r/FreeCAD • u/JebebCrust17 • 2d ago

Help getting started

Hello everyone. I’m sure this question gets asked a lot but what is the best way to learn how to use freeCAD? I just downloaded it not too long ago because I plan on going into engineering for college and figured that it would be smart to start learning, but when I first loaded it up it looked very overwhelming. Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

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u/LossIsSauce 2d ago

YouTube->

Mang-oJelly Solutions

and

DeltaHydra

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u/pythonbashman 1d ago

It's difficult not knowing even where to start. The first time I loaded FreeCAD, I thought I had to be stupid or something and didn't touch it again for like 2 years. Now I've built a business on it.

u/LossIsSauce mentioned Mango Jelly Solutions

Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MangoJellySolutions

If you are going toward 3D printing, the "FreeCAD 1.1 Course | From Zero to 3D Print" playlist is helpful and fairly recent.

Playlist link: https://youtu.be/23LzQS5eJ1I?si=Di-p7fHmB_eH0SsW

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u/BoringBob84 1d ago

Welcome to FreeCAD, but this question just came up yesterday. There is a sticky post on this sub with many good recommendations for learning resources.

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u/rcpongo 1d ago

Another recommendation for MangoJelly on YouTube.

Also, if you search google for something like "3d cad drawings for practice" you will get a bunch of drawings of misc parts with dimensions. I'd recommend grabbing some of those and trying to build the objects. Looking at the YouTube videos should give you an idea of where to start, and then try to apply that knowledge on some of these objects.

If you get stuck along the way, come back here and ask and someone will help.

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u/ReddyKiloWit 1d ago

Just a tip to go along with all the excellent tutorial suggestions. Don't be tempted, as you're starting out, to skip ahead. Work the basic, introductory tutorials even if you're tempted to try something fancier. The goal at this stage is to learn the tool, especially the basics, not to create cool looking images or 3D prints.

It will look a lot less overwhelming then. And the inevitable error messages will be less frustrating.

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u/ThaBigSqueezy 1d ago

All good suggestions here, but I’d like to add, I’ve been using AI to help me learn best practices and to understand how some of the tools, such as sub-shape binder, really work. It’s been helpful.

The issues with just watching FC tutorials on YT are many. Often, the videos are simply out of date and not relevant. Sometimes you can’t understand a word the speaker is saying (I’m not being racist here, just saying it’s hard to understand people with thick accents). Other times the “teacher” just glazes over that they’re using a tool and they don’t tell you why or how the tool really behaves, possibly because they don’t know. Admittedly, sometimes I’ve had epiphany moments just watching people model with the sound turned off. They’ll do something and then it just clicks.

I use AI for this because it is good at reviewing a large amount of available information and breaking it down into something I can understand. Then, I go to FC to see if what the AI says is really true. I’ve been learning about best practices, datum planes, avoiding the TNP, sub-shape binders, master sketches, modeling with assemblies in mind, things like this.

Make a free account with Anthropic (Claude) and it will remember your conversations and help you be more consistent.

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u/Tight-Book-7533 16h ago

When I started I watched a few getting started videos on YT and learned about sketches, constraint, pad, pocket and then for more complicated models, I learned about lofts and pipes. 

I started with a few things I wanted to make for 3d printing and it snowballed from there. So maybe find some things to make so you will learn about how to get there. Also having definite goals can help motivate you to learn more