What is FreeCAD good practice to design multi part systems

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jmf11
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2021 6:28 am

What is FreeCAD good practice to design multi part systems

Post by jmf11 »

Hello,

I'm a not so experience maker moving from Fusion360 to FreeCAD. I'm drawing a 3D printed RC landyacht, which will be made of several 3D printed parts. This is a simple object with 4 parts assembled with 4 screws or glue. How simple it is, the 4 parts have to fit together, holes have to be aligned, and it is good to have an idea of the overall geometry.

As of today, I mostly use the part design workbench (and the sketcher). I'm OK with single parts design, but my first attempt to create several bodies in the same project, which would retrieve relevant geometries from the other bodies failed. I was not able to pick the features from other bodies with the Sketcher_External tool, which was my best bet.

I did not found explanations for the design of several parts designed on top of each others in tutorials. I googled for FreeCAD and multi-part, but this seems to lead to not so simple/natural options. Not really integrated in part design workbench.

What is in FreeCAD the good/best practice to address such a case? Is FreeCAD the right horse for this type of work (I hope so)?

Best regards,

JMF

I use FreeCAD 0.20
hsmeets
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Location: At Home (Mostly)

Re: What is FreeCAD good practice to design multi part systems

Post by hsmeets »

As fellow newbie: referencing geometries from other bodies is possible, check out the (sub) shape binder. it more or less acts as a proxy for a body inside another body (the one you are working on).
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papyblaise
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Re: What is FreeCAD good practice to design multi part systems

Post by papyblaise »

It's easy: you draw a master sketch out of any body, which contains all the main elements of your project, especially the areas common to several bodies.
you cannot refer to a sketch of a body in another body
Bance
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Re: What is FreeCAD good practice to design multi part systems

Post by Bance »

papyblaise wrote: Wed Feb 08, 2023 7:19 amyou cannot refer to a sketch of a body in another body
Not directly but geometry can be imported using shapebinders/sub shapebinders.

That is the very reason these tools exist.
jmf11
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2021 6:28 am

Re: What is FreeCAD good practice to design multi part systems

Post by jmf11 »

Thank you for the help. I started to learn and workout an example with shape binders, and that is exactly what I was missing.

Best regards,

JMF
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