Workbenches¶
FreeCAD organises its tools into workbenches — focused environments each covering a distinct domain of work. Choose a workbench below to explore its tools and concepts. All documentation is accurate for FreeCAD 1.1.
Core Modelling¶
The workbenches most users spend most of their time in.
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Part Design
Parametric solid modelling with the Body feature tree — Pad, Pocket, Hole, Loft, and every dress-up and transformation operation.
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Sketcher
Fully constrained 2-D profiles that drive Part Design features. Geometric and dimensional constraints, B-splines, external geometry.
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Part
Lower-level Boolean operations, primitives, sweeps, and lofts directly on OCCT solids — without the feature-tree model.
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Spreadsheet
Parametric master-model spreadsheets: cell aliases, formula expressions, and driving model dimensions from a spreadsheet.
Engineering & Analysis¶
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FEM
Finite element analysis — mesh generation, materials, mechanical and thermal loads, CalculiX/Elmer solvers, and post-processing.
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Assembly
Multi-body assembly with kinematic, geometric, and coupled joints. Exploded views, simulation, and bill of materials.
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Measure
Linear, angular, and radius measurements directly on 3-D geometry.
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Inspection
Visual inspection and element-level interrogation of solid geometry.
Drawing & Documentation¶
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TechDraw
2-D engineering drawings from 3-D models — orthographic views, dimensions, annotations, hatching, and the extension pack.
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Draft
2-D freehand drawing, annotations, arrays, and snapping tools. Geometry lives in 3-D space on a configurable working plane.
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BIM
Building Information Modelling — IFC elements, structure hierarchy, annotations, and IFC file management.
Advanced & Specialist¶
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CAM
Computer-aided manufacturing — job setup, machining operations, dress-ups, and tool bit libraries for CNC workflows.
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Surface
NURBS surface modelling — filling, sections, blend curves, face extension, and curve-on-mesh.
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Mesh
Import, repair, analyse, and convert STL and other mesh formats. The gateway for 3-D scan and print file workflows.
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Curves Workbench
Advanced curve and surface tools — interpolation curves, parametric surfaces, and analysis utilities beyond the built-in workbenches.
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Reverse Engineering
Point cloud and mesh reconstruction into surface geometry — segmentation, approximation, and surface fitting.
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Robot
Industrial robot arm simulation and trajectory planning.
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Points
Point cloud import, display, and basic manipulation.
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OpenSCAD
Import and interact with OpenSCAD geometry inside FreeCAD, and convert between OpenSCAD and FreeCAD representations.