Open CAD Academy

Open CAD Academy: Model it.Check it.

Open CAD Academy: free courses in free, open-source CAD. Watch a short video, model it yourself, and the software checks every number you find.

See the coursesWatch on YouTube

What you do here

Watch a short video, build the model yourself, type in its numbers, and the software's own answer decides. No account, nothing to buy.

Courses

  • Sheet Metal with SolidCraft

    Free beginner lessons in sheet metal design with SolidCraft: build each part, then check your numbers against SolidCraft's own.

    Open now · 13 sheets · about 70 min of video · SolidCraft 0.23 · beginner

    Start with video 00 See the sheets

  • Advanced Sheet Metal with SolidCraft

    Free advanced sheet metal lessons with SolidCraft: lips and rims, parts that fit, rack ears, cuts through folded parts and bends that aren't 90 degrees, checked against SolidCraft's own numbers.

    Open now · 5 sheets · about 32 min of video · SolidCraft 0.27 · advanced

    Start with sheet 01 See the sheets

  • More courses soon

    Each in free software, each checked the same way. Follow the YouTube channel to hear when the next one opens.

    • A bicycle's welded tube frame, lit from the side
      Weldments
    • Inserts of a multi-cavity injection mould
      Mold making
    • Coloured streamlines of the air flowing around a jet, from a flow simulation
      Simulation
    • The bell nozzle of a rocket engine
      Surfacing

How every lesson goes

WatchedA short video on YouTube, one tool at a time.
ModelledYour own model, from a drawing, with sizes dealt to you alone.

Sheet 01, part A

  • A, with K-factor 0.486.40 mm
  • Mass in steel136.1 g
  • A again, with K-factor 0.3386.18 mm

Inspected

CheckedType in what the software shows; it must match its own answer.

Free, and staying free

No account, no tracking

Your progress is saved in your own browser and nowhere else. Visits are counted without cookies or addresses.

Independent

Made by Ahmad Khan. Not part of any software project or company. Lessons are CC BY-NC 4.0; the site's code is MIT. About the academy.

Watch on YouTube