3D Modeling a Woodworking Joint ｜ 3D Design Webinar

Let's go to the 3D part. As you see here, I still took the time and built myself a quick representation of one of the reference objects I have. Even while I had measurements and the prototype, I still liked to digitize it. Because in this process, I have something I can compare to in 3D space and not only in 2D space. So, the way how I started building the whole box was I, at a particular position, created a sketch, which has the dimensions I want. So, kind of like you see it there. 12 by 15. I created the sketch first in the front and then via the move command I moved it up and moved it to the back. That's one of the nice things about sketches. In Shapr3D, while it's a CAD parametric modeler, I can easily manipulate and reposition everything. So here, as you see, I just use the move command and then I can just reposition it. Very good. As you see here, I also at the center have a lag sketch. And then when I kept it there, and I will go into that a little bit in a moment. So, with this sketch created, then I was able to build my box as needed, create my mitered edges, and then here later I perfected everything, so that it is really a model that shows all the individual joinery parts. So, you see there, I also have dowels and biscuits all inserted and also the holes. So, I will quickly talk about how I did these parts too, so you understand that process. I highly suggest when you build something like this, like I did here, create a very basic geometry. This one I could copy and paste. This is how I created everything inside these other models. To now create a mitered edge. I know later I will just put this onto a table saw, which I will show. I have images and videos. In the CAD model, I can just simulate how this might look. So, you can go to transform, then select a face, go to move, and then this command here, you see, I move, uh, not command, the gizmo, I move to there, and then I rotate it in, let's say, 25 degrees. Very good. So, I do the same on the other side. There, let's snap this to there, and 25 degrees. Pretty cool. Also here, this, um, I could simply move back by using the translate, select this edge, and then click and drag, or basically draw from the start to the end. Click okay, and then it moves that face back to that particular edge, makes it perfectly flush. Pretty awesome. You can see here that this box slightly intersects with the shelf that is there. So, I could move the shelf precisely to where it needs to be, or I can make use of the Boolean commands. In this case here, I will use subtract and say, from this box, please subtract the bar in the back, and keep the original, click okay. There you see, it just perfectly cut it. So, the sketches I create are helpful to a certain degree, and then later I will make a 3D model, make a prototype, and then from that 3D model, I will create more construction drawings. And this is basically the process I used to create all these individual parts. So, here, let me delete this one, and then there, there. So, you can see there is this type of a slot. And when I remove this, you see where it actually would go in. In Shapr3D, this all looked pretty good. Sorry, not in Shapr3D, in Concepts. But then later, once seeing this, I realized that I made some, or I had some unforeseen problems. For example, here at the back, these tiny pieces stick over, they're fragile, they might break off. So, that is actually not really good. With clients, you never want to have parts breaking. So, I decided to simplify everything a little bit more, which is why in this case here, I just opened this group. Groups are also very good to sort your design. So, you see here, I have all these individual parts, and then I have a group for my dolls and a group for my biscuits. How did I create these biscuits? So, I used this box design first. To create myself kind of like a board that already has a mitered edge. Now, if I want to create a biscuit right on this face, I can select it, double tap it. Then I draw a line, snap to one side, select this dot, bring it over to the other side. And the reason why I did this is, as you can see, then it copies in the edges, which is pretty good. So, this is the bottom and the top edge. This line here, I will delete for a moment. Just I'll redraw it right there. And make sure that it is also horizontal. Very good. Now, to create the biscuit, you can buy it. Measure it in. We need to figure out where it will be. The biscuits I found are very easy to create with the fit point curve. You see here, I'm just creating it. Then we can specify the dimension, let's say 1.5 inches. These two, they should be symmetrical to there. So, when this is 1.5, then this actually should be 0.75. Oh, that was the wrong option. This one, yeah. There, very good. And I can bring them in at another dimension. So, you and you, those should be maybe 0.25. Whoops, wrong one. So, then this, I will select. They are, so it's easy to see, 0.2 inches. I select the other side. You can set the max distance to 0.2 inches. Very good. So, you see, I extruded actually 50% one side and then 50% the other side. And now I will go ahead, go to move, select my biscuit. This is very important now, and this is also why I have this line. I move, as you can see, this widget to that line. And now, from there, I can rotate this 90 degrees. Perfect. Let's show the other part we have. There it is. So, the biscuit is pretty well positioned. I can make a copy now. I only have to draw it one time. Maybe I will bring it to the edge. Try to line this up. When you work with the grid, this will always work really well. I want to have this two inches back in. So, I just move this simply two inches. Very good. And then I could go ahead and say, subtract U minus these two biscuits. Keep my original. And there we are. See, pretty nice. Now, the really amazing thing about direct modeling in Shapr3D is when we go into the woodshop. So, for one moment, let me go to this folder. I need to... There's the biscuit cutter. There you see the blade is pushed out. There's a blade in. So, it's a circular cutter. Let's say you come into the situation where you can cut the biscuit, your tool doesn't really allow you to cut it. So, we have to move it to somewhere else. Well, then all we need to do is to say U and U, we select these edges there and there, go to transform, and then you see this widget. I line up with the miter edge and bring this over as much as needed. Perfect.