PartDesignUpgrade

Extends the PartDesign workbench with seven helpers:

• Create Pipe — sweep a parametric profile (circle, square, triangle, pentagon, hexagon, octagon) along a sketch or a set of edges. Supports rotation, offset, wall thickness (hollow pipe) and corner transitions, with a live preview. If the path belongs to a PartDesign body the pipe is added as an additive feature; otherwise a standalone parametric pipe is created.
• Subtractive Pipe — the same sweep but the profile is removed from the body (like a pocket following a path): a subtractive feature.
• Create Rib Between Faces — build a stiffening rib without a sketch: select two faces and a plate is created between them. Two angled planar faces (a corner) give a triangular gusset whose two long edges rest on the two faces (lengths measured from the corner edge; Invert leg 1/2 flips each edge to the other side of the corner); a planar face plus a cylinder gives one or more radial plates running from the plane up to the cylinder (Copies rotates them around the cylinder axis, Rotation angle positions them). Triangle is the default profile, Rectangle also available. Added to the active body as an additive feature, or standalone when no body is active. A Full face length checkbox auto-sets the lengths and a static helper sketch of the rib profile is added to the document tree.
• Assembly Cut — cut several PartDesign bodies at once with a single sketch. For each body a linked binder (or an independent sketch copy) is created and a pocket applied automatically, one body after another.
• Automatic symmetry (Mirror) — automatic symmetry helper. The command opens a small floating panel that stays on top of the window while you model. Tick Enable symmetry and pick the reference: planes XY / XZ / YZ or axes X / Y / Z (a 180° rotation, i.e. 2 occurrences). The references are measured from the centre of the body; a plane moves along its normal, an axis along the two independent perpendicular directions — Distance from the body centre offsets them. While enabled, every new pad / pocket is mirrored automatically, computed by a parametric Part::FeaturePython object that re-reflects the body after each recompute, so the mirror always stays up to date. Untick Enable symmetry to stop; the Automatic symmetry toolbar button is a quick on/off toggle.
• Weight / Volume — shows the volume (mm³ / cm³) and the mass of a body using a density picker (metals, plastics, wood, glass, concrete, ... or a custom value in kg/m³).
• Collision Detector — makes every body transparent and highlights the overlapping parts in red, re-running automatically after every change. The report appears in a dock window on the left.

Installation

The addon is not a workbench: it adds no entry to the workbench switcher. Its buttons are added to the Part Design Helper Features toolbar and to the Part Design menu of the Part Design workbench, so they are always at hand while modelling and you never have to switch workbench.

Use the FreeCAD Addon Manager (Tools → Addon manager) and search for PartDesignUpgrade, or clone this repository into your user Mod directory:

FreeCAD	Location
1.1+ on Windows	%APPDATA%\FreeCAD\v1-1\Mod\PartDesignUpgrade
1.1+ on Linux	~/.local/share/FreeCAD/Mod/PartDesignUpgrade
1.1+ on macOS	~/Library/Application Support/FreeCAD/Mod/PartDesignUpgrade

Usage

Create Pipe / Subtractive Pipe

1. Select a sketch (or edges of a body) as the path.
2. Click Create Pipe (adds) or Subtractive Pipe (removes) in the Part Design Helper Features toolbar.
3. Set profile shape/size, rotation, offset and wall thickness — a live preview follows the values.
4. Click OK.

Assembly Cut

1. Select a sketch that crosses the bodies to cut.
2. Click Assembly Cut.
3. Tick the target bodies (in cut order), choose binder (linked) or independent copies, click Cut Bodies and accept each pocket.

Create Rib Between Faces

1. Select two faces — two angled planar walls (corner), or a planar face plus a cylinder.
2. Click Create Rib Between Faces.
3. Corner: set Length 1 / Length 2 (contact lengths from the corner edge), Thickness, Offset (slide along the corner edge), Invert leg 1 / Invert leg 2 (flip a leg to the other side of the corner) and Copies with Spacing for a pattern — a triangular gusset closes the angle (Triangle is the default profile).
4. Plane + cylinder: set Length 1 (height up the cylinder), Length 2 (radial contact on the plane), Thickness, Copies (radial pattern) and Rotation angle (Triangle is also the default profile here).
5. Tick Full face length to make the lengths automatically cover the whole faces (un-tick to edit them manually again).
6. Click OK. A helper sketch showing the rib profile is created in the document tree next to the rib feature — it is a static snapshot, not parametric.

Automatic symmetry (Mirror)

1. Create a solid in a PartDesign body (e.g. a pad).
2. Click Automatic symmetry in the Part Design Helper Features toolbar. The first time, a dialog opens to pick the reference; once a symmetry exists, the button opens a small floating panel that stays on top and can be moved anywhere.
3. Choose the reference: Plane XY / XZ / YZ (mirror) or Axis X / Y / Z (a 180° rotation, i.e. 2 occurrences). A plane has one Distance from the body centre (mm) movement, an axis two (perpendicular to it).
4. Tick Auto mirror in the panel and every change to the body is mirrored automatically — a parametric Symmetry object reflects the body on every recompute, so a pad/pocket you add or edit appears mirrored right away. You can also press Mirror last operation to mirror only the latest feature. Untick Auto mirror (or close the panel) to stop.

Collision detector

1. With a document open, click Collision Detector in the Part Design Helper Features toolbar.
2. All bodies become transparent and the overlapping parts are highlighted in red.
3. The check runs again automatically after every change to the document; click the button again to turn it off.

Weight / Volume

1. Select a body (or any shape with volume).
2. Click Weight / Volume and pick the material density.

Screenshots

The helper buttons

Create Pipe (additive)

Subtractive Pipe

Create Rib Between Faces — angled faces

Create Rib Between Faces — plane + cylinder

Automatic symmetry (Mirror)

Weight / Volume

Collision detector

The Collision detector button makes all bodies transparent and highlights the overlapping parts in red, then re-runs automatically after every change.

Compatibility

FreeCAD >= 1.1.0 (PySide6).

License

LGPL-2.1-or-later — see LICENSE.