Looking for all 10 days?
View full course – Learn Shapr3D in 10 Days for Beginners.
Transcript
Welcome to Day #9 of Learn Shapr3D in 10 Days for Beginners. I’m Kevin Kennedy, and today we’ll design a desk drawer with box joints. We’ll look at copying sketch objects, Revolve, Subtracting 3D bodies, and inserting this file into the day #8 desk file.
Let’s get started with a New Design.
We’ll start by creating the front board shape, followed by sketching out the notches for the box joints.
I’ll sketch a diagonal rectangle on the Front plane. We’ll make the width half of the overall width, as we’re going to mirror the box joints. Let’s make the width 8 inches and the height 3 inches.
We can then Extrude this to a .25” board thickness.
To create the Box Joints, we’ll sketch directly on the surface of this board.
We’ll start with a .25” x .25” diagonal rectangle in the corner of the front board.
Notice with the rectangle still selected we can select the Copy Badge.
Then, the trick is to select the directional arrow instead of dragging it. Selecting the arrow will let us define the exact dimension of a half-inch, spacing this out a quarter inch.
With the copied rectangle still selected, we can select the additional line segments of the first rectangle. This will allow us to perform a second copy including both rectangles.
Select the arrow and move this one up an inch. We can repeat this process a second time to quickly create the last two rectangles. Notice how we were able to leverage copying and dimensions to quickly pattern this rectangle for the box joint cutouts.
From a perspective, I’ll select each rectangle and Extrude this into the 3D body, which cuts this out of the body.
We can now Mirror this 3D body to create the full width of the board. Double-click the body and instead of a construction plane, we can use the right planar face as the mirror plane.
Once the mirror is complete, you’ll see that we have 2 different 3D bodies. We’ll want to use the Union tool to join these two 3D bodies. This will make it easier for us to copy and manage.
Let’s also turn off the Sketches.
I’ll select the existing 3D body, the copy badge, then move this back 17.75”, leaving us with a total inside drawer depth of 17.5 inches.
Now that our box joints exist on the Front and Back boards, we can leverage the existing geometry to quickly create the left and right boards.
Let’s start by sketching on the inside face of one of the notch cutouts. Remember, we can simply hover the mouse over the face and press the spacebar.
We’ll create a diagonal rectangle connecting the two boards from corner to corner. Be sure to snap to the existing corner points.
Once complete, let’s hide the existing two bodies so we can Extrude this one out a quarter inch. Hiding the other two bodies will allow us to Extrude the entire rectangle without selecting the different sketch profiles.
We can turn the front and back boards back on, and you’ll see the box joints appear to be complete. However, our side board does not have them cut out yet. We can use the Subtract tool from the tools menu.
Start by selecting the bodies to subtract from, which is the side board.
We can then select the front and back boards as the bodies to remove. However, we need to make sure Keep Removed Bodies is turned on, as we need our front and back boards.
After Done, you’ll see that the box joints are now cut out of the sideboard.
We can create a Copy of the board and move it over 15.75” to align it with the overall width of 16 inches.
Take a moment to rename your items in the Items manager. Doing this as you design will be much easier than trying to sort it out at the end.
Let’s now create the front board that will serve as the drawer front. We can sketch directly on the front of the box.
I’m going to start with a vertical line down the middle, making it easier to reference the center.
Switching the rectangle type to Center, we can then sketch out a rectangle encompassing the drawer box. The width will be 17.75” and the height of 3.5 inches.
With the Extrude tool, we can create our half-inch board thickness for the front board.
To finish this off, let’s add a knob on the front. We’ll use the Revolve tool, which means we need a midplane to sketch the side profile on.
I’ll add a midplane construction plane by selecting the left and right of the front board.
We want to make sure the knob is centered, so start by either projecting the existing edge or sketching a new line that runs from top to bottom.
We’ll then create a horizontal line from the midpoint, with a distance of 1.25 inches.
We’ve created a lot of lines and rectangles up to this point. At times, you’ll find complex curvature can be created with the Ellipse tool. Start the ellipse at the end of the line.
Then, we’ll define the major axis of the ellipse, making this half an inch. Second, define the radius of the ellipse. I’ll make this .35 inches.
Take a moment to sketch out some additional geometry, such as lines and arcs to create the thickness of the knob. At times, you may find the Trim tool to be useful to trim away any unnecessary geometry. With Trim active, simply select the geometry to trim away.
The Revolve tool will turn this sketch profile into a 3D object, so we only need half of the shape. We can trim away the bottom half as well, and we’ll make sure the sketch profile is closed off.
Activate Revolve and select the sketch profiles. After defining the profiles, simply select the axis to revolve around. In this case, the bottom of the profile. Notice how that resolves the shape into a 3D body.
Note that you can change the revolve degree. In some cases, you may need something other than 360 degrees.
Lastly, we need to sketch on the bottom to create the bottom of the drawer. With the diagonal rectangle, I’ll sketch by starting and ending in the middle of the board thickness. We’ll eventually subtract this board to create a dado cut.
These five sketch profiles can be extruded to a thickness of .125”; however, be sure to change the operation to New Body so this board doesn’t join the existing bodies.
We can then move this down a half-inch.
Once the bottom board is in position, let’s activate the Subtract tool.
This time, we’ll select the four side boards of the box. You’ll have to select them twice to make sure they’re all purple.
Finally, select the bottom board as the bodies to remove. Keep in mind that our sketch may be in the way. We can either hide the sketch or select the board from inside the drawer box.
After selecting Done, you’ll find that we can hide the body to see the Dado successfully cut from each of the four side boards.
Our drawer is now complete and ready to insert into the computer desk file.
We could have created this drawer within the desk file. However, there will be workflows where you want to reuse parts in different files, or you may inherit a Shapr3D file for use in your assembly.
I like to name the file from the Designs tab before exporting, as this name is automatically pulled into the Export dialog.
I also recommend heading to the Items manager and creating a Folder for all of the items. This will make it easier to use when importing the design.
Once ready, use CMD + Shift + E to export, then select the native Shapr3D file type. Save this to your downloads folder or wherever you prefer on your computer.
Back in the Day #8 desk file, we can go to File > Import, or we can use CMD + Shift + I to import our drawer design.
Notice Shapr3D imports the design and places it in the existing design file. This can be a great way to reuse existing designs throughout your assemblies.
Using a Folder makes it easier to select the entire sub-assembly. I’ll move this into position using the directional arrows.
Once the first drawer is positioned, we can select the copy badge and move this over 33.25 inches to position the second drawer.
Finish up your design by adding some materials with the Visualize feature and then we’ll be finished with our modern wooden desk. In Day #10 we’ll use this desk file to create a 2D manufacture drawing.
[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