Dutchman CAD · Fixtures

CAD Fixture Recipes

We're building open, clean-room readers for native CAD files (cadmpeg and SolidCraft, used by Dutchman). To test them we need small, known files made in the real apps: a block, a fillet, a flange, two parts with a mate, and a drawing of a part, each changing one thing at a time. Volunteers make them from short recipes, and every file helps.

We need test files, and we need you

Our readers only get better when someone with the real program makes the small files they're checked against. If you have Inventor, Fusion, SolidWorks, Creo, CATIA, or NX, 15 minutes of your time moves the whole project forward.

Join our Discord Then type /volunteer in any channel. That's the whole sign-up.
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Open CAD tools · Fixtures volunteers
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Make small test files for open CAD readers · Dutchy
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  1. Tell Dutchy which programs and years you have.
  2. We say hello and send your personal portal link (no account, no password).
  3. Follow the recipes one screen at a time and drop each file on its box. Partial sets are welcome.
Already have a link? Open the portal · Repository

The software we're looking for

Our readers cover twelve formats. Recipes are ready for these five, so they're where your files help most today:

InventorFusionSolidWorksCreoCATIANX

Also wanted: tell us in Discord (or in your /volunteer sign-up) if you have one of these, and we'll add recipes for it:

Siemens NXRhinoCreo View (.pvz)Programs that save ACIS (.sat)

The other three are covered already: FreeCAD we script ourselves (below), and STEP and IGES are open formats every program exports.

The recipes work in any year or release. Each year stores files a little differently, so a year nobody has covered yet is especially welcome; the portal shows which ones are wanted. Fusion updates every month, so several sets from different people are worth more than one.

Drawings are wanted too: Fusion, Inventor, and SolidWorks drawings each have their own recipes, from a single view to two sheets with views at three scales and dimensions. Each drawing is sent with a DXF of its sheets; a PDF is welcome but optional.

FreeCAD is free and scriptable, so we make its sets ourselves from the same recipes: no FreeCAD files needed from volunteers. The sets for FreeCAD 0.21.2, 1.0.2, and 1.1.4 (parts, sheet metal, history recipes, FreeCAD-only recipes, and, from 1.0, assemblies) are free to download (CC0).

Use something not listed? Tell us in Discord which program and year.

Examples

A block, a flange, two parts with a mate, and a centred hole.

P01a

Sketch on XY: rectangle 20 (X) × 30 (Y) centred on the origin, dimensioned. Extrude 10 upward (+Z).

Booklet plan of the block: 20 mm along X, 30 mm along Y, centred on the origin, and 10 mm tall; corner and top edges marked. Isometric view of the finished rectangular block, 20 × 30 mm and 10 mm tall.
P01a · a 20 × 30 mm block, 10 tall

S02a

S01a + Flange on the top edge along X at y = 60, height 20, angle 90°, flange going up.

Booklet side sections showing three datums for the 20 mm flange height; base 100 × 60 mm, thickness 2 mm, inside bend radius 1 mm, and angle 90°. Isometric view of a 100 × 60 mm sheet with an upright 90° flange, 20 mm overall height, 2 mm thickness, and a 1 mm inside bend radius.
S02a · a 100 × 60 mm sheet with a 20 mm flange at 90°

A02a

A01a + one Mate: P02a bottom face (z = 0) to P01a top face (z = 10), offset 0.

Dimensioned side section of a 20 × 30 × 10 mm block mated to the bottom of a 40 mm tall ring, outside diameter 60 mm and inside diameter 40 mm, with zero offset. Isometric view of a 60 mm outside diameter, 40 mm inside diameter, and 40 mm tall ring touching the top of a 20 × 30 × 10 mm block at zero offset.
A02a · a block and a ring with one mate, offset 0 mm

F04a

F01a + hole Ø5 through, at the top face centre (0, 0, 10).

Top view of a 20 × 30 mm block, 10 mm tall, with a centred 5 mm diameter through hole at (0, 0, 10). Isometric view of the finished 20 × 30 × 10 mm block with a 5 mm diameter hole through its centre.
F04a · a 20 × 30 × 10 mm block with a centred Ø5 mm through hole

How it works

1

Build a tiny part

Follow the recipe on screen. Example: P01a is a 20 × 30 mm rectangle pulled up 10 mm.

2

Make its twin

Open P01a, change one thing, and Save As P01b. Here, 10 mm becomes 12 mm.

3

Upload it

Each file is checked right away. If something's off, you'll see what and why. Then on to the next one.

Join in

Want to help us improve?

Send us a design of your own: one CAD file and, if you can, a STEP export of the same design. Direct-message it to Dutchy on the Discord, or, if you already have a portal link, use Your own files there. We compare what our readers get from your file with the STEP your program wrote.

Formats: Fusion (.f3d, .f3z), Inventor (.ipt, .iam), SolidWorks (.sldprt, .sldasm), CATIA V5 (.CATPart), Creo and NX (.prt, including numbered saves such as .prt.3), Creo View (.pvz), Rhino (.3dm), ACIS (.sat, .sab, .smt, .smb), FreeCAD (.FCStd), and IGES (.igs, .iges).

For the STEP export, pick AP242 if your program offers it, otherwise AP214; solid (B-rep), not mesh; the same units as the design; one file for an assembly. You choose whether your files stay private or join the public test collection (CC0).

A drawing helps too: send the drawing (Inventor .idw or .dwg, SolidWorks .slddrw, Creo .drw, CATIA .CATDrawing, or a Fusion drawing exported as a Fusion Archive, .f3z), the part or assembly it shows, and a DXF export of each sheet (or one .zip of them), all in one message; a PDF of the sheets is welcome but optional. The DXF is what we check the drawing against, so export it at scale 1:1, in millimetres, with text kept as text (not exploded), as AutoCAD 2000 or 2018 DXF.

The latest recipe booklet (PDF) is linked from the portal. Already helping and lost your link? Ask in Discord for a new one, or type /volunteer again.