FreeCAD Datum Wizard
Experiments focused on improving datum workflows and reducing modeling friction in FreeCAD.
FreeCAD Datum Wizard
Related project: CAD Workflow & Datum Tooling
After creating the same datum geometry over and over in FreeCAD, I started experimenting with ways to make the workflow faster and less frustrating.
The project began as a simple macro and slowly turned into a larger exploration of:
- workflow simplification
- selection handling
- body tracking
- GUI design
- attachment logic
- naming automation
- parametric workflow improvements
The biggest challenge wasn’t actually creating geometry.
It was making the workflow feel predictable and smooth.
A surprising amount of time went into things like:
- active body detection
- selection updates
- keeping datums editable
- preventing unwanted transform operations
- synchronizing UI state with the model tree
The current direction focuses on:
- popup-style workflows
- cleaner interaction patterns
- automatic naming
- better midplane generation
- simplified axis creation
- reducing repetitive modeling steps
One thing I keep coming back to is that small workflow improvements compound really quickly during larger CAD sessions.
Even saving a few clicks repeatedly starts to matter.
Longer term, this may eventually become a more polished addon, but for now it remains an active experimental workflow tool.