![]() ![]() adding four times the material thickness to the overall length.Īfter creating all the files following the same schema we make sure the Assembly 2 plus workbench is installed. You can also perform calculations when entering the dimensions, e.g. This would be for example Master#p.Material. This cube gets then dimensions from the spreadsheet in the format filename, hashtag, table name, dot, variable name. To enter a formula for the dimensions we click the blue circle. We create a new file for each individual board. ![]() This Macro can be installed over the Addon Manager of FreeCAD.Īfter having saved the file with the spreadsheet under the filename Master comes the part that is quite cumbersome. We use the Alias Manager Macro to create aliases for these numbers so that we can refer to them by name later. For the box these are the material thickness, as well as the inner width, length and height. The first step is to create this spreadsheet with all the dimensions. In the same way we could also change the material thickness and create tiny boxes as well as large storage containers. ![]() We only have to change the parameter in a spreadsheet and the box becomes square. The big advantage of FreeCAD is that it is fully parametric and you can change dimensions after finishing the design. For a more detailed comparison of different software solutions tale a look at our CAD for makers article.Īs an example we use this Japanese Toolbox design we use in a variety of sizes. A lot of the details are clearly more oriented towards products that have few but rather complex parts – not so much a woodworking project that mainly consists out of simple boards. The article contains quite a few fixes and workarounds that make the work with FreeCAD easier and more comfortable.įreeCAD is an open source software that is mainly geared towards mechanical engineers. Just be aware that if you tend to choose specific boards for their grain pattern, orientation, or aesthetics to use in various parts of your project then such may not be entirely compatible with such cut lists, or may require more added time to configure then you gain in wood savings as you try to define custom source boards, similarly if you routinely use boards where you may need to work around defects with any frequency since the software will need to know precisely where those defects are - a lot comes down to your style of woodworking, but such can be very nice if you work with a lot of plywood panels in your designs.In this article we give an overview on how we design woodworking projects in FreeCAD. Most cut list applications that I am aware of are typically plugins or external addons to various CAD packages, that take all the individual elements in the CAD drawing and create a cut list along with suggested cut layouts for boards or panels of specified dimensions (such as with a plywood panel). As a family oriented website we probably want to avoid endorsing "cultist" software solutions! Like Mike, I'm not sure the OP is really looking for that which his subject title seeks. I use the Joe Zeh plugin Cutlist version 4 with SketchUp and it works very well. They have a free trial version and several levels of complexity. I used it originally for a number of large commission projects and it was very useful - I still use it for parts layouts and preparing cutting lists. I have the standalone program Cutlist Plus Gold version that I purchased several years ago that provides a very powerful tool for keeping an inventory of materials, project details broken down into subassemblies, and can even track hardware, labor, edge banding and cost information for creating proposals. Some details of his version of Cutlist can be found on his website here (it is $19.99 and there is a link from Swamp Road WW page I just linked). He also has two excellent DVD's on SketchUp available through Popular Woodworking. A better alternative is an enhanced plugin for SketchUp created by Joe Zeh of Swamp Road Woodworks. It is a good start, but doesn't give you a visual of the layouts for efficient parts cutting from sheet or dimensioned lumber stock. As mentioned above, there is a free plugin for SketchUp Make that helps provide a listing of pieces for a project derived from the SketchUp model. There are multiple sources of a Cutlist program, but not all of them are free.
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