The verdict
When most of us get started with CAD we want to draw shapes and pieces with the mouse or pen and even ‘build’ them on screen. This is the most intuitive way to get started and also the standard way. The process gets complicated when you need to start exacting circles and bezier curves, and that is just the beginning. When creating more complicated shapes, especially if you want to create the difference between two shapes, then using a scripting language can be very powerful. OpenSCAD uses such a language so do not shy away from it because of the initial learning curve.
Depending on the material, you may need the corners of your piece to be rounded to different degrees. These issues are usually decided after you draw squares, circles and cones.
A common feature, utilised best by SolveSpace, is that of constraint resolvers. You start by sketching a number of lines and circles and then set their dimensions and which lines are parallel, vertical and so on. The resolver tells you if the sketch you have is fully constrained, which means all shapes are decided. You can also see that no items can be moved or changed in size by dragging them with your mouse. FreeCAD also does this well.
In LibreCAD and QCAD you need to draw the shapes correctly from the beginning and when you add the dimensions it will display that size. That’s why it’s good to use the command line for your major shapes and sizes, because changing the dimensions after usually means redrawing the piece.
When choosing between these programs take into account what you will do with your finished file. Exporting to sharing sites is usually done in DXF for 2D and STL or STEP for 3D printers and similar.
In this Roundup we have given FreeCAD the wining position because it is easy to start with, has the best import and export capabilities and looks to have a promising future. However, don’t ignore scripting, it can enrich your experience immensely.
“However, don’t ignore scripting, it can enrich your experience immensely.”