CAD Software Anyone using or have thoughts re: onshape.com?

[Chad]

i'm trying to pick a parametric CAD tool. Does anyone have thoughts regarding onshape.com?

I've tried FreeCAD which helped me get my feet wet and designed a gear that Chris over at Labrat Rocketry helped me get printed (big thank you to Chris!). I've been trying out OnShape for about 4 hrs total so far and i really like it.

My main like is it's web based so when my kids are playing minecraft i can grab my wife's laptop and keep going. Also, when i'm on a boring 3 hr conference call at work i can open a tab and keep going ( don't tell anyone ).

EDIT: onshape has a free tier as long as your projects are "public" which is fine for what i'm doing (rocket stuff)

 

[RCBrust]

I'm surprised that so many seem to overlook OnShape. Free, and like you said, browser based so you can access it from anywhere, even your phone. It was started from the ground up about 5? years ago so its very streamlined, i.e. they haven't had to keep heaping new stuff on top of what was already there, kinda like Fusion 360 has. The only thing it doesn't have is built in CAM so I do my CAD in OnShape and then import the model into Fusion 360 for the CAM. It's that much easier to use than Fusion that it's worth the extra step.

Do a search on "mars lander" in OnShape and you'll see a partially completed version of the Estes model that I worked on to teach myself the ins and outs of OnShape. Also, if you search on "estes", you'll find all kinds of stuff. For example, fairly detailed models of all of the Estes engines that you can use for your own designs, etc.

Randy

 

[caveduck]

I'm also an OnShape proponent. It's super fast and you can run it from anywhere with a decent browser. For 3D prints you can just slurp the exported .stl into slic3r and it works with no trickery. I also have to use F360 for CAM with the mill which is annoying in the free tier but necessary.

One feature gremlin with OnShape is that it doesn't have proper support for threaded holes. If I'm importing to F360 for milling I just leave them as unthreaded in OnShape and modify as needed in Fusion. But that's just about my only serious complaint.

 

[curtisheisey]

I've used OnShape as my CAD tool and have made several hundred part designs. Also has a scripting language.