Making a Compressor Wheel - SolidWorks and Freecad Direct Comparison

[sgrogan]

Hey Celica_Supra

Great video. I come from a SolidWorks background so I like the way you "translate" on the fly the terminology.

I think you are using 0.17.xxxx release? I would suggest to try an 0.18 dev build. I think the redundant constraint might have been handled.
Also maybe try the Gesture navigation, more like Solid Works. That you can switch between Solid Works and FreeCAD's "CAD" navigation is pretty impressive.

[easyw-fc]

I think you are using 0.17.xxxx release?

Celica_Supra is using FC0.18 (you can see it in the video on top left of FC window), not sure which release though...

[Celica_Supra]

hiding and showing objects in freecad is just selecting them and hitting space.

problem with the recreated profile is most probably because of the topological issues that freecad still has (in sketcher it is specially common if you add or remove lines from the sketch). realthunder has made some improvements to this in his version, would be interesting to try if it would work https://github.com/realthunder/FreeCAD_ ... /tag/0.8.6

as for some of the 3d lines/wires and surfaces, have a look at the surface wb and curves wb (an addon from the tools -> addon manager)

Thanks that's really helpful!

[Celica_Supra]

Hey Celica_Supra

Great video. I come from a SolidWorks background so I like the way you "translate" on the fly the terminology.

I think you are using 0.17.xxxx release? I would suggest to try an 0.18 dev build. I think the redundant constraint might have been handled.
Also maybe try the Gesture navigation, more like Solid Works. That you can switch between Solid Works and FreeCAD's "CAD" navigation is pretty impressive.

Thanks I'm glad you said that- I was getting thrown off big time switching between the two but hopefully it didn't show!

It's funny because I made the compressor mostly in 017 but got an error on the very last revolve so I installed 018 and it worked. Very impressed with the latest release

[Celica_Supra]

Some comments, which you don't have to follow, as some of them increase parametricity while slightly reducing robustness.

- For a distance constraint between the origin and a point you dont have to select both points it's enough to select the single point and apply distance.
- 8:00, you can use an external reference to keep both distances equal
- 8:20, you can use Expressions to get the same thickness of the blades
- 10:55, Sketching from the back is difficult, because the points lie behind the lines. Consider to set in the sketch properties "Map reverse" to true.
- 11:00, you may consider to hide the DatumPlane after the sketch is created, so it won't obscure the sketch with its highlighting.
- 13:50, not quite sure about this: I guess the small arc makes the construction circle obsolete.
- 25:15, clipping while sketching is done with . Of course you can hide the last feature completely
- 31:45, instead of attaching the sketch to the face you can attach it to XY plane, making your model more robust against topo naming issues.

I would like to try to get the final change in the sweep path working, and others may try it too, can you upload your model to some publicly available file server like dropbox?

crisb Thank you - The clipping solves a big problem I was having (it was driving me crazy because I knew it was super simple) Those are great suggestions!

[Celica_Supra]

hiding and showing objects in freecad is just selecting them and hitting space.

problem with the recreated profile is most probably because of the topological issues that freecad still has (in sketcher it is specially common if you add or remove lines from the sketch). realthunder has made some improvements to this in his version, would be interesting to try if it would work https://github.com/realthunder/FreeCAD_ ... /tag/0.8.6

as for some of the 3d lines/wires and surfaces, have a look at the surface wb and curves wb (an addon from the tools -> addon manager)

Thanks will do! Excited to start surfacing in FreeCAD

[Celica_Supra]

… I also made a trial study for a compact APU (auxiliary power unit) containing compressor and curtis wheel.


Curtis_5.PNG

That's an impressive model! Well done

[Celica_Supra]

Here is a simple trick for making the end of an arc vertical without the need of a construction line: Just make the endpoint and the center horizontal.

Thanks crisb- I totally knew that too. I think when I start recording my mind is thinking about too many things at once to use the simple stuff right in front of me