3D CAD Modelling (Onshape)

If you have already created your 3D Onshape model and want to go straight to the instructions on how to create an exploded view or an orthographic drawing ready for manufacture, click the buttons below. Otherwise, go straight to the instructions below these buttons.

Creating an Exploded View

Creating an Orthographic Drawing

important checks before using onshape to model your lamp

Before using Onshape to model your lamp, you must check the following.

Plan/subscription status

You must make sure, as a student, that where my screenshot below says 'Educator', yours should say says 'Student". If it says 'Free', you must renew your Onshape Plan.

You are now all set

After checking these settings and updating them if necessary, you are now ready to start using Onshape.

Follow the instructions below to start modelling your final design in Onshape.

renew your plan/subscription

Go to Onshape Education.
Click on the 'Renew Here'.

make sure that your preferences / units are in 'mm', not inches

Click on 'Your Name' in the top right corner of the window.
Click on 'My Account' .

3. Click on 'Preferences'.

4. Make sure that the top two options say 'Millimeter'.

5. It is really important to scroll down to the bottom of the Units options and click on 'Save Changes' when you are finished.

Use this page to help you to model your Final Resin Poured Lamp design into Onshape. Below are a number of student Onshape examples.

Transferring your Design to onshape accurately

step 1

You need to Click on the Button link below to Open the Onshape master file for the F Block Lamp project.

F Block Lamp Onshape File to Copy and Rename

You then need to Copy Workspace of this file (click on the 3 lines at the top left of your screen) and rename it, titled 'your name' Lamp. Wait for a few seconds and then your newly named file should open for you to work on.

Share your newly named file with your teacher (email address either gjones@rugbyschool.ac.th ; cdouglas@rugbyschool.ac.th ; sdouglas@rugbyschool.ac.th) using the blue Share button at the top right of the screen.

Step 2 - Side view export of your lamp

You will need either a screen capture of your final design from Procreate or a photograph of your Foam model (if that is what you wish to model). Export a screenshot of your final design (not the whole sheet) by zooming in on Procreate and then holding the power and volume buttons to capture a screenshot. Then send that to your own computer / Google Drive or somehwere that you will be able to access your files. You could also Airdrop your screenshot directly to one of the iMacs in the CAD suite.

Create a New Sketch (shortcut - Shift + S) on the Front 'datum' plane. Press Shift + n on your keyboard to change the view to a normalised (2D view) of the plane.

On the sketch menu at the top of your screen choose the downward arrow next to DXF icon and choose Insert Image.

In the Insert an Image dialogue box choose Import... (bottom left) and navigate in your files to find your Screenshot or Photograph of your foam model / final design. This should then appear in the Insert an Image dialogue box as an IMG_0001.PNG or JPEG file.

Click on it and you should see a crosshair on your screen where the mouse pointer would be. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the image from top left to bottom right. You have now inserted the image of your Lamp, but it is not the correct size... yet!

You now need to select the Line tool (l) and draw a straight, vertical line from the bottom of your lamp base to the top of the lamp head i.e. total height of your lamp.

Now you need to know how tall your lamp should be. You can use your Foam model to work this out by measuring it with a ruler. Many may be around 320mm, or slightly less.

Click on the Dimension tool (d) on the top toolbar. Click on the vertical line you have drawn and holding the left mouse button down drag to the right. Now change this measurement to the height you want your lamp to be and press enter on the keyboard (in this example I have changed it to 320mm).

Zoom out on your screen by rolling the mouse wheel forwards and then click the green tick in the sketch dialogue box to accept the sketch. Now right click on Sketch 1 (left hand side) and choose rename and change it to 'your name' sketch. The screenshots below demonstrate this process or you can watch the video which demonstrates the whole thing.

Step 3

Modelling your design for the Base of your Lamp. Below are two different ways to model the base section of an example Lamp, depending on how you want the Resin to be split with the timber. There are many ways to do this and each of you will have something slightly different. Your teacher will demonstrate this process and the attached videos will also demonstrate this.

The example below uses straight lines (Line tool) to model the base, however you may need to use either the Arc or Spline tool to model curved lines and shapes.

NB Remember that you do not need to sketch rounded edges as you will use the Fillet (round) tool to add these after you have sketched and extruded the base.

Draw the outline of your base. Ensure that you have a 'closed' loop - it should shade in a light grey colour. If you are unsure then ask a friend or your teacher.

Straight line tool (l) used to draw the outline shape of the Lamp base. The closed loop shape is shaded in light grey.

Select the Dimension tool (d) from the top menu and click on a line and drag away. This will add a dimension.

NB you may need to click on two points and then drag away if your line is curved.

You should change the dimension to a whole number rather than one with 5 decimal places. Choose the nearest (nice!) whole number and then click Enter.

Do this for all lines, heights and distances apart. This makes your sketch more 'robust', cleaner and more accurate. When you have completed dimensioning all of the base then accept the sketch by clicking on the green tick.

Hold down the Right mouse button, and move your mouse to rotate your work into 3D on the screen.

NB When you 'extrude' a sketch it is always good practice to place your work into a 3D view so that you can see what is happening.

Select the Extrude tool (e) from the top menu and choose the closed loop shape you have just sketched. In the Extrude dialogue box you should change the Depth to the width of your foam model / what you want it to be - in the example I have used 140mm as this was how big my foam model was (I was happy with that size). You also need to select Symmetric in the dialogue box to add material on both sides of the Front 'datum' plane - this is the best way of modelling in 3D CAD.

Click on the Green tck to accept the Extrude.

Step 4

You are now ready to Split your base into the Resin and Timber sections. There are many ways to do this depending on what you want. Your teacher can demonstrate different methods for you. Below are two different methods (A and B) to split the design.

A

Select teh Sketch tool (s) from the top menu. Choose the Top 'datum' plane to sketch onto. Now sketch how you want the base section of your lamp to be split with the resin

NB Note that you can still shape your base after you have split it into resin and timber.