FreeCAD 1.0 in 25 Days: Complete CAD Course

Download FreeCAD from the official site, select your platform (Windows 8 minimum, Mac, or Linux), including the portable option, then install with three components and a desktop shortcut, and launch.

Explore the CAD workflow by creating part models and assemblies, using two-dimensional sketches and features to turn sketches into 3D geometry with pad, pocket, and revolve methods.

Discover the FreeCAD UI, splash screen, and themes, then learn the parametric workflow with sketcher and part design workbenches, sketches, features, and the design tree.

Navigate FreeCAD using the view cube to switch views and rotate, apply orthographic, perspective, and isometric views, and use fit all or fit selection with hotkeys and blender navigation.

Model a simple cube in FreeCAD by sketching on the top plane, extruding with pad, filleting edges, and saving as fcstd or exporting to STL for 3D printing.

Create a parametric lego block in FreeCAD by sketching a 32 mm by 16 mm base, extruding it, and adding three bumps, three holes, and a 1 mm fillet.

Create a spinning top in FreeCAD using the revolve feature on a half sketch to generate a 360-degree revolution around a vertical axis for a parametric part.

Create a parametric tuning fork in FreeCAD by sketching half the profile, using symmetry to mirror it, then pad to 4 mm and apply chamfers to the edges.

model a flywheel in FreeCAD 1.0 using revolution or pad methods, add a central hole and eight surrounding 3 cm holes with a polar pattern, then apply the groove tool.

Model a 75x75x75 mm heatsink in FreeCAD, with a five millimeter base and ten fins per row, using linear pattern (and polar pattern concepts) while noting its limitations.

Learn to create gears, sprockets, and shafts in FreeCAD using built-in tools with no sketches. Master involute gear and shaft design wizard parameters for quick, parametric parts.

Learn to install and use add-ons in FreeCAD, expanding workbenches with the fasteners workbench for standard screws, nuts, and bolts, and apply them to assemblies.

Learn to model a hollow wine glass in FreeCAD 1.0 using additive loft to connect multiple sketches and subtractive loft to hollow it, with parametric sketches and fillets.

Model a hollow u-shaped pipe in FreeCAD 1.0 using the additive pipe, sweeping a 25 mm profile along a 120 mm up and 100 mm path with 60 mm arc.

Learn to create three-dimensional geometries from text and trace a FreeCAD logo from a reference image to design a nameplate, using sketch, text to shape, and pad features.

Explore creating springs with additive helix and threads with subtractive helix in day 12 of the FreeCAD 1.0 course, mastering pitch, height, turns, and cone options.

Learn to model a screwdriver in FreeCAD using multi-body parts—the handle and the screw driver—without an assembly when there is no motion, using revolve, loft, and sketches in millimeters.

Learn to design a 1000 by 100 mm plate with 36 ventilation slots using the slot tool and a 12-by-3 rectangular array in FreeCAD, exploring sketch options and symmetry.

Learn to model a vented rotor disk in FreeCAD from sketches to booleans, including pockets, holes, grooves, and polar patterns, culminating in a final project.

Master FreeCAD’s assembly workbench by building a simple shape assembly from parts, inserting a fixed ground part, and applying joints like fixed, revolute, and cylindrical.

Build a gear shaft assembly in FreeCAD by placing two shafts and two gears and creating revolute and gear joints. Learn gear parameters like module and teeth and pitch radii.

Model a gear rack and pinion in FreeCAD using the gears workbench addon; create involute gears, set module, and constrain with revolute and sliding joints.

Master finite element analysis in FreeCAD by turning a simply supported beam into a mesh of elements and nodes, applying material and loads, running Calculix, and evaluating convergence.

Design a cantilever beam in FreeCAD 1.0, apply fixed boundary and loads, mesh with the FEM workbench, and run a static analysis with Calculix to obtain displacement and stress.

Simulate a thermomechanical analysis of a heatsink using copper in FreeCAD, applying boundary conditions and initial temperature, meshing model, and running the solver to reveal temperature distribution and thermal stresses.

Explore cantilever beam analysis using finite element methods in FreeCAD, applying thermo-mechanical loads with steel, defined boundary conditions, and mesh refinement to reveal displacement and von Mises stress.

Create engineering drawings in FreeCAD using TechDraw: set up pages, insert views (front, right, top, isometric), add section and detail views, annotations, dimensions, and export to pdf or dxf.

Create an assembly drawing in FreeCAD using TechDraw, inserting an active view, views for base, gear, and rack, dimensions, balloons, detail views, notation, and exporting to PDF.

Export FreeCAD models to Blender via STL, set up a camera-lit scene with materials to render photorealistic visuals using GPU options and optimized samples.

Continue practicing FreeCAD by drawing and modeling household objects, measuring dimensions to sharpen CAD skills, and transfer core design techniques to SolidWorks or Fusion Inventor.