Set several stones in rub-over with one button

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

DoDownload p5-01-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-rub-over.blend

You should seeThe 3D view shows a plain grey bar with five round stones standing on it in a row, and nothing is selected. The title bar, the strip above File and Edit, begins my-rub-over. The first picture is the 3D view and the second is the title bar.

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

WhereThe sidebar: press N with the pointer over the 3D view if it is shut. Click the CAD/CAM tab, then Setting in the section bar, the small word buttons at the top of that tab.

DoClick Setting, and look for the panel Stone Settings under the list of panel names.

You should seeA panel that opens with a line about what is selected, a button Handles on the Model, a picture, and under it a box Sections. Stone Settings is the one panel for a wall, a ring or a collar round any stone. It stands first in the Setting section, under a list that names every panel in the section: that list is words, not buttons.

It worked whenThe title Stone Settings stands in the sidebar, open.

WhereThe 3D view: the Round 4.00 at the left end of the bar, then the next two stones along. Press Home over the 3D view, or choose View > Frame All, if a stone is out of sight.

DoClick the Round 4.00, then hold Shift and click the next two stones.

You should seeAll three stones have an orange outline, and the first line of the panel reads “3 stones: round”. The button under the section pictures now reads Set 3 Stones: it counts the stones it will act on. Pink handles may show on the stones: click each stone’s grey top, between them.

It worked whenThe panel’s first line reads “3 stones: round”.

If it goes wrongThe line reads “1 stone: round”: Shift was not held for the second and third click. Click the Round 4.00 again, then hold Shift and click the other two.

If it goes wrongA number changes, or the stone seems to move: a pink handle was pressed instead of the stone. Press Esc, then Ctrl+Z, and click the stone’s grey top between the pink marks.

WhereThe Stone Settings panel: the picture under the button Handles on the Model. It shows the tool now chosen.

DoClick that picture to open the grid of tools, then click Bezel.

You should seeA grid of four pictures: Bezel, a wall round the girdle; Under-Bezel, a ring under the girdle (a bench calls it an under-rail); Collet, a collar the stone sits inside; and Bezel for Any Stone, a wall round a carved shape. Here Bezel is a straight wall, and Collet is a collar with a rounded top and a second rail below it (Drag a setting’s numbers on the metal, P5-04, uses it). Bezel is already the chosen one, so clicking it changes nothing. This page uses the Bezel.

It worked whenThe picture under Handles on the Model shows the Bezel’s wall.

WhereThe Stone Settings panel: the picture in the box Sections. It shows the section chosen, the shape of the wall cut through.

DoClick that picture to open the grid of sections, then click Wall with a seat.

You should seeSix pictures. Each is a wall cut through, with the stone’s half outline beside it: the pale wedge is the stone, the orange shape is the metal. Wall with a seat is the one the add-on starts from, and the other five are other shapes of wall. In the grid they read Wall with a seat, Wall with a bearing ledge (cut short to “Wall with a be…” in the grid), Tapered wall, Rounded top, Stepped wall and Plain wall, which has no seat: the stone needs something else to sit on. At the bench the cut a stone sits in is its seat, and the small ledge inside it that the girdle rests on is its bearing. The add-on’s field Seat names that ledge, and this page says Seat only for the field. This page keeps Wall with a seat.

It worked whenThe picture in the box Sections shows a wall with a small step inside it.

WhereThe Stone Settings panel, the large button under the Sections box and its buttons.

DoPress Set 3 Stones.

You should seeA wall stands round each of the three stones. Three numbers show under the button: Wall 0.55 mm, Over the girdle 0.32 mm and Seat 0.15 mm. Wall is how thick the metal is. Over the girdle is how far the wall’s top stands over the girdle’s upper edge: that is the metal the setter pushes over the crown. Seat is how far the ledge inside reaches in under the girdle. The wall is straight and no lip is formed: the setter pushes the wall over the stone at the bench. A bezel wall carries load, and the add-on’s least for structural metal is 0.60: the Wall of 0.55 is under it, so it is named here as the bench’s own section, kept as it is, and not a number to copy for a stronger piece. There is no OK and no Cancel: the walls are live, so a number can still change them.

It worked whenWall reads 0.55 mm under the button, and a wall stands round each of the three stones.

WhereThe Stone Settings panel: its last line is the closed panel More.

DoClick the title More to open it.

You should seeThe numbers the face does not show: Seat angle (degrees) 56, Depth under the girdle 0.97 mm and Gap 0 mm. The Seat angle is how steeply the seat runs in from the girdle’s lower edge, measured from flat: steeper than the stone’s pavilion, the cone of the stone below its girdle, so only the girdle touches it. Gap is the clear space between the wall and the stone: 0 means the wall touches the girdle. Depth is how far the wall reaches down below the girdle. The panel keeps these out of the way until you open More.

It worked whenSeat angle reads 56 in the panel More.

WhereThe Stone Settings panel: the field Wall.

DoClick the middle of Wall, type 0.80 and press Enter; click Wall again, type 1.10 and press Enter; click it a third time, type 0.55 and press Enter. The three pictures show each result.

You should seeThe three pictures: the same three stones at Wall 0.55, 0.80 and 1.10, and every wall changes with the one number. A wall of 0.80 or 1.10 round a stone this size is for looking at only: a setter cannot push a wall that thick over the stone, so put it back to 0.55. A set shares its numbers: this is why you make a set and not three single settings. The wall grows outward from the stone, so the stone stays where it is.

It worked whenWall reads 0.55 mm again, and the three pictures show the three thicknesses.

WhereThe Stone Settings panel: the picture in the box Sections.

DoOpen the grid, click Tapered wall; open it again, click Rounded top; then open it once more and click Wall with a seat.

You should seeThe three pictures: the same three stones with a Tapered wall, whose outside leans in toward the foot, a Rounded top, and the Wall with a seat again. A section is the shape of the wall cut through. One click on a picture changes the section of every wall in the set, and the numbers stay as they were. None of these shapes forms a lip over the crown: each stands straight up, and the setter pushes the top.

It worked whenThe picture in the box Sections shows Wall with a seat again, and Wall reads 0.55 mm.

WhereThe 3D view, the bar between two stones. Then the Stone Settings panel: the row at the top, under Settings in this file.

DoClick the bar, then click the row “Bezel, 3 stones”.

You should seeThe row is the set: it names the tool and the number of stones. A click on it selects every wall of the set, and the walls light up in the 3D view. The panel shows the set’s tool and numbers. The click on the bar first only shows that the row brings the set back.

It worked whenThe walls of all three stones are outlined in orange.

WhereThe 3D view: the fourth stone along. Then the row, at the top of the Stone Settings panel: the small + at its right end.

DoClick the fourth stone, then click the + on the row.

You should seeThe stone gets a wall of its own, with the same section and numbers as the three, and the row reads “Bezel, 4 stones”. The + gives the selected stones the set’s setting. A stone that is in another set moves over to this one.

It worked whenThe row reads “Bezel, 4 stones”.

WhereThe 3D view: the last stone on the bar, then the Round 4.00 with Shift. Then the open panel More, its last button.

DoClick the last stone, hold Shift and click the Round 4.00. Then scroll the sidebar down (two fingers on a touchpad) to the foot of the open panel More, and press Add Selected Stones to the Set.

You should seeThe last stone has its wall too, and the row reads “Bezel, 5 stones”. This is the same job as the +, from the other end: the button acts on the set of the stone you clicked last, so click the Round 4.00, which is in the set, last. The second picture shows the button at the foot of More.

It worked whenThe row reads “Bezel, 5 stones”.

If it goes wrongThe button is grey: the stone you clicked last is not in the set. Click the last stone, then hold Shift and click the Round 4.00.

WhereThe row at the top of the Stone Settings panel: the small bin at its right end, after the +.

DoClick the bin, read the box that opens, then click Remove.

You should seeA box that names what goes: the set, how many walls, and that the stones and saved sections stay; the second picture marks Remove. After Remove the five walls are gone and the five stones stand on the bar, as in the start file. The bin removes the set and the walls made for it, and nothing else.

It worked whenNo wall stands on the bar, and the row is gone from the panel.

WhereThe 3D view: move the pointer off the sidebar and into the dark area.

DoPress Ctrl+Z once.

You should seeAll five walls come back at once, with their numbers and the section, and the row reads “Bezel, 5 stones” again. One Ctrl+Z takes back the whole removal, as one takes back a whole Set Stones.

It worked whenFive walls stand on the bar again.

If it goes wrongNothing moves: the pointer is still over the sidebar. Move it over the 3D view and press Ctrl+Z again.

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-rub-over and carries no asterisk.