This book is a documentation of my journey, learning Freecad. It is not a linear path from beginning to end, the sequence of topics added may appear somewhat randomly. For instance, I started with Realthunder's Assembly 3 Preview branch of Freecad, which offered the Link feature, an object that supports re-use of components without duplicating their definition, local or across file boundaries. I found that appealing for organizing standard parts in repositories.

• The Freecad User Book
• Assembly 3
  • ArchitectureKnowing the ideas behind the design and architecture of the Assembly 3 provides the key for understanding the benefits of the Assembly 3 workbench.
  • WorkflowLet's summarize the walkthrough tutorial of the previous chapter, and extract some rules for clean workflows in Assembly 3.
  • Visual AidsThe visibility and color of Constraint Connectors can be controlled by settings and properties. This tutorial demonstrates them and gives hints how to integrate them into your workflow.
  • Moving ObjectsIf the level of nested subassemblies exceeds 1, the mover tools don't work as expected. Instead of moving just the part, sometimes the whole assembly moves. There is a certain set of rules behind, but they are not easy to spot on first sight.
  • Mating Components With Constraints
  • Link and Link ArrayThe Link object is a very versatile element for using multiple instances of a component. Instead of copy/paste multiplication, the Link represents the link source object, without duplicating its definition. And the Link comes with an extra benefit: It works across file borders!
  • Repository ConceptsThe Link object allows to build repositories for re-usable components. This tutorial illustrates the use of local (inside the project file) and external repositories (in external files), and the indirection layer for components in a local repository.
  • Glossary of Terms
  • Glossary of Commands
• Part Design
  • Reorient Sketch
  • Exercises
    • Cube On Corner This exercise describes how to create a cube that sits in one of its corner, with the opposite corner vertically above the other, similar to those chocolate cubes hanging on a Christmas tree.
      The trick is to begin with a cube in a specific orientation, with the vertical edges on the XZ and YZ planes. Then rotate the thing about the y axis until two opposite corners come to rest exactly on the z axis.
      The exact rotation angle is determined with a geometry sketch. A detailed algebraic analysis confirms the graphical result.
• Addendum