To get started;

TinkerCAD

- free, web-based, 'child-like'

Web-based CAD

OnShape

- free*, web, more traditional CAD

- can do everything with this

Most people use, professional traditional CAD

- Autodesk Fusion360 (free*)

- Solidworks

If you're serious about actually designing, jump right to fusion or Onshape (use Onshape if you want the freedom of web)

Fusion and solid works are Mac & Windows only

*free comes with limited access to features and storage (how many projects you can be designing at once)

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask anymlre questions. This is my profession of almost a decade

Reply to this note

Please Login to reply.

Discussion

Shit you already use SolidWorks! Dive in G!

TinkerCAD is more for kids but I've made a lot of complex designs on there and sold them.

I’ll definitely check out tinkerCAD, OnShape, and Fusion360. Thank you for the suggestions!

In my professional life I will be doing serious practical designs with pretty precise tolerances and functionality. But for my personal enjoyment I would probably be mostly making useful/fun things just to gain knowledge and skill with design. I’d like to be getting more proficient with slicing software and learning how to get better quality out of different print materials in my free time.

What printer would you recommend for a beginner that wants room to grow? Pretty much everything I see is pointing towards the Bambu Labs P1S.

Your input was definitely helpful 🫡

Slicer:

1. OrcaSlicer

2. PrusaSlicer

3. Ideamaker

Use Orca

Many many tweaks to get your prints unbelievably high quality.

Printer:

Bambu - for beginners, easiest, best out the box, just know its backed by CCP (most folks don't care tho, I understand)

Voron - best, FOSS build yourself, amazing upgradability, a race car

Prusa - classic, great, just expensive now for what you get. Workhorses

Basically anything else, based on your budget and use case (Sovol, FLSun [you said your work had one], etc.)

Pretty hard to beat a Bambu a1 mini for $179 right now