Computers are all very good if you like that sort of thing, but every so often it’s nice to take an idea out of the computer and make it exist in real life.

For that, you might well need a 3D design program, which you can use to create files destined for a 3D printer, a CNC machine, a laser cutter or suchlike. With that in mind we’ve pulled together FreeCAD for Makers, written by the excellent Jo Hinchliffe.

Rocks and rockets

Jo has created a guide to this superb free design software that will take you from bashing rocks together to designing nosecones for rockets, creating technical drawings, folding sheet metal, and printing your own designs in hot plastic.

Workbenches

Because FreeCAD is free software, its users can add to it by writing extensions to the software to suit their needs. These add-ons, known as workbenches, cover a range of uses: PCB design, pipes, timber-framing, architectural design, and loads more. So whatever you’re interested in building, you’ll find a FreeCAD workbench for it.

In with the HackSpace crowd

All the tutorials in this guide were first published in HackSpace magazine, the magazine for the modern maker. We regularly feature 3D printing, home electronics builds, woodworking, and other projects, alongside a load of technologies far too esoteric to list here.

Download a copy of the magazine for free from hsmag.cc and see for yourself. If you like it, subscribe.

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Download your copy of FreeCAD for Makers, a PDF guide to get you started with the number one free 3D design software.