KherveCAD v0.1.155

The first release of KherveCAD — an easy-to-use CAD program that writes OpenSCAD for you.

Draw a 2D profile, extrude it, combine solids with booleans: every step is a node in an object tree you can rename, reorder, group or hide, and the OpenSCAD program in the Code tab is regenerated from that tree, so the two can never disagree. Edit the code and it applies back to the tree.

OpenSCAD is included. The installer bundles the OpenSCAD engine, so the 3D view shows the exact rendered mesh — booleans really cut — with nothing else to install. Each part is rendered on its own, so parts keep their own colours and appear progressively as they finish.

What's in it

• Object tree — 2D shapes, 3D primitives, extrusions, transforms, booleans, hull and minkowski, for/while loops, if/else, variables and expressions in any numeric field
• Parts and assemblies — define a part in the Object tab, place as many instances as you like in Main, and snap them together by clicking two faces; mates re-solve when a parent moves
• Parts library (Ctrl+L) — parametric vacuum hardware from manufacturer cross-sections: CF16–CF160 and KF flanges, blanks, nipples, tees, crosses, elbows, feedthroughs, gate and right-angle valves, turbo and backing pumps, an analyser, an XYZ manipulator, plus ISO-threaded bolts, screws and nuts. Also chemistry glassware and room furniture.
• Examples menu — 21 numbered Learn tutorials, mechanical parts, flowers and trees, and one finished part per chapter of "Mastering OpenSCAD in 10 projects"
• Assistant (Ctrl+/) — describe a part in plain language and it is built into the Object you have open
• 2D sketch view in millimetres with grid, snap, scale bar and a live size readout; parts show as their real projected outline and drag into position
• 3D preview — orbit/pan/zoom, render styles (shaded, brushed metal, matte, wireframe, x-ray), brightness/contrast, anchor markers
• Files — .kcad documents, .scad import and export (round-trip lossless, including user modules and functions), STL/OBJ/OFF/3MF import, STL export
• Per-document Git — commit, push, pull and connect to GitHub from the Git menu
• Undo/redo everywhere, clipboard cut/copy/paste of subtrees across app instances, and errors painted red in the tree as you type

Installing

Download KherveCAD-Setup-0.1.155.exe and run it. It installs per user — no administrator rights — and associates .kcad files. Prefer no installer? KherveCAD-0.1.155-portable.zip extracts and runs in place.

The installer is unsigned, so Windows SmartScreen will warn: click More info → Run anyway.

Licensing

KherveCAD is GPL-3.0. It bundles OpenSCAD 2021.01 (GPL-2.0-or-later), run as a separate process; OpenSCAD's licence is installed beside the binary and its source archive, openscad-2021.01.src.tar.gz, is attached to this release.

KherveCAD v0.1.165 — macOS (Apple Silicon)

The macOS build of KherveCAD, for Apple Silicon (arm64).

Open the DMG and drag KherveCAD to Applications. The app is ad-hoc
signed, not notarized: macOS quarantines anything downloaded through
a browser, so on first launch right-click the app and choose Open,
then Open again — or run

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/KherveCAD.app

The OpenSCAD engine is bundled inside the app, so exact renders,
booleans and STL export work with nothing else installed. OpenSCAD is
GPL-2.0-or-later and KherveCAD runs it as a separate process; the
corresponding source archive is attached to this release.

Windows builds are released separately, under the v* tags.