![]() OpenSCAD, available in your standard repositories for most distributions, can also be installed using a snap and AppImage. You can make complicated shapes with just code, would you consider coding an entire car? Installing Having said that, it is all a matter of taste. For full equipment and mechanical systems, you want to use more advanced graphical applications. In short, if you want to create small pieces that have complex shapes, you should try openSCAD. Once you understand the basic ideas, you will know if it is the best fit for your project. Don’t worry there is a preview window for you to look at while you code. What are your project needs?Īfter you have put your design on a napkin, you may think that you need to see what is happening when you try to make it a full design. Some of these operations are available in other CAD software, but it falls naturally to use them in openSCAD. It is easy to make a cube with a hole in the centre by retracting the cylinder from the cube. You can use binary operators to put pieces together or cut material out. The most powerful feature of openSCAD is binary operations. When you design it with code, you have the precision there in the code. Apart from personal preference, you also have the advantage of precision. This is awkward for mechanical engineers, but for programmers, you have another situation. ![]() You code the entire piece with commands and functions. In openSCAD, you do not draw anything with your pointer or pen. This is great for making boxes and cylinders, but when you want to make more complex shapes, you may need mathematical methods.Įnter a standard way to describe any material with commands. In all cases, you draw the pieces using a graphical interface. In advanced software, you can also simulate movement. However, when you start making a new mechanical piece, you may want other methods.ģD CAD methods allow you to see the whole piece as it is. All this is useful when you start going into production in large corporations. There are even standard squares on the drawings so that each drawing is identified. It started with paper, and the first CAD programs used exactly the same style. ![]() In the next tutorial I'm going to make some more complex objects and send them to the printer for some real world results.Making a mechanical part requires a drawing. I don't think that using the customizer to automate common tasks takes away from the "programming" based spirit of Openscad at all because as you come up with more ideas on how you can adapt it to do what you want the deeper you get into the programming aspect. Now I can import my DXF file and rotate extrude it: Click for larger versionĪs you can see from this example the capabilties you can add to your Openscad template are only limited by your imagination and ability to take a few weeks to learn the program. Now I add my new module to the rest so I can call it independently or as part of the group: click for a larger version You will notice that I now get the values for rotate degrees and fragments from the value of the slider bar, and I set ShowExtrudeLayer so that if it's not checked (false) the program just goes to the next command. Next I add a new module for Rotate Extrude: click for a larger version I'm going to add a new section in the Customizer to Rotate Extrude a specified layer: Click for larger versionĪfter specifying ShowExtrudeLayer(checkbox),layer name input(text input), a slider for rotate degrees, one for number of fragments and then clicking update, the new menu shows up in the customizer: click for larger version Set the nodes to lines and export to dxf: Click for larger version First I'm going to draw a basic shape for my object: Click for larger version
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