Looking for all 10 days?
View full course – Learn Shapr3D in 10 Days for Beginners.
Transcript
Welcome to Day #7 of Learn Shapr3D in 10 Days for Beginners. I’m Kevin Kennedy, and today we’ll design a classic wooden sawhorse. We’ll look at using the Subtract tool, Split Body, the use of construction planes, and the Translate tool.
Let’s get started with a New Design.
This sawhorse appears to have many complex mitered angles. However, we’ll start by creating simple board shapes. We’ll then position them at the desired angles, which will allow us to split the boards similar to using a miter saw.
With the Line tool, we can sketch the profile of a 2×8 board on the Front plane.
The first line is 7.25” and needs to snap to the red X-axis to remain horizontal. With auto-constraint turned on, this will apply a horizontal constraint for us. We can then create three additional lines without dimensioning them. We’ll want to sketch one last line running down the middle, which will help us use the Symmetry constraint.
Snap this centerline to the midpoint of each line. A vertical constraint will make this remain vertical.
Let’s also lock the bottom horizontal line to ensure it doesn’t move when we add dimensions.
Before any other dimensions, we need to make the left and right-angled lines symmetrical. We can use the Symmetry constraint by shift-clicking each line, selecting Symmetry, and then defining the center line as the symmetry line.
You’ll now see the Symmetry constraint icon. With symmetry applied, we can define the angle between the bottom corner and the other will update automatically. I’ll make this 74 degrees, leaving us with a 16-degree miter.
Lastly, I’ll make the height of the 2×8 the nominal thickness of 1.25”.
We can now Extrude this Top board to a length of 44 inches.
When working on multi-part assemblies, you’ll want to create folders and rename your assets in the Items Manager. Shift-click each of the items, right-click, and select Group Items.
I’ll rename the folder, the body, and the sketch. This will help us reference the right asset as we create additional bodies.
We can also use the Visualize feature to drag over a wood appearance, such as Pine. Note this visual material will turn to a solid color once we return to the Design environment. You’ll find this helps us distinguish between the default color of 3D bodies, as we create the legs.
Let’s hide the Top folder for now, which lets us focus solely on the creation of the leg.
I’ll sketch a Diaganol Rectangle from the Left side of the Orientation Cube.
The legs will be made from a 2×6, so we’ll make the rectangle 5.5 inches for the width, and a length of 28 inches. We can then Extrude this out to the nominal thickness of 1.5 inches.
We’ll position the angle of the sawhorse leg first, followed by cutting off the unnecessary portion, just as we would with a Mitre saw.
Rename the items in your Items Manager and create a new folder for the Legs. The naming convention you use is a personal preference, just be sure they make it easier for you to select the correct item when needed.
We’ll start with the Align tool, selecting both outer faces. This will make the leg match the same angle as our top board.
Notice by default Shapr3D aligns the bodies so they don’t interfere. We can select the flip badge to get the desired result.
I’d also like these legs to have a 14-degree angle. Notice we can change the angle within the same align tool. We can also move the board down so it’s sticking just above the top board. We’ll cut off the excess later, so I’m not concerned about the dimensions at this point.
Select Done to confirm this first align.
We can also turn off the two sketches in the Items Manager, as we no longer need them.
I’d also like to offset the leg 6 inches from the left edge. To do so, we can start with the Translate command. Translate helps us move sketches, faces, or bodies in relation to a specific point.
Start by double-clicking the body to move. After selecting Next, we can define the edge of the top board and the edge of the selected leg. Remember that you can move these points around as needed.
After selecting Done, you’ll see the Leg is moved to the Edge of the top board, per the defined points. Translate works better in this case as the Align tool would change the angle of our leg had we aligned the two edges.
We can now double-click on the Leg body and move it over the desired 6 inches.
Now that one leg is complete, we’ll use the Mirror command to quickly create the remaining 3 legs. However, we’ll first need to create some construction geometry to reference as the mirror plane.
From the Add menu, I’ll activate the construction plane.
Under the Type selection, you’ll find the Midplane option. A Midplane allows us to select two faces and the plane will position itself directly in the middle.
We’ll want to do this for the left and right faces of the top board as well, leaving us with two perpendicular midplanes.
I’m going to rename these in the Items Manager, and you’ll also find that we can drag and drop them into the existing Legs folder.
With Mirror active, I’ll double-click to select the Leg. Remember you can also select it in the Items Manger. We can then select the Midplane construction plane as the mirror plane. Notice that mirrors the leg to the other side.
We’ll simply repeat this process in the other direction, this time selecting both legs.
When selecting more than one body, I find it quickest to select them in the Items Manager.
Now that our legs are created and positioned, we can hide the construction planes. I’ll also rename the legs in the Items manager, making them easier to distinguish.
To finish off this sawhorse, we’ll cut off the excess from the legs, as well as cut out the notches on the Top Board.
Activate Split Body from the Tools menu.
Double-click on each Leg board to select them.
We then have to define the face to use as the splitting tool. We’d like the top of the legs to be flush with the top board, so we’ll select the top surface.
Turn on the “Keep Originals” switch if you want to keep the original bodies. We don’t have a use for them, so I’ll leave this off and select Done.
Notice the bodies are now split into two. We can select each of the four offcuts in the Items Manager, and press the Delete key.
Currently, the top of the legs takes up the same space as the top board. To make this realistic, we’ll use the Subtract tool from the Tools menu.
Start by selecting the target body that you’d like to subtract from, which is the Top board. Notice it turns purple and has the Target badge.
We can then select each of the four legs. They will be highlighted in blue and labeled with the tool badge. In other words, they represent the cutting tool.
Specify which type of body you want to keep with the Keep Originals switch. All original bodies, only originals of modified bodies, only the originals of bodies that were cut away, or none at all.
Set this to ‘Removed Bodies,’ as we would like to keep the existing Leg bodies.
After selecting Done, you’ll see that we no longer see the glitchy appearance from the bodies taking up the same space, as we now have notches cut out of the Top board.
Next, we need to cut the bottom off the Legs to sit flush on the ground.
We’ll use the Split Body tool again; however, this time I’ll create an offset plane.
The offset plane allows us to select a face, such as the top of our Top board, followed by defining how far it’s offset from the selection.
I’d like to make the total height of the sawhorse 26 inches.
You’ll see that we have a problem with the legs not being long enough to Split. We’ll have to first Extrude the bottom of each leg an additional few inches so they run past the Offset construction plane.
With the Split Body tool, we can once again double-click to select all four legs. Then, define the Offset construction plane as the splitting tool. Once again, we don’t need to keep the originals.
After selecting Done, we can delete the cut-offs by selecting them in the Items Manager, followed by the Delete key.
To finish this sawhorse design, let’s add two support boards connecting the legs.
We can simply hover over one of the legs and press the Space bar to start sketching on it.
I’m going to use the Line tool to create the board shape. The great thing about this is that we can now reference the existing edges and don’t have to subtract them later.
Keep in mind you’ll want to use the Equal constraint to ensure both lines remain the same.
We can also add parallel constraints to ensure the two horizontal lines remain parallel. I’ll also make sure the board itself remains parallel to the top board.
This board will be a 1×6, so I’ll define the distance between the two lines as 5.5 inches.
We can also Shift-click the bottom of the board and the bottom of the leg to set this at 12 inches from the ground.
We can now Extrude these three profiles to ¾ of an inch.
Before selecting Done, take note of the badge next to the dimension arrow.
Select it and you’ll see that our Extrude defaulted to the Union option, which means this would join the two legs and become a single 3D body.
We don’t want that, so we’ll switch this to “New Body.”
You’ll now see that we have a new body in the Items Manager. We can rename the body and sketch, and create a new folder for it, or we can include this in the Legs folder.
Finally, because we already have a midplane to reference, we can turn that back on. With the Mirror tool, we’ll select the side board, followed by the midplane as the mirror plane.
Lastly, we can select all the edges of the Top board and drag the arrow away from the board to create a ¼” fillet. This will represent routing the top edges to ensure the board doesn’t splinter.
Our sawhorse is now complete! Remember, you can use the Visualize feature to apply realistic materials to the design. If you already have a material applied, simply drag and drop that on any newly created bodies.
Don’t forget to rename your file from the Designs tab.
[Upbeat Music]
Be sure to subscribe for more free Shapr3D lessons and check out ProductDesignOnline.com for more resources. Then, click on this YouTube playlist to view the rest of the ten days.
[End Upbeat Music]
Leave a Reply