KiCAD with FreeCAD

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I have been using KiCAD in conjunction with FreeCAD to generate models for 3D printing. I have some questions that are related to FreeCAD which might be more fitting for the FreeCAD forum. However, I have been unsuccessful at registering there. My requests for help to the administrator have gone unanswered. Is anyone here also on the FreeCAD forum and can you advise me how to resolve this dilemma? Thank you in advance.

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I’m not on the FreeCAD forum but I have encountered phpBB forums before. Could you be more specific about the issue you are having registering? What’s the error message? Do you have JavaScript disabled? (Some webpages won’t work without it.) Is your email provider rejecting the confirmation email?

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I created a FreeCAD account on their forum some years ago.

If I remember well, then activating an account from their site needs human interaction and can take a day (or a few) before your account gets activated.

Therefore it’s probably best to give short but meaningful answers to any questions they may have.

Addition:
From der.ules post below it apparenly has improved over the last few years :slight_smile:

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If we are talking about https://forum.freecadweb.org/ I just made an account after reading this topic, it was all done automatically, just had to confirm with the email sent (2-3 Minutes max.)

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Thank you all for your response.
Javascript is enabled by default in Microsoft Edge, the browser I am using.
When attempting to register I was informed a confirmation email would be sent.
I waited for this email but it was never received. Checked spam folder, not there.
I repeated the attempt with the same result.
I viewed the FAQs regarding registration problems. They all ended with the advice to contact the administrator for help.
I did so but received no response.
I tried registering under a new user name but received the message that there already was an account with that email.
I went to the login page and clicked the “forgot password” and received the message that an email would be sent to allow me to change the password for the account.
The email was never received.
This all took a couple of weeks without success. What to do now?

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Try a different email account.

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Also try using a VPN to register in case you live in a “problematic” country.

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There are aspects/tools unique to various CAD software’s but, they all share enough similarities; thus, if knowing the Tools in one, a User will know 80% of a similar Feature/Tool in another one.

The main difference between CAD programs is the ’Syntax’ - what things are called and the GUI (Graphic User’s Interface). But, the general process is the same.

FreeCAD combines various Toolchain-Like tools into ‘Workbenches’. Workbenches are, basically individual Programs (like Kicad’s PCBnew, Essechema…etc). Some play well with one-another, some not so well.

To be successful, you need to learn the basics of them. In particular as it relates to Kicad, I suggest focusing on:
• Part-Design
• Part
• Draft
• TechDraw (if you want a drawing of your model)

Example: PartDesign and Part will enable Padding and Cutting but, they’re done differently and one is like a real CAD program (PartDesign) and, using ’Sketcher’ to draw the shape while the other (Part) is like Tools found in 3D-print software (using Primitives) and, thus, limited.

Learn what the Tool Icons do and to which Workbench they belong. At some point, a user realizes some have common coding and their Tool-Icon can be placed (and used) from a different Workbench.

If you watch some of my Videos, you’ll notice my ToolBars/Icons are tweaked for my needs (solely as a convenience GUI)

Generally, my videos are for users with some basic CAD skills but they’re useful enough for observer to see the ‘Macro’ scheme to modeling…

Here’s my playlist - the vid’s demonstrate a useful way to use FreeCAD for Kicad models. Is one video better, more useful? Sure… spend an hour and come away with useful skills…

This one contains enough to be successful from Start to Finish (except for Exporting and Making the Footprint in Kicad - my other vid’s do that)

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have you tried to register here:
https://forum.freecadweb.org
instead of here:
https://forum.freecad.org

not sure if this could be the culprit but I know they had some issue with the forum on freecad.org compared to the still working freecadweb.org

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