PartDesign Workbench

Introduction
The PartDesign Workbench provides advanced tools for modeling complex solid parts. It is mostly focused on creating mechanical parts that can be manufactured and assembled into a finished product. Nevertheless, the created solids can be used in general for any other purpose such as architectural design, finite element analysis, or machining and 3D printing.

The PartDesign Workbench is intrinsically related to the Sketcher Workbench. The user normally creates a Sketch, then uses the PartDesign Pad tool to extrude it and create a basic solid, and then this solid is further modified.

While the Part Workbench is based on a constructive solid geometry (CSG) methodology for building shapes, the PartDesign Workbench uses a parametric, feature editing methodology, which means a basic solid is sequentially transformed by adding features on top until the final shape is obtained. See the feature editing page for a more complete explanation of this process, and then see Creating a simple part with PartDesign to get started with creating solids.

The bodies created with PartDesign are often subject to the topological naming problem which causes internal features to be renamed when the parametric operations are modified. This problem can be minimized by following the best practices described in the feature editing page, and by taking advantage of datum objects as support for sketches and features.



Tools
The Part Design tools are all located in the menu and the PartDesign toolbar that appear when you load the Part Design workbench.

Structure tools
These tools are in fact not part of the PartDesign Workbench. They belong to the Std Base system. They were developed in v0.17 with the intention that they would be useful to organize a model, and create assemblies; as such, they are very useful when working with bodies created with this workbench.


 * [[Image:Std_Part.svg|32px]] Part: adds a new Part container in the active document and makes it active.
 * [[Image:Std_Group.svg|32px]] Group: adds a Group container in the active document, which allows organizing the objects in the tree view.

Part Design Helper tools

 * PartDesign_Body.svg Create body: creates a Body object in the active document and makes it active.


 * Sketcher_NewSketch.svg Create sketch: creates‎ a new sketch on a selected face or plane. If no face is selected while this tool is executed, the user is prompted to select a plane from the Tasks panel. The interface then switches to the Sketcher Workbench in sketch editing mode.


 * Sketcher_EditSketch.svg Edit sketch: Edit the selected Sketch.


 * Sketcher_MapSketch.svg Map sketch to face: Maps a sketch to a previously selected plane or a face of the active body.

Datum tools

 * PartDesign Point.svg Create a datum point: creates a datum point in the active body.


 * PartDesign Line.svg Create a datum line: creates a datum line in the active body.


 * PartDesign Plane.svg Create a datum plane: creates a datum plane in the active body.


 * PartDesign CoordinateSystem.svg Create a local coordinate system: creates a local coordinate system attached to datum geometry in the active body.


 * PartDesign ShapeBinder.svg Create a shape binder: creates a shape binder in the active body.


 * PartDesign_SubShapeBinder.svg Create a sub-object shape binder: creates a shape binder to a subelement, like edge or face from another body, while retaining the relative position of that element.


 * PartDesign Clone.svg Create a clone: creates a clone of the selected body.

Additive tools
These are tools for creating base features or adding material to an existing solid body.


 * PartDesign_Pad.svg Pad: extrudes a solid from a selected sketch.


 * PartDesign_Revolution.svg Revolution: creates a solid by revolving a sketch around an axis. The sketch must form a closed profile.


 * PartDesign Additive_Loft.svg Additive loft: creates a solid by making a transition between two or more sketches.


 * PartDesign Additive_Pipe.svg Additive pipe: creates a solid by sweeping one or more sketches along an open or closed path.


 * PartDesign_CompPrimitiveAdditive.png Create an additive primitive: adds an additive primitive to the active body.


 * PartDesign Additive_Box.svg Additive box: creates an additive box.


 * PartDesign Additive_Cone.svg Additive cone: creates an additive cone.


 * PartDesign Additive_Cylinder.svg Additive cylinder: creates an additive cylinder.


 * PartDesign Additive_Ellipsoid.svg Additive ellipsoid: creates an additive ellipsoid.


 * PartDesign Additive_Prism.svg Additive prism: creates an additive prism.


 * PartDesign Additive_Sphere.svg Additive sphere: creates an additive sphere.


 * PartDesign Additive_Torus.svg Additive torus: creates an additive torus.


 * PartDesign Additive_Wedge.svg Additive wedge: creates an additive wedge.

Subtractive tools
These are tools for subtracting material from an existing body.


 * PartDesign Pocket.svg Pocket: creates a pocket from a selected sketch.


 * PartDesign Hole.svg Hole: creates a hole feature from a selected sketch. The sketch must contain one or multiple circles.


 * PartDesign Groove.svg Groove: creates a groove by revolving a sketch around an axis.


 * PartDesign Subtractive_Loft.svg Subtractive loft: creates a solid shape by making a transition between two or more sketches and subtracts it from the active body.


 * PartDesign Subtractive_Pipe.svg Subtractive pipe: creates a solid shape by sweeping one or more sketches along an open or closed path and subtracts it from the active body.


 * PartDesign_CompPrimitiveSubtractive.png Create a subtractive primitive: adds a subtractive primitive to the active body.


 * PartDesign Subtractive_Box.svg Subtractive box: adds a subtractive box to the active body.


 * PartDesign Subtractive_Cone.svg Subtractive cone: adds a subtractive cone to the active body.


 * PartDesign Subtractive_Cylinder.svg Subtractive cylinder: adds a subtractive cylinder to the active body.


 * PartDesign Subtractive_Ellipsoid.svg Subtractive ellipsoid: adds a subtractive ellipsoid to the active body.


 * PartDesign Subtractive_Prism.svg Subtractive prism: adds a subtractive prism to the active body.


 * PartDesign Subtractive_Sphere.svg Subtractive sphere: adds a subtractive sphere to the active body.


 * PartDesign Subtractive_Torus.svg Subtractive torus: adds a subtractive torus to the active body.


 * PartDesign Subtractive_Wedge.svg ‎Subtractive wedge: adds a subtractive wedge to the active body.

Transformation tools
These are tools for transforming existing features. They will allow you to choose which features to transform.


 * [[Image:PartDesign_Mirrored.svg|32px]] Mirrored: mirrors one or more features on a plane or face.


 * [[Image:PartDesign_LinearPattern.svg|32px]] Linear Pattern: creates a linear pattern based on one or more features.


 * [[Image:PartDesign_PolarPattern.svg|32px]] Polar Pattern: creates a polar pattern of one or more features.


 * [[Image:PartDesign_MultiTransform.svg|32px]] Create MultiTransform: creates a pattern with any combination of the other transformations.

Dress-up tools
These tools apply a treatment to the selected edges or faces.


 * PartDesign Fillet.svg Fillet: fillets (rounds) edges of the active body.


 * PartDesign Chamfer.svg Chamfer: chamfers edges of the active body.


 * PartDesign Draft.svg Draft: applies an angular draft to selected faces of the active body.


 * PartDesign Thickness.svg Thickness: creates a thick shell from the active body and opens selected face(s).

Boolean

 * PartDesign_Boolean.svg Boolean operation: imports one or more Bodies or PartDesign Clones into the active body and applies a Boolean operation.

Extras
Some additional functionality found in the Part Design menu:


 * Migrate: migrates files created with older FreeCAD versions. If the file is pure PartDesign feature-based, migration should succeed. If the file contains mixed Part/Part Design/Draft objects, the conversion will most likely fail.


 * [[Image:WizardShaft.svg|32px]] Shaft design wizard: Generates a shaft from a table of values and allows to analyze forces and moments. The shaft is made with a revolved sketch that can be edited.


 * [[Image:PartDesign_InternalExternalGear.svg|32px]] Involute gear: creates an involute gear profile that can be used by a Pad.

Contextual Menu tools

 * PartDesign MoveTip.svg Set tip: redefines the tip, which is the feature exposed outside of the Body.


 * Set colors...: Assign colors to single faces. The menu entry is available for geomentry elements of a body but not for the body itself. It will open a task dialog that allows you to select a faces and a color. To select a face hover with your mouse over the face until it is highlighed and then click to select it. Use to select multiple faces. A red icon overlay is shown at the pointer if a face can not be selected. It may take a few seconds until a the face is highlighted for selection or the mouse needs to be moved a bit to help detection. The tool can assign different colors by applying it multiple times. If the tool is not applied at the last geometry element of the body (recommended) the element should be made visible with, or selection might not work properly.


 * Move object to other body: moves the selected sketch, datum geometry or feature to another Body.


 * Move object after other object: allows reordering of the Body tree by moving the selected sketch, datum geometry or feature to another position in the list of features.

Preferences

 * Preferences-part_design.svg Preferences: preferences available for PartDesign Tools.
 * Fine tuning: some extra parameters to fine-tune PartDesign behavior.

Tutorials

 * How to use FreeCAD, a website describing the workflow for mechanical design.
 * Creating a simple part with PartDesign v0.17
 * Basic Part Design Tutorial 017
 * PartDesign Bearingholder Tutorial I (needs updating)
 * PartDesign Bearingholder Tutorial II (needs updating)