Fastest YouTube Introduction to FreeCad? / Or?

Looking for input from the community tonight.

I would like to learn to create my own 3D Models for KiCad. As some really good models have been done with FreeCad and StepUp it seems to make sense to take a quick look into learning FreeCad.

I would also like for what I learn to be able to create/export .DXF files that will import on most CNC machines.

My current/biggest/most_complicated project has both KiCad and AutoCAD elements to them.

I don’t know what it is that I do not know; I don’t have the slightest bit of knowledge to be dangerous with this topic, as of this date in time; being near the middle of the American Gregorian calendar of 2019 A.D.

I’m looking for input on the way to get the most knowledge with the steepest learning curve in the shortest amount of time… Yeah, I know, the provided advice with this method will very likely make my brain hurt.

Thanks in advance for any contributions to that help me get up to speed on this topic.

Learn FreeCad channel has really good although a bit outdated tutorials. But they do teach how to approach the topic and what is possible.

After viewing some of those learn sketcher workbench. Understand the power of creating 3d shapes from arbitrarily complex 2d profiles. Can’t give any link because they are pretty scattered but just search for “freecad sketcher tutorial” in youtube and look at some recent ones.

Sketches + related operations will get you 90% there in terms of KiCad models. If you want to get even fancier you can start doing assemblies with multiple bodies and give them separate color and visual properties.

After that you will know general approaches and what to look for if you stumble on particular problem, like how to do helix shapes or whatnot. Just google for those as they come up, at least that’s what I do.

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Videos never worked out for me to learn something fast. Usually i have a look into one general video about the gui and so on. Then i transition to written tutorials or wikis.

If you never have had contact to MCad i would first recommend getting to know what Sketches are und what it means to constrain them properly.

Then start a and use google to hit the topics that you cant do yet…most of the stuff is documented well in the FreeCAD Wiki and take seconds to overfly read and understand (mostly).

FreeCad has become very good recently only limitation i vould make out ao fare are threads - stay away from those for now.

Hope it helps
Detzi

EDIT:
.dxf seems unusual for a “real” CNC’s (if we talk Mills and lathes). To my knowledge they prefere .step or .iges to shov them in their cam tools.

Here a Sketcher-best-practice.pdf document at FC forum
Sketcher tutorial

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