Customizable parts

Post here for help on using FreeCAD's graphical user interface (GUI).
Forum rules
and Helpful information
IMPORTANT: Please click here and read this first, before asking for help

Also, be nice to others! Read the FreeCAD code of conduct!
Post Reply
kludikovsky
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 9:19 am

Customizable parts

Post by kludikovsky »

(I am new to freeCAD and somewhat also to CAD, so please bear with me.)

Is there a possibility in freeCAD to generate "customizeable parts"?
Customizeable parts should mean parts which have some constraints changeable after they being inserted into a construction.

My challenge:
I'd like to construct equipment using "squared pipes" (or profiles). So there is basically only one part which is the base profile. The only thing which changes in the application of the part is the lenght. So I I'd like to generate one profle part which I then can apply several times and only change the lenght of the part.

I have not found anything so far ( with the exception of pyhton scripts).
I would be glad if you could tell me if there is a solution to my questions and guide me to a description.
Thx.
User avatar
microelly2
Veteran
Posts: 4688
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 4:06 pm
Contact:

Re: Customizable parts

Post by microelly2 »

Welcome to the forum.FreeCAD is a parametric modeller, so most objects are parametric. The parameters in the simplest cases are properties in the properties tab of an object. in your case the profile can be a Part Designb pad or a Part Extrusion. Both objects have a properties to set the length.
dxp.dev
Posts: 280
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2018 12:57 pm

Re: Customizable parts

Post by dxp.dev »

You can use the expressions from the spreadsheet WB : https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/Spreads ... rkbench/id
Find your user.cfg and system.cfg files : Macro_findConfigFiles

Imperial system makes no sense, go metric ! ! !
User avatar
bejant
Veteran
Posts: 6075
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2013 3:06 pm

Re: Customizable parts

Post by bejant »

Hi kludikovsky, and welcome! Here's a quick example to illustrate how the use of a Spreadsheet can control the model. Changing the values in the B column of the Spreadsheet changes the 3D model, because Expressions are used for the Length fields of the Distance Constraints of Sketch.

20190911a-SpreadsheetDriven.FCStd
(20.27 KiB) Downloaded 19 times

OS: Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS (ubuntu:GNOME/ubuntu)
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.19. (dated 2019-08-21)
Build type: Release
Python version: 3.6.8
Qt version: 5.9.5
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.3.0
Locale: English/UnitedStates (en_US)
kludikovsky
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 9:19 am

Re: Customizable parts

Post by kludikovsky »

Thx for quick responses!
Post Reply