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Comment by dymk | Hacker News Reader

Very cool, it's awesome to see more offerings in the open-source CAD space. Even though this doesn't compare with, say, FreeCAD (being 2d-only), it looks like the features it does provide are fairly polished based on the description. It's nice that it comes with built-in CAM tooling.

One thing that I'm wondering about is a constraint-solving system - the documentation doesn't mention anything about sketch constraints. Usually a constraint system is pretty important in CAD work, so I wonder if there's plans to add one.

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> One thing that I'm wondering about is a constraint-solving system - the documentation doesn't mention anything about sketch constraints.

If you a looking constraint solver based 2D/3D CAD, take a look on SolveSpace.[0]

SolveSpace's constraint solver actually also (partially) ported for FreeCAD & Blender.[1]

Here are my SolveSpace showcases.[2]

[0] https://solvespace.com

[1] https://twitter.com/SolveSpace/status/1480033252157108232

[2] https://git.io/DailySolveSpace

What is the advantage of SolveSpace over FreeCAD for 3D parts? I tried it once before and it seems substantially less feature-complete than FreeCAD.

And FreeCAD already has constraint solving in sketches. The tweet you've linked is about constraint solving in a non-default workbench (LinkStage3) that allows you to define constraints between separate parts when bringing them into a single assembly.

>> What is the advantage of SolveSpace over FreeCAD for 3D parts?

If you compare a list of features, there is probably no advantage.

People use solvespace because it is easier to use, has minimal UI which encourages working directly with the part. Its non-modal, meaning no workbenches, project files, or other overhead. As someone said, they actually enjoy using it.

It's good enough for many things, and the simplicity and fun make it the tool of choice for a small but growing community.

People use FreeCAD because it gets the job done, but people love Solvespace because... well because its Solvespace.

FreeCAD has good parametric 2D modelling.

QCAD can't do constraints.

I love QCAD, but I am very curious if there are any 2D modeling/drawing programs with constraints. Let me know if you've used on and would recommend it.

Can FreeCAD export the 2D drawings?

Do you mean 2D-only CAD programs? Because you don't have to go 3D with SolveSpace, nor do you have to go 3D with CAD Sketcher for Blender (it uses a Python port of the SolveSpace's solver).

Yes, FreeCAD can export 2D. See https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Manual:Generating_2D_drawings

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