saying FreeCAD hasn’t come as far in 20 years, strikes me as being a bit disingenuous.
You would ofcourse be free to invest your time and coding abilities (without being paid) to improve and make FreeCAD just as good as that expensive commercial software that is “better” (but not free). That then would be fair.
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While you make some fair points, at the end of the day, those multimillion-dollar corporations are themselves offering a free level of product. Yes, there are strings attached, such as Fusion 360’s predatory practices, but there are always other options to move on to. The key is that one cannot make too much of an investment paid or unpaid, lest their designs become non-portable. That’s where STEP and IGES can help, but AutoDesk, again, is predatory as they make you pay for IGES, whereas OnShape does not. SolidWorks makes their designs non-portable in that you can’t even pay to have them upgraded in it’s current state. So on balance, does one go for a shitty but perpetually free solution or go for a well designed experience that increase productivity knowing that one might have to toss their time invested and switch sides? Hard to answer that.
There are enough well-polished open-source examples of technology that don’t lean on excuses as FreeCAD enthusiasts appear to do. Blender is probably the best example in this thread. Then there is DaVinci Resolve for video editing. While not open-source, it has always been free. Audacity for audio editing is extremely well-polished. For every open-source mainstream application, one can find a well-polished version. LibreOffice is another.
I guess I rail against FreeCAD because I truly feel it is a timewaster and will never graduate out of the university science project phase. I suppose for the high school or university student, one could argue that it is a budget-friendly tool. But is it really? In my view, it is not representative of the kind of CAD experience one would expect to see in the professional world, thus engendering a mindset that is out of phase with the industry. Is that good for students? Do we not run the risk of having them pick up bad design habits?
After waiting nearly 10 years for FreeCAD to grow up, I’ve resigned myself to the notion that it never will. But hey, at least it isn’t Star Citizen.
Oh, how prophetic! You mentioned Star Citizen! I am an original backer from 2012. I think I justed outed myself. Maybe I like waiting a long time for software to get to 1.0??? 
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The best CAD software depends on your needs:
- AutoCAD: Great for general 2D and 3D design.
- SolidWorks: Excellent for detailed 3D mechanical design.
- SketchUp: User-friendly for architecture and interior design.
- Fusion 360: Ideal for 3D modeling, CAD, CAM, and CAE.
Choose based on your specific project requirements and industry.
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