Basic modeling tutorial/es

Este Tutorial de Modelado Básico te mostrará cómo modelar un ángulo de hierro. Una cosa que deberías saber es que FreeCAD es modular según el diseño, y como muchos otros programas de CAD, siempre hay más de un modo de hacer las cosas. Exploraremos dos métodos aquí.

Antes de empezar
Recuerda que FreeCAD aún está en un estado inicial de desarrollo, así que posiblemente no seas tan productivo como con otras aplicaciones de CAD, y encontrarás algunos errores, o experimentes algunos cuelgues de la aplicación. FreeCAD ahora dispone de la opción de realizar copias de respaldo. El numero de archivos de respaldo se puede especificar en el letrero de diálogo de Preferencias. No dudes en permitir 2 o 3 archivos de respaldo hasta que conozcas bien como trabajar con FreeCAD.

Guarda tu trabajo frecuentemente, de vez en cuando guarda tu trabajo con un nombre diferente, así tendrás una copia "a salvo" a la que puedas volver, y prepárate para la posibilidad de que algunos comandos pudieran no ofrecer los resultados que esperabas.

Introducción a las técnicas de modelado
La primera (y básica) técnica de modelado sólido es la Geometría constructiva de sólidos (CSG). Trabajas principalmente con formas primitivas como cubos, cilindros, esferas y conos para construir tu geometría combinándolos, eliminando una forma de otra, o intersecándolas. Estas herramientas son parte del Entorno de Pieza. También puedes aplicar transformaciones a las formas, como aplicar redondeos o chaflanes en las aristas. Estas herramientas pertenecen también al tools are also in the Entorno de Pieza.

Luego existen otras herramientas más avanzadas. Tu empiezas dibujando un perfil 2D que puedas extruir o revolucionar.

Así que vamos a comenzar tratando de hacer un pie de hierro para una mesa con estos 2 métodos.

1st Method - By Constructive Solid Geometry

 * Start with the Part Workbench (View > Workbench > Part menu)
 * Click on the [[Image:Part_Box.png|32px]] Box button to create a box
 * Change its dimensions by selecting it either in the 3D space, or by clicking it in the Project tab to the left, then
 * Click on the Data tab at the bottom, and change values for Height, Length and Width to 750mm, 50 and 50 (see Fig. 1.1)
 * Create a second box the same way, but with values 750, 40 and 40mm. By default this box will be superimposed on the first one. (see Fig. 1.2)
 * You'll now subtract the second box from the first. Select the first shape first (named Box), then the second one (named Box001), the selection order is important! (Make sure that both shapes are selected in the Project tree. One thing to remember: in Inventor navigation mode, Ctrl + click does not work for multiple selection. Switch to either CAD or Blender selection.)
 * On the Part Workbench toolbar, click on the [[Image:Part_Cut.png|32px]] Cut tool.







You now have your first iron angle (Fig. 1.3). You'll notice that, in the Project tab on the left, both boxes have been replaced by a "Cut" object. Actually, they're not disappeared, but rather grouped under the Cut object. Click on the + in front of it, and you'll see that both boxes are still there, but greyed out (Fig. 1.4). If you click on either of them and hit the space bar, it will show up. The space bar toggles visibility of selected objects. (Fig. 1.5)

Don't want the angle oriented that way? You just need to change the placement of the Box001 shape. Select it, unhide it, and in the Data tab, click on the + in front of Placement, then expand the Position parameter, and change its X and Y coordinates. Hit Enter, hide the Box001 shape again, and your angle orientation is now different. (Fig. 1.5) You can even change either of your shapes dimensions, and the Cut object will be updated.





By the way, we can add rounds to the angle so it is more realistic, using the Fillet tool. (Fig. 1.6)



2nd Method - By extruding a profile
This method requires that you start by drawing a 2D profile. You need to activate the 2d Drafting workbench (View > Workbench > 2d Draft menu).

Next we need to set the working plane. Depending on your FreeCAD version, you'll have right under the toolbar, on the right, a "None" button. Click it, and on the left will appear right after "active command": Select Plane Offset, then a text field and a series of buttons. Assuming you want to start your profile on the plan view, select XY. The "None" button will now show "Top" as active plane. See note. Select the Wire (multiple-point line) tool, then start drawing a shape, using the text fields for X and Y positions. The "Relative" box should be checked, as well as the "Filled" box.


 * 1st point: 0,0
 * 2nd point: 50,0
 * 3rd point: 0,10
 * 4th point: -40,0
 * 5th point: 0,40
 * 6th point: -10,0
 * No 7th point, rather click on the "Close" button to close the profile. You should now have this profile, titled "Wire" in the Project tab:



Hit the zero key on the numpad to set the view to axonometric.

Activate the Part Workbench.

Click on the Extrude tool.

On the Tasks tab on the left, select the Wire object. Then enter the desired length, say 750mm. Leave the direction at Z. Click Apply. You should now have an Extrude object in the Project tab (fig. 1.8)



This method has a minor caveat compared to the other one: to edit the shape, you need to edit the Wire, it's not as easy to do as the previous method.

And there are a few other ways to do it too! I hope these two examples get you started. You'll sure hit some snags along the way (I did when I first learned FreeCAD, and I do have 3D CAD experience ;) ), but don't hesitate to ask questions on the FreeCAD forum!

Note on Draft working plane button: The label on your button may be different, depending on your version and also on what you were doing beforehand. The button label could read: "top", "front", "side", "None" or a Vector representation such as d(0.0,0.0,1.0). It can also be blank. For example:







The above instructions will work, no matter what label your button has.