CAD

REVISITING BASIC TOOLS

In this first lesson of 3D modelling in Onshape, I was tasked with revisiting the site and experimenting with the basic tools such as sketch, revolve, extrude and the fillet tool. I achieved this assignment by creating a flat sketch of a semi circle on the front plane which will then require me to use the revolve tool to create a spherical shape. The extrude tool is then used to remove materials creating a smaller circle in the front center of the sphere. This is then followed by another extrude add tool which creates a smaller circle/button in that gap which is then refined using the fillet tool.

Firstly I selected the front as my sketching plane and sketched 3 semi circles with the center point arc tool with the origin point selected as the center. The smallest circle has a radius of 8mm while the two largest has a radius of 25mm and 28mm. Afterward, I drew a line vertically through the origin which will act as a center line as well as two other lines perpendicular to it with the gap of 6mm.

Afterward, I selected all the areas apart from where small gap in the middle of the semi circle and with the revolve tool I selected the center line as my revolve axis creating a spherical shape.

Now, to create the gap for the button I sketched a circle with a radius of 10mm and with the extrude tool I selected solid, remove and second end position. I then adjust the depth of the indent created and moved the second end position of the removal tool up to the surface to prevent the removing the material in the center of the circle.

Next, I selected the flat part of the extrude remove of that circle as a sketch plane and drew a slightly smaller circle inside which later gets extruded outward by 4.3mm creating a button like shape.

For the final touch I rounded the edge of the button with the fillet tool and with the radius of 2.17mm to give that user friendly look.

BLOK

To further improve my 3D modelling CAD skills I have been tasks with the creation of the BLOK which from the outside may look like a cube but requires a plethora of useful techniques which may come in handy in the future.

First, I started by selecting the front as a sketching plane and drawing a 50 x 50mm cube here you can see me making sure the center of the cube is the origin by using the measuring tool to check if the edge and origin is 25mm apart.

Next, I used an extrude tool on the sketch and selected 25mm as my depth with the symmetry option selected creating a 50 x 50 x 50mm cube.

Afterward, I used the fillet tool and by selecting all the faces I can round all the edges at the same time by 9mm.

To make the 3 dimensional axis for revolving I select the front plane and sketched a straight line through the origin, I then repeated the process two more times with the right and renaming it axis 1, 2 and 3.

Now I can then create a sketch plane on the front surface of the BLOK and sketched out a circle with a diameter of 30mm with the origin as the center.

Next, I used the extrude tool to remove 2mm of material from the surface of the BLOK. Then I proceeded to select the surface of the removed circle in order to sketch a smaller circle with a diameter of 15mm.

I then remove 1mm of material from the BLOK and apply the fillet tool to all four edges of the circle with the setting of 0.5 for the curvature.

To work efficiently I selected the Y-axis line and with the circular pattern tool setted to 360 degree and instance count 4, I am able to duplicate the extrusions across all four sides around the Y axis. Now to do the top and the bottom, I repeated the same process again but with the X axis selected.

According to the instruction the shell must be 2mm thick however, the fillet is preventing that from happening due to the shell tool taking the outside most surface and offsetting it 2mm inside which collides with the fillet.

To fix the problem I deleted the initial fillet and kept the shell thickness at 2mm

To check if this is done correctly I used the section view tool in order to split the shape in half and view the fillet

After checking I reapplied the 0.5mm fillet manually onto each edges and recheck again with the section view tool.

Here I discovered that the outside fillet had caused a difference in thickness of the wall as the outside corner are curves and the inside are edges. To fix this I manually selected each inside edge and fillet it by 0.5mm.

Next, I selected the front plane and sketched a rectangular block covering half of the shape. I then used the extrude remove tool in order to split the BLOK in half. Afterward, I repeated the process one more time splitting the BLOK into one quarter as it is easier to work with. The rest of the BLOK can then be restored later on.

To create a hole in the center of my BLOK I selected the front plane once again and used the origin point as the radius of my circle, I then sketched a circle with a diameter of 6.5mm. Afterward I used the extrude remove tool along with the symmetric option in order to remove a hole straight through the BLOK.

To duplicate the extrusion around horizontally I used the circular pattern tool. I then selected features to pattern, 360 degree, Instance count 8 and my Y-axis center line as my Axis of pattern.

To duplicate the extrusion vertically I selected the pattern created. I then selected the X axis as the Axis of pattern.

Here, to create the hole in the middle I selected the front plane which I then sketched a line diagonally outward. With the dimension tool I selected the sketched line against the Y-axis and adjust it to 55degree. Afterward, I used the circular pattern tool with angle adjusted to 45degree and instance count of 2. This duplicates the line to the corner.

Later on, to create the hole I selected the duplicated line which allows me to create a diagonal plane. I can then press 'n' to line the plane up for easier sketching. Afterward, I sketched a circle with a diameter of 6.5mm with the origin as the center. This can then be extrude remove in order to create a hole.

In order to add the final details It is necessary that the BLOK is split in half again. This makes it easier to spot the missing hole. To complete the holes on the BLOK I sketched out a line and with the dimension tool I made it 45 degree from the x-axis

Another plane is then created perpendicular to the point of the sketched line which then turns into a sketching plane for my 6.5mm diameter circle. I then extrude remove the circle through the material.

PIN CONNECTOR HOLES

To create the pin connector holes I first started by selecting this flat part of the BLOK and created a new sketch. Next, I used the Center point circle tool and by clicking 'd' I am able to adjust the diameter of the circle to be 7mm.

I then used the extrude add tool and extended the sketch by 6mm inward toward the block.

Next, I flipped the part over and sketched the circle again. To make the circle position accurate I used the dimension tool to make sure the center of the sketch is a specific distance from the origin.

Afterward, I sketched a circle with a diameter of 5mm in the center of the pin connector. This works by hovering the mouse over the recent sketch which will show the center. Next, I used the extrude remove tool to create a hole through the pin holder. I then repeated the steps on the other pin.

I then sketched out a circle with the same center point again this time making it 6mm(1mm larger than the hole).

This is then followed by an extrusion of 0.7mm inward to create a resting place for the pins

I then fillet the edges of the extrusion in order to make the pin fit easier.

Finally, I can now used the mirror tool and by selecting the add option and the flat edges as the mirror plane I can duplicate the BLOK over to the other side.

PINS

To start the pin connector I created a separate document named pins. I then sketched a 5.8mm with the origin as the center. Afterward, I extruded the shape to be the thickness of 0.6mm.

Next, I sketched a smaller circle and with the extrude tool I selected the draft option and and set it to 3 deg which gives me a slanted extrusion.

I then zoomed into the very narrow end of the pin and sketched a circle of 1mm in diameter on the very edge. Next, I sketched line from the edges of each circumference down to the top plane (middle) and closed the shape off. I can then used the trim tool to make the sketched one shape. Afterward, I used the revolve tool and used the line drawn on the top plane as the revolve axis creating the head of the point in the process.

Next, I sketched out a block which is 2.5mm from the base and has the thickness of 1.5mm. This block is then extrude remove to create a gap in the pin head.

Next I fillet all the edges to give the pin a more polished look. For symmetry and time saving I also used the mirror tool with the based of the pin selected as the mirror plane in order to duplicate the part over to the other side.

I then switch over to the second assembling tab and rename it BLOK. Afterward I imported 4 connector pins from the current document(Pin connector doc) and the BLOK from my initial document.

Now, by clicking on the part pin the option to adjust the angle will pop up. After this I right clicked on the circular symbol which shows an option to rotate the pin by 90degree. I then repeated the process twice.

Next, I selected the fastened tool and selected the vertical pin as well as the pin connector hole as mate connectors which will make them clip on perfectly.

I then repeated the process 3 more times for the other pins. Afterward. I went back to my original BLOK document and imported the BlOKs with pins connected to them as seen in the picture.

By clicking the parts I am able to rotate each pieces so the parts with the pins is across from each other. Next, with the fastened tool I selected a specific symbol on the flat area of each piece in order to ensure they lined up properly.

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