I just bought an entry-level 3-D printer for small hobby parts and discovered that FreeCAD does everything I need—here’s a quick share.
Back-story
Online I saw someone turn a static die-cast car model into a fully proportional RC car with steering, throttle and low-latency FPV video you can drive through a phone or VR goggles. Commercial rigs cost thousands or are simply too big, so upgrading my own shelf of good-looking mini models sounded like fun.
To make custom brackets and adapters I dove into 3-D printing, tested a few modelers and settled on FreeCAD—hence this article.
What is FreeCAD?
FreeCAD is a free, open-source, parametric 3-D modeller for real-life objects. It targets mechanical and architectural work but works for anything you can print. Because it’s parametric you edit a history tree instead of re-drawing—change a dimension and the whole part updates. Builds run on Windows, macOS (Intel & Apple Silicon) and Linux.
Active since 2011, the project is now mature, stable and backed by a large community.
Highlights
- Parametric design—edit numbers, not polygons
- 2-D → 3-D workflow: sketch in the Sketcher workbench, extrude, revolve, loft
- Part Design workbench purpose-built for solid parts (perfect for printing)
- Assembly workbench for multi-part mechanisms with motion simulation
- Broad file support: STEP, IGES, STL, SVG, DXF, OBJ, IFC, DAE …
- Full Python API—automate boring tasks or write custom tools
Learning curve?
If you’ve used any CAD or have a tech background it’s gentle—interface presets even mimic SolidWorks, Inventor or Catia. Absolute beginners face a curve, but FreeCAD’s wiki, forums and YouTube/Bilibili channels are excellent. A Taiwanese university lecture series (Bilibili BV1J5411e7Pg) walks you from zero to printed part in a weekend.
3-D-print pipeline
FreeCAD ships dedicated Part Design and Mesh Design workbenches plus built-in geometry-check tools (water-tight, no non-manifold edges). Typical flow:
- Sketch 2-D profile → constrain dimensions
- Pad / pocket → solid part
- Check geometry → export STL
- Slice → SD card → print
I designed motor mounts and steering linkages in one evening and had them on the build plate the next morning.
Far beyond hobby grade
Enthusiasts, students and professionals routinely model entire gearboxes, drones and building façades in FreeCAD. It scales from a simple washer to multi-level assemblies that rival commercial suites—without the license fee.
License
FreeCAD is LGPL open-source. Download, use commercially, modify, redistribute—no strings attached. Grab the latest stable build at freecad.org.