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If you are someone who is associated with the CAD industry, knowledge of free CAD libraries can make your work easy and provide you with great inspiration for work.
The development of CAD models is a tedious task and can require a significant amount of effort from the side of engineers.
So, if you looking for free CAD Models then you can use any of the following CAD libraries to download the ready-to-use CAD Model and save your time.
Top Free CAD libraries
Grab CAD
Grab CAD is one of the most popular libraries that is being used to download CAD Models.
It is ranked as the number one 3D community where you can find more than four million ready-to-use CAD files.
The files can be downloaded in various formats such as. STL, STEP, IGES, etc. In addition to this Grab CAD also has more than nine thousand tutorials to learn and practice CAD Modelling.
One of the key benefits of Grab CAD is that you can find a variety of CAD models for a single item.
3D Content Central
If you are a product design engineer and looking for supplier-certified parts, then 3D Content central is the best CAD library for you. The website has a catalog of CAD files of the world’s best suppliers that are ready to use.
Complex CAD files such as standard bearings and mountings can be easily downloaded from the 3D content central.
The website is mainly created to share files developed on Solidworks software but files can also be downloaded in other common file formats that can be opened on any platform.
One of the key benefits is that you can compare products from various manufacturers that best fit your design to save time.
CAD Blocks Free
CAD Blocks Free is an online community where you can find a wide variety of CAD files to download. It offers an opportunity to professional designers to sell their CAD models and also has a library of free CAD models related to all the domains.
The website also offers a membership plan to download a specific number of paid models for very reasonable prices.
The drawback of the website is that it has lots of advertisements that can be frustrating for a user. Moreover, the paid membership does not offer an add-free version of the website.
Autodesk Online Gallery
Autodesk has its own free CAD library that in the area of engineering. One of the best features of the library is that the user can get high-quality rendered images of the products as well.
In addition to that, it also has lots of case studies from different product designers and engineers from around the globe for inspiration.
It also has a separate section for virtual reality-ready models for VR developers.
The limitation of the website is that It does not have a high-quality search facility to find the desired products with ease.
But very soon in early 2022, they are coming up with an Upgraded version of the Autodesk Gallery website.
Trace Parts
If you are looking for CAD Models that are designed keeping international standards such as ASTM or ISO including geometrical tolerances then Trace Parts is an ideal CAD library to visit.
One of the key features of the website is that it offers parts that can be selected based upon utility in various applications such as heat exchangers, hydraulics, sensors, etc. It also has a large catalog of CAD files from certified suppliers.
Yeggi
Yeggi is a search engine for CAD models for various CAD software and 3D Printing applications.
More than 2 million models are available on the website. The main advantage of the website is that it can search for CAD models from various data sources all at once. Hence, it is best for the users who want different CAD models for the same entity.
The website has also added a new section on 3D printing, that provides recent trends, tutorials, and information on the same.
McMaster- Carr
McMaster is a website that is run by Illinois located company that delivers raw materials. One of the main advantages of the website is that you can get company-developed CAD models for various mechanical, electrical, and other different sectors.
If you are located in the US, you can also order all the parts used in your CAD models for physical prototyping.
It is an excellent website for product designers and mechanical engineers.
Even you can get detailed information and knowledge of various mechanical parts.
How you can contribute
Individual designers and manufacturers both can contribute to the online CAD libraries.
For individual designers, this can be a great place to share the work easily with stakeholders, store the CAD files and share the designs with other peers.
As an individual designer or engineer, you can signup for the websites and start uploading the designs in the upload section. The best-recommended websites for individual designers are Grab CAD and Autodesk Gallery.
Whereas manufacturers can get more business using these websites.
The manufacturers can upload their CAD files catalog on the websites like Trace parts and 3D Content Central.
Other methods to download CAD files
In addition to the free CAD library, users can also download the CAD files from the websites of the manufacturers.
Some of the manufacturers provide CAD files to download under their catalog section.
Other than this the users can also email the manufacturers, in order to get the free CAD files that be used in the product design processes.
The CAD files can also be requested through social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn where users can request the manufacturers and designers to provide the CAD files.
If you want to learn more about the “Free CAD model libraries” just comment below with your queries/suggestions.
