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I use Fusion 360. Free for hobbyists. Yeah it's quirky and they constantly screw the free plan out of features (e.g. less saved editable designs, having to use the cloud to export STL) but it is also a highly capable tool that aligned best with the stuff I already knew.

Not entirely sure if it's available for Linux.

I probably shouldn't use autodesk but I'm not trying to make the world a better place. Just to unleash my creativity.



Not sure if they changed this, but you used to be able to local export an STL without cloud by going to Utilities -> Make -> 3d print


I'm pretty sure this now also leverages the cloud converter. It doesn't quite show as much because they've massively sped up the cloud conversion. It used to take minutes, now it is almost instant. However when the cloud is down it still doesn't work, so it's still cloud based for sure.


You can right click a body and export as mesh locally


Are you sure this doesn't use the same functionality? I'll try.


It's not. There is a flat pack version but it says it's not supported


Ah I see. I've been looking at FOSS options like FreeCAD and Blender but both didn't feel right (especially blender as it's more a tool for animators).

And I rather spend my limited free time creating stuff than to learn a new tool. Unless it is actually a more powerful one for the purpose that enables me to do things I can't now. But this doesn't seem to be the case.

It's the same reason I use BambuLab printers. My hobby is making stuff, not tinkering with printers. They're just tools, a means to an end.

Ps forgive me my defensive attitude but I often get people at the makerspace that take my choice of tools as a political statement. But I don't care. I just want to use what does the job for me.





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