Does anyone know of a good freeware ( or relatively inexpensive) program for creating mechanical parts such as enclosures, panels, brackets and such. I looked at sketchup, blender and openscad and none of them seem focused on making parts, like Solidworks. I have an older version of Solidworks that I use for design, but it does not generate STL output for the printer. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Try saving a Solidworks file as a .STL file in the “Save as” function - works every time for me!
Wally
If there is no ‘save as’ option for STL, try looking for an ‘Export’ option.
I’m using Design Spark Mechanical at the moment, It’s a free program from RS components (you just have to register). They paid Spaceclaim for a re-badged cut down version.