gCAD3D and FreeCAD ...

[r-frank]

Hello CAM-interested.

I just came across (via Google) this Program: gCAD3D

Since it is Freeware and so on I wonder if this could be worth investigating further ?
What do you professionals think ?

Roland

[NormandC]

Hello Roland,

It may be freeware but it is not open source. Which means no code can be shared between gCAD3D and FreeCAD.

I installed a version of gCAD3D maybe 2 years ago, and FreeCAD seemed a lot more advanced at the time, at least where mechanical design is concerned. As far as I know gCAD3D is not a solid modeler. I found the GUI confusing. There seems to be an integrated NC processor, which FreeCAD doesn't have so gCAD3D's purpose may be different than FreeCAD's.

It appears gCAD3D is the work of a single man, so it's pretty impressive.

[r-frank]

Hello Roland,

It may be freeware but it is not open source. Which means no code can be shared between gCAD3D and FreeCAD.

I installed a version of gCAD3D maybe 2 years ago, and FreeCAD seemed a lot more advanced at the time, at least where mechanical design is concerned. As far as I know gCAD3D is not a solid modeler. I found the GUI confusing. There seems to be an integrated NC processor, which FreeCAD doesn't have so gCAD3D's purpose may be different than FreeCAD's.

It appears gCAD3D is the work of a single man, so it's pretty impressive.

Hello Normand.

Thanks for answering.

I was just thinking if it would make sense to model something in FC, export the data to gCAD3D and do your CNC stuff there.
Not necessary to re-invent the wheel.

ATM I'm taking the FEM-Module for a test drive.
There it is the same basic situation.
The internal FEM-Module is good for having a first impressing for simple stuff.

If you want to do more complex things you should use the full calculix package or z88 (both open source) for FEM
or if you want to investigate CFD (Flow) problems you could try your luck with OpenFoam.

Have a nice time.

Roland

[yorik]

At the very beginning when I joined the freecad development, I got interested in gCAD3d too. The draft module even supports (not sure it still does ) the open cad (.oca) format of gcad3d... But apparently it didn't evolve anymore since then, 5 or 6 years ago...