Workarounds

From FreeCAD Documentation
Revision as of 00:12, 10 March 2022 by NewJoker (talk | contribs)

Introduction

The goal of this article is to list the most important currently missing features in FreeCAD and provide workarounds for them. It can be helpful for new users who can't find a particular functionality in FreeCAD.

Missing features in the Sketcher

No. Missing feature Workarounds
1 Auto snapping to objects (midpoints, center points, quadrants, extensions, intersections)
  • manually applying constraints and using construction lines
  • drawing in Draft Workbench where snapping to objects is available, then converting with Draft to Sketch tool
2 Chamfer tool
  • making chamfers on part level (after extrusion)
  • adding fillet, turning it to construction geometry and then connecting the points with line to create a chamfer
3 Circular pattern
  • creating circular patterns on part level (after extrusion)
4 Offset tool
  • SketcherOffset macro
  • 2D Offset tool in Part workbench (subshapebinder necessary to pad)
  • Draft Offset tool (subshapebinder necessary to pad)
5 Rotate tool
  • no known workaround
6 Scale tool
  • Scale in Draft module, then Draft to Sketch
7 Adaptive dimension constraint
  • using separate dimension tools – 3 for lines, 1 for angles and 1 for arcs/circles
8 Inputting coordinates and dimensions on go (when drawing an object)
  • dimensioning afterwards
9 Tangency to B-spline edge
  • no known workaround
10 Checking geometric and mass properties of the sketch (area, center of mass, second moments of area and so on)
  • no known workaround
11 Possibility to use the results of the External Geometry tool directly for operations on the sketch
  • outlining the geometry created by this tool
12 Projecting multiple edges at once with the External Geometry tool when face is selected
  • projecting edges individually
13 3D sketches
  • Draft Workbench but 3D drafts can’t be converted to sketches (however, they can be used for spatial frame analyses done internally or externally and for sweep paths)
14 Projection of cut edges when making a sketch on a plane cutting through the model
  • no known workaround
15 View Section tool showing filled cuts (not hollow ones) - directly related to the clipping plane tool issue
  • no known workaround

Missing features in the Part and Part Design workbenches

Missing features in the TechDraw workbench

Missing features in the FEM workbench

General missing features