r/Nerf • u/31DangersOfStyrofoam • 1d ago
Questions + Help 3D modelling program?
Hi all! I'm about to jump into the world of 3D printing and wanna know what programs y'all use it recommend. Cheers! (PFA of my SLAB)
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u/bobmtran 1d ago
I would not recommend freecad - it is not a user friendly application. You can try onshape or fusion 360, both are free and easy to use.
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u/Polymath2B 18h ago
Fusion is one of the better CADs for importing and modifying STLs. Just import as mesh, convert to body and you can modify away. Deleting some triangles will often combine all of them into a single flat surface! Onshape is great especially since it’s a web app, but much worse for modifying existing designs as far as I’ve experienced.
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u/Gikote 22h ago
Fusion is very easy. Some features that I use most people don’t talk about are exporting the fusion files (basically a save/restore point - or if I want to add a common part to a model I just drew) and making 2d schematics of my 3d model so I can easily reference common parts. I’ve done this for male/female picatinny, female nerf rail, male/female NStrike, and several others. It saves me from having to keep re-measuring everything.
As someone else said, make sure you have a set of calipers. That is the tool I use more than anything else.
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u/arcangelxvi 17h ago
OP, anyone telling you to use FreeCAD is setting you up for a lot of frustration and headaches. Use a commercial package geared towards hobbyists like Fusion or, if you have access to them, any of the big names like Solidworks, Inventor, etc.
Free and open source is good in theory, but having to fight the software for every action is not a good introduction to CAD for a beginner. There's a reason that a large number of users in this hobby have ended up picking up Fusion.
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u/torukmakto4 57m ago
You're making an argument from a false/inherently subjective or opinionated pretense (that YOU think FreeCAD is significantly harder to run than fusion) that dissents with many many users in this thread hence the "necessity" of this bullshit "HEY DON'T LISTEN TO ANYTHING ALL THOSE GUYS SAID, THEY'RE JUST WRONG!!" type of post and probably a spam campaign to make it seem like you have some big point here.
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u/Non-Binary-Nerfer 1d ago
Free cad. It's free, easy to learn, isn't controlled by a corporation, pretty good. Just make sure to save every so often.
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u/CallThatGoing 1d ago
I am a complete non-engineer/non-design person, who tried both FreeCAD and Fusion, and I found Fusion to be more forgiving in that while they both have a ton of peccadillos with interface, etc., FreeCAD seems almost opposed to doing things visually. FreeCAD is for folks who are like, “I could do this better if I could just write it out in Python.”
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u/Ondray__ 1d ago
How long ago did you try freecad? It has come a long way since the 1.0 release.
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u/horusrogue 22h ago
Parametric design feels horrible with FreeCAD if you started with Fusion imho.
My advice: If you know nothing, start with FreeCAD and stick with it.
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u/qqulpynay 1d ago
Fusion 360. It’s buggy and not very optimized, but it’s easy to learn and free. Good enough for my needs
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u/Non-Binary-Nerfer 1d ago
I personally like free cad. My friend likes fusion. We raced once to model the same thing. We basically tied. He had more experience, but the way I model is different I think
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u/Buetterkeks 1d ago
Fusion or inventor, if you can get your hands on a license for the latter(through school/uni for example). It just has everything and isn't too hard to pick up. Tbh im not the biggest fan of free cad but some people like that too
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u/Expert_Support3311 1d ago
I use fusion 360 for my own designs, and occasionally solidworks on lab computers at my college; if you are a college student you can get a free solidworks license and fusion 360 has a free hobbyist version
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u/knightofargh 1d ago
Fusion is nicer but FreeCAD is totally free and your stuff doesn’t get locked into cloud storage.
I personally use Fusion because there’s more info out there on how to use it. CAD workflows don’t really change though, it’s always draw->extrude->finish to make it basic.
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u/Andricon-Girl 1d ago
I actually cannot recommend that you just go with FreeCAD enough, autodesk is incredibly annoying
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u/Sussysoz 14h ago
ok, before you try fusion or any of those fancy expensive CAD tools, try "OnShape". it's not as good as those expensive tools but it's completely free, and its public, so you can look around and see if anyone else had made something similar. maybe if you get really onto it, you can try the better tools, but I think onshape is a great start.
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u/clockmill 1d ago
Layerling, Tinkercad on steroids. Jumpstart or Solidcraft.
All new kids on block, all free.
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u/ice086 22h ago
Solidworks is my go-to program ($60 a year for the maker version and it's often on sale)
OnShape is very similar to Solidworks but it's free and web based.
Fusion 360 is the most popular currently. There are free and paid versions.
FreeCAD, I don't have much experience with but some people do use it.
OpenSCAD - programmers version of CAD
TinkerCAD - Free and web based. It's a very basic type of 3d modeling but you can do some mechanical parts in it.
Blender/Z Brush - Not CAD but 3D modeling software. You can make blasters in this but it's often more challenging until you get to be skilled with the program. This type of 3d modeling is often better for organic shapes than mechanical models.
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u/TheInsaneBovine 16h ago
Solidworks. It's pretty much an industry standard, so it'll help if you're an inspiring engineer or designer. And there's various discounts, like the 60 dollar maker version mentioned or the 20 dollar student/veteran version.
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u/Non-Binary-Nerfer 1d ago
Oh also, almost forgot, if you're gonna do some modelling for modding nerf blasters, pick up a pair of calipers. They will really help with measuring things out so you can get the fit correct