Whiffle Ball tutorial
Tutorial |
Topic |
---|
Product design |
Level |
Beginner |
Time to complete |
30 minutes |
Authors |
r-frank |
FreeCAD version |
0.16 and above |
Example files |
WhiffleBall_Tutorial_FCWiki.FCStd |
See also |
None |
Introduction
This tutorial is here to teach you how to use the Part Workbench.
The Part Workbench was the first workbench developed. It provides the basic geometrical elements that can be used as building blocks for other workbenches. The Part Workbench is meant to be used in a traditional constructive solid geometry (CSG) workflow. For a more modern workflow using sketches, pads, and features, use the PartDesign Workbench.
You will practice:
- inserting primitives
- changing values of primitives
- modifying the placement
- doing boolean operations
If you selected something wrong or want to de-select everything, just click on empty space in the 3D view.
Final model of the wiffle ball
Setup
1. Open FreeCAD, create a new empty document with File → New, and switch to the Part Workbench.
Now we are ready to create solid objects.
Press View isometric button to change the view to isometric to visualize the 3D solid objects better.
Insert primitive cubes
2. Insert a primitive cube by clicking on Box.
- 2.1. Select
Cube
in the tree view. - 2.2. Change the dimensions in the
Data
tab of the property editor. - 2.3. Change
Length
to90 mm
. - 2.4. Change
Width
to90 mm
. - 2.5. Change
Height
to90 mm
.
3. In the Data
tab of the property editor, click on the Placement
value so the ellipsis button ... appears on right.
- 3.1. Press on the ellipsis to launch the Placement dialog.
- 3.2. Change the translation values.
- 3.3. Change
X
to-45 mm
. - 3.4. Change
Y
to-45 mm
. - 3.5. Change
Z
to-45 mm
. - 3.6. Press the OK button to close the dialog.
4. Repeat the process, inserting a second, smaller cube by clicking on Box.
- 4.1. The second cube will be created with the same name, but with an additional number to distinguish the object.
- 4.2. Select
Cube001
in the tree view, and change the dimensions and placement like with the previous object. - 4.3. Change
Length
to80 mm
. - 4.4. Change
Width
to80 mm
. - 4.5. Change
Height
to80 mm
. - 4.6. Open the Placement dialog.
- 4.7. Change
X
to-40 mm
. - 4.8. Change
Y
to-40 mm
. - 4.9. Change
Z
to-40 mm
. - 4.10. Press the OK button to close the dialog.
Change visual properties
5. The previous operations create a smaller cube inside a bigger cube. To visualize this, we can modify the View
properties in the property editor.
- 5.1. Select
Cube001
, the smaller cube, in the tree view, and change the color. In theView
tab, click on theShape Color
value to open the "Select color" dialog, then choose a green color. - 5.2. Select
Cube
, the larger cube, in the tree view, and change the transparency. In theView
tab, change the value ofTransparency
to70
.
Solid cube inside another solid cube
Insert primitive cylinders
6. Insert a primitive cylinder by clicking on Cylinder.
- 6.1. Select
Cylinder
in the tree view. - 6.2. Change the dimensions in the
Data
tab of the property editor. - 6.3. Change
Radius
to27.5 mm
. - 6.4. Change
Height
to90 mm
. - 6.5. Open the Placement dialog.
- 6.6. Change
Z
to-60 mm
. - 6.7. Press the OK button to close the dialog.
7. Repeat the process, inserting a second cylinder by clicking on Cylinder.
- 7.1. The second cylinder will be created with the same name, but with an additional number to distinguish the object.
- 7.2. Select
Cylinder001
in the tree view, and change the dimensions and placement like with the previous object. - 7.3. Change
Radius
to27.5 mm
. - 7.4. Change
Height
to120 mm
. - 7.5. Open the Placement dialog.
- 7.6. Change
Y
to60 mm
. - 7.7. Change the rotation,
Rotation axis with angle
;Axis
toX
, andAngle
to90 deg
. - 7.8. Press the OK button to close the dialog.
8. Insert another cylinder. This time create a duplicate, so that the radius and height doesn't have to be changed, only its placement.
- 8.1. Select
Cylinder001
in the tree view, and go to the menu Edit → Duplicate selection. This will createCylinder002
. - 8.2. Open the Placement dialog.
- 8.3. Change
X
to-60 mm
. - 8.4. Change the rotation,
Rotation axis with angle
;Axis
toY
, andAngle
to90 deg
. - 8.5. Press the OK button to close the dialog.
Change visual properties
9. The previous operations create three cylinders that intersect with each other, and with the previously placed cubes. To visualize this better we can modify the View
properties in the property editor.
- 9.1. Click on View fit all to adjust the 3D view so that all elements are seen in the view.
- 9.2. Select
Cube
, the larger cube, in the tree view, and change the transparency. In theView
tab, change the value ofTransparency
to70
. - 9.4. Select
Cylinder
, in theView
tab, click on theShape Color
value to open the "Select color" dialog, then choose a red color. - 9.5. Select
Cylinder001
, in theView
tab, click on theShape Color
value to open the "Select color" dialog, then choose a blue color. - 9.6. Select
Cylinder002
, in theView
tab, click on theShape Color
value to open the "Select color" dialog, then choose a pink color.
Solid cylinders that intersect themselves and the solid cubes.
Fuse and cut
10. In the tree view, select Cube001
, Cylinder
, Cylinder001
, and Cylinder002
, and fuse them together by clicking on Fuse.
Note: Hold Ctrl while you click to select multiple items.
11. Then perform a boolean cut of the Cube
and the new Fusion
object.
- 11.1. In the tree view select
Cube
first, and thenFusion
. - 11.2. Then press Cut.
- 11.3. If the colors don't look correctly, select the
Cut
object, got to theView
tab, click on theShape Color
value to open the "Select color" dialog. Choose a gray color.
The big cube with holes produced by cutting certain elements from it.
Insert primitive cubes to cut shapes
12. Insert another cube that will be used to cut the previous partial solid.
- 12.1. Clicking on Box.
- 12.2. Select
Cube002
in the tree view, and change the dimensions and placement like with the previous objects. - 12.3. Change
Length
to140 mm
. - 12.4. Change
Width
to112 mm
. - 12.5. Change
Height
to112 mm
. - 12.6. Open the Placement dialog.
- 12.7. Change
X
to-70 mm
. - 12.8. Change
Y
to-56 mm
. - 12.9. Change
Z
to-56 mm
. - 12.10. Press the OK button to close the dialog.
13. Insert another cube that will be used to cut the previous partial solid.
- 13.1. Clicking on Box.
- 13.2. Select
Cube003
in the tree view, and change the dimensions and placement like with the previous objects. - 13.3. Change
Length
to180 mm
. - 13.4. Change
Width
to180 mm
. - 13.5. Change
Height
to180 mm
. - 13.6. Open the Placement dialog.
- 13.7. Change
X
to-90 mm
. - 13.8. Change
Y
to-90 mm
. - 13.9. Change
Z
to-90 mm
.
Now we'll duplicate the previous two objects to use them to cut the previously obtained Fusion
solid.
14. Select only Cube002
in the tree view, and duplicate it. Go to Edit → Duplicate selection.
- 14.1. The resulting solid is
Cube004
.
15. Select only Cube003
in the tree view, and duplicate it. Go to Edit → Duplicate selection.
- 15.1. The resulting solid is
Cube005
.
Cutting the corners part 1
16. Select Cube003
and Cube002
, but make sure, that Cube003
is selected FIRST.
- 16.1. Activate menu to change placement.
- 16.2. Tick option Apply incremental changes to object placement, notice that all values are reset.
- 16.3. Choose "Rotation: X-Axis" and "Angle: 45°" and click on Apply.
- 16.4. Choose "Rotation: Z-Axis" and "Angle: 45°" and click on Apply.
- 16.5. Click on OK to close the dialog.
17. Apply a boolean cut by clicking Cut, the resulting object will be named Cut001
.
Cutting the corners part 2
18. Select Cube005
and Cube004
, but make sure, that Cube005
is selected FIRST.
- 18.1. Activate menu to change placement.
- 18.2. Tick option Apply incremental changes to object placement, notice that all values are reset.
- 18.3. Choose "Rotation: X-Axis" and "Angle: 45°" and click on Apply.
- 18.4. Choose "Rotation: Z-Axis" and "Angle: -45°" and click on Apply.
- 18.5. Click on OK to close the dialog.
- 18.6. Apply a boolean cut by clicking Cut, the resulting object will be named
Cut002
.
If everything went well your model should look like this:
Finishing the model
19. Select Cut
and Cut001
, but make sure, that Cut
is selected FIRST.
- 19.1. Apply a boolean cut by clicking Cut, the resulting object will be named
Cut003
.
20. Select Cut003
and Cut002
, but make sure, that Cut003
is selected FIRST.
- 20.1. Apply a boolean cut by clicking Cut, the resulting object will be named
Cut004
.