Turn a closed outline into a plate

WhereThe top bar: the row of words that begins File, Edit.

DoDownload p2-08-start.blend from Files above and open it. Then choose File > Save As and save it under the name below, in a folder of yours. Open an exercise file and keep the start file safe (P0-07) shows how.

Typemy-plate.blend

You should seeThe 3D view looks straight at the front: a drop, a closed line with a point at the top, about 10 mm wide. It is a drawing with no thickness.

It worked whenThe title bar, the strip above File and Edit, begins my-plate.

WhereThe 3D view. Move the pointer over the drop.

DoClick the drop’s line once, at the place marked.

You should seeThe drop turns orange. It is a closed curve: it ends where it began.

It worked whenThe drop is orange.

WhereThe section bar: the small word buttons at the top of the CAD/CAM tab.

DoClick Metal.

You should seeThe Metal panel. Its first line reads “1 curve selected: 1 closed, 0 open”. Make Plate is under it: a plate needs a closed curve, and the button is grey until a curve is selected.

It worked whenThe first line of the panel reads “1 curve selected: 1 closed, 0 open”.

WhereThe Metal panel.

DoPress Make Plate.

You should seeA flat plate in the shape of the drop. The Metal panel names it Plate 1 and writes its weight, and the Live Forms panel lists it. A form that follows its drawing is live. The plate is 1 mm thick, the add-on’s starting number, with sharp corners.

It worked whenThe Metal panel names Plate 1.

WhereThe Live Forms panel, This Form, the box Plate numbers. Scroll the sidebar down to it (turn the mouse wheel, or slide two fingers on the touchpad).

DoClick the middle of Thickness up (mm) once, type the number, and press Enter.

Type1.20

You should seeThe field reads 1.2 and the weight line changes from 1.61 g to 1.93 g. Thickness up is the metal on one side of the drawing’s plane, the flat surface it was drawn on, so the plate stands 1.2 mm out of it. 1.2 is this exercise’s thickness, over the 0.80 a bench designs to for metal that carries load.

It worked whenThickness up (mm) reads 1.2.

WhereThe Live Forms panel, This Form, the box Plate numbers: the field under Thickness down (mm).

DoClick the middle of Corner radius (mm) once, type the number, and press Enter.

Type0.50

You should seeThe corners of the drop are rounded, the point at the top too. The weight barely moves, 1.93 g, because a corner holds very little metal. A corner that is sharp scratches skin and catches cloth, and a sharp inside corner is where a casting cracks.

It worked whenCorner radius (mm) reads 0.5.

WhereThe Live Forms panel, This Form, the box Plate numbers: the fields Round top edge (mm) and Round bottom edge (mm).

DoClick the middle of Round top edge (mm) once, type the number, and press Enter. Then do the same in Round bottom edge (mm).

Type0.30

You should seeThe edge all round the face that looks at you is rounded off, and so is the edge all round the face behind it, and the weight line reads 1.90 g. The top edge is the one a finger and a chain touch first, and the bottom edge lies on the skin: a bench eases both.

It worked whenRound top edge (mm) and Round bottom edge (mm) both read 0.3.

WhereThe sidebar: click the Item tab, the strip of tabs at the right edge of the sidebar, then read Dimensions:.

DoClick the Item tab and read Dimensions:. Then click the CAD/CAM tab to come back.

You should seeDimensions: reads X 9.86, Y 17.5 and Z 1.2 mm. X is the width and Y the height of the drop, a little under the 10 and 18 of the drawing because the corners are rounded. Z is the thickness of the plate: 1.2 mm, the number you typed.

It worked whenDimensions: reads Z 1.2.

WhereThe 3D view: move the pointer over it.

DoPress Ctrl+S.

You should seeBlender writes your copy at once, with no question, because the file already has a name. An asterisk, *, in the title bar marks changes that are not saved, and it goes now. Save your work and get it back (P0-12) says more about saving.

It worked whenThe title bar begins my-plate and carries no asterisk.