Is FreeCAD for serious business?

[DragoonCloud666]

Hello, straightforward question: Is FreeCAD up to the task of getting things done for small companies, every single design (mostly shells and casing) and even able to take up on serious tools like Solidworks?

Thank you for answer and sorry for English.

[Kunda1]

Hello, straightforward question: Is FreeCAD up to the task of getting things done for small companies, every single design (mostly shells and casing) and even able to take up on serious tools like Solidworks?

Thank you for answer and sorry for English.

Please read https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=22372

[PrzemoF]

@DragoonCloud666: I guess it depends on what exactly to you need. Can you give some more details? What's the starting point for your work, what's at the end (model, drawings some other documentation). Do you do any calculations like stress/heat flow?

[easyw-fc]

Hello, straightforward question: Is FreeCAD up to the task of getting things done for small companies, every single design (mostly shells and casing) and even able to take up on serious tools like Solidworks?

Thank you for answer and sorry for English.

In many cases FC can be even better than commercial CADs... more flexible, more customizable, more scriptable... great STEP interoperability...
and if you need a special feature, you can even think to add it yourself!
Oh, I forgot... a great support forum!
Here a tutorial for enclosure design in FC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nu8y0C0nvg
and the FC file Arduino_Case.FCStd

And an other real world project:
https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=22558

[triplus]

Best to try it out and see for yourself.

[Kunda1]

Hello, straightforward question: Is FreeCAD up to the task of getting things done for small companies, every single design (mostly shells and casing) and even able to take up on serious tools like Solidworks?

Thank you for answer and sorry for English.

Feel free to browse the User Showcase subforum

[easyw-fc]

Could some moderator 'clean' the provious post... it seems to me a commercial advertisement instead of a 'late' post reply

[PrzemoF]

Could some moderator 'clean' the provious post... it seems to me a commercial advertisement instead of a 'late' post reply

I removed it - thanks for the catch!

[freedman]

FreeCAD is ready for business but it has some limitations, like all programs. You will need to learn the limitations so you can protect your hard work. It took me about a year (part time) to get really comfortable with what I should and should not do. It's not file saving stuff, it has more to do with files and drawings and a good approach to track changes made day after day, creating good part numbers and locking your changes with dimensions.

[alexv]

I am using FC for about a year for a hobby project and despite some rough edges once in a while, I am able to run full workflow from design to cutting on CNC. Couple of things I learned:
Have both 0.18 and 0.19 installed and switch to another in case if something does not work
Keep design files on versioned file system, e.g. dropbox, so you can always go back in case if messed something up or file got corrupted.
I tried both Fusion 360 and FC and I felt more in home with FC.
Alex