DesignSpark Mechanical has now been available for 10 days, and many of you have given it a go. DesignSpark lets you create 3D models quickly and easily without having to be a CAD expert, but it's sometimes nice to have a few extra hints when trying to work with a new piece of software. In this blog I'm going to highlight two aspects of the tool that have proven useful to users in the last few days.
Re-sizing a solid
Creating a new solid is quick and easy in DesignSpark Mechanical, using the Sketch and Pull tools. However, once a shape has been created it might not be obvious how to re-size it, especially with reference to the original dimension. Take a look at these simple cylinder shapes. When originally created, the right-hand cylinder was 25mm tall, but I have changed my mind and now want to reduce this to 20mm. By clicking on the Pull tool and dragging the top surface, the tool will tell me by how much the surface has moved. And remember, at any time during the pull action, the keyboard can be used to type in the precise dimension required. In the image, I have reduced the height by 5mm.
But what if the maths isn't that easy? Can we resize with reference to the overall height? The answer is yes. Using the same Pull tool, I select the top surface. This time, however, I am going to look at the small menu that appears, and click the Ruler tool. This allows me to perform my pull action, but with reference to a point of my choosing.
In the next image, you will see that I have chosen to anchor my ruler to the bottom surface, so giving me the overall height of the cylinder.
I can now complete my pull action, this time by typing in the overall height that I require.
Creating hollow bodies
We've had several users who have tried to create hollow bodies, and we've seen at least two different ways to make them. One of the things I love about DesignSpark Mechanical is that there are often several ways to achieve the same result but sometimes you need a shortcut. This is where the Shell button becomes so useful.
In the simplest example below, we use Shell to turn this solid into a hollow body. Click on the Shell button, and then select a surface. This is the surface that DesignSpark Mechanical will remove. You will notice that the default wall thickness is 1mm, but this can easily be changed after the surface is selected.
You can continue to change the wall thickness until you are happy with the result, at which point you can click the Complete button, or simply select another tool to finalise your changes.
The Shell button will work on more complex shapes too, as in the example below.
Finally, if you want to create a hollow solid without removing a surface, that's easy as well. Once you have created your solid, click on the component in the Structure Tree (rather than clicking on the object on the screen).
Now select the Shell button. You will be able to change the wall thickness as before, the only difference is that once you have completed the operation, you won't see the changes on the screen (the solid is now hollow, but all of the surfaces are intact).
To view the results of your efforts, you will need to look at your design in cross section. Click on Section Mode on the toolbar. Select the orientation of the section plane by clicking on one of the surfaces of your object, and then use the Move Grid button.
This will allow you to use the Move tool to move the section plane to see your design clearly.
We hope you might find some of this useful. Keep designing, keep experimenting, and let us know if you find another really useful feature.