this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2025
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openscad is pretty great (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
 

https://openscad.org/

It's software cad. You write code that makes the 3d model. And then you print the 3d model.

The last "official release" was 2 years ago. But development (and community) is active. You gotta get the nightly builds.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (10 children)

It's extremely useful for functional things. Adapters and stuff. You can change some variables and get a model that fits your personal needs

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (9 children)

You can do parametric design in other CAD software, but openscad, being a coding software, lends itself particularly well for that.

In my experience doing parametric design in Fusion360 is a lot more tedious than in OpenSCAD.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (8 children)

I think the biggest benefit is sharing.

While you can do parametric design in Fusion, if you share it you can only share it with people using Fusion. Same with other CAD software, you are limiting the userbase.

OpenSCAD on the other hand is a slim FOS tool that anyone can download, it's not limited.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That's a great point. OpenSCAD is lightweight and FOSS so it is a lot easier to share than Fusion360 for example

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

OpenSCAD is only lightweight till you start working with Minkowski transformations and hulls. Then you just want a faster CPU.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I never go that far in my projects, when are you using Minkowski transformations?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Two reasons.

  1. In conjunction with hulls to make nice organic shapes. Cubes and Prisms are nice but I like my designs to look organic. Nice round edges make for nicer 3d prints too.
  2. Concave Fillets
[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 days ago

Yeah my own creation are usually really blocky because I am lazy and I just need something fonctional haha

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