Hold a stone by the band's spring

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

DoDownload p5-10-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-tension-ring.blend

You should seeThe 3D view shows a plain band seen from the front. A round stone stands inside the band’s top, where it cannot be seen. The title bar, the strip above File and Edit, begins my-tension-ring.

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

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

DoPress A, which selects everything in the file.

You should seeThe band outlined in orange and the words at the top left of the 3D view naming the stone. The file holds only the band and the stone, so A selects exactly the two things Tension needs: one round stone and the band. The stone sits inside the band’s top, so it cannot be clicked in the 3D view.

It worked whenThe band is outlined in orange.

If it goes wrongNothing moves and the key types nowhere: the pointer is still over the sidebar. Move it over the 3D view and press A again.

WhereThe sidebar: the CAD/CAM tab, the section bar, Setting, then the More Settings panel and its Tension box. If the sidebar is shut, press N with the pointer over the 3D view.

DoClick Setting in the section bar, open More Settings by its title, then open Tension by its title.

You should seeThe top line of the box reads “1 stone, 1 metal part”, then Bite 0.25, Clearance 0.05, Ends, Alloy and the tick Centre the Stone, then the buttons Make Tension and Read Verdicts. Bite is how far the stone’s girdle, its widest edge, enters each end face. Clearance is the gap the add-on leaves between the stone and the metal. The grey note under the buttons says every number is “a house default”, which means the add-on’s own starting number, and that platinum, 18ct and 14ct hold the spring. Its line “Ends at least 2.4 x 2.0” is the least size of each end face, 2.4 wide and 2.0 deep in millimetres: a tension end carries the load of the stone, and this band’s ends, 4.00 by 3.00, are well over it. The marks on the picture are named in words: Bite, Alloy, Read Verdicts and the line about the ends.

It worked whenThe top line of the box reads “1 stone, 1 metal part”.

WhereThe Tension box.

DoPress Read Verdicts.

You should seeA line under the buttons that reads “Tension read, nothing cut: all OK.”. Nothing in the 3D view has changed: the band is whole and the stone has not moved. The field Alloy is empty, so the add-on reads the band’s own alloy, 18ct yellow, one of the three the box trusts.

It worked whenThe box reads “Tension read, nothing cut: all OK.”.

WhereThe Tension box.

DoClick the field Alloy, type Sterling silver, press Enter, then press Read Verdicts again.

You should seeA warning line that begins “Sterling silver may relax”. A tension setting is held only by the spring of the metal, and silver does not hold it as the three alloys on the grey note do. The check only reads the name you typed against its list: it cannot test a spring. The warning does not stop the button: it tells you what you would be making. Nothing was cut.

It worked whenThe box reads a line beginning “Sterling silver may relax”.

WhereThe Tension box.

DoClick the field Alloy, type 18ct yellow, press Enter, then press Make Tension. Wait a moment.

You should seeThe line “Tension made: all OK.”. The field names the alloy the check reads off its list, and 18ct yellow is one of the three that pass. The 3D view now shows the band cut open at the top, with the stone floating in the gap.

It worked whenThe box reads “Tension made: all OK.”.

WhereThe 3D view, then the header: the row of words along the top of the 3D view.

DoClick the band’s flat front face at its side, choose View > Frame Selected, then click the hollow green ball on the gizmo, the one opposite the lettered green Y, to look from the front.

You should seeThe view from the front. If the view turns to the back instead, click the same ball again. To come close to the top, roll the wheel over it (two fingers up on a touchpad); the picture is framed on the top for this picture only, and View > Frame All brings everything back. You see the band cut open at the top: two flat end faces facing each other, and the stone between them with a hair of air all round. A slot cut into each end face holds the stone’s girdle, and that is all that holds it. The three cutters that made this are hidden, so you see only the result.

It worked whenYou can see two band ends with the stone floating between them.

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-tension-ring and carries no asterisk.