Tutorial CoffeeMug

From AvoCADoWiki

Making a simple coffee mug using the revolve tool.

shown for avoCADo 08.03-preAlpha

Step 1. Draw a Circle and a Line

Start running avoCADo. You should automatically be placed in the "Sketch" mode, which allows for 2D drawing.

If you need help starting avoCADo, please see the Getting Started page for more information.

Now, draw a "Circle" and a "Line" as shown. The circle is the cross-section cut of the mug's handle. You can use any closed shape if you prefer. For this example, make sure that your line is place along the y-axis.

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Step 2. Select the Revolve cross-section

Select "Done" in the sketch mode; this places you in the Build mode where you can transform your 2D drawing into 3D shapes.

Select the "Revolve" tool. Now click in the circle to select it as the cross-section to revolve.

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Step 3. Select the Revolve center-line

In the revolve dialog box at the bottom of the screen, click in the box labeled "Centerline" to activate it. Now click on the line in the drawing to select the center-line for the revolve operation. You should see a wireframe of what the 3D solid will look like.

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Finally, click "Done" to finalize the operation and create the solid.

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Step 4. Begin a new Sketch

To create a new sketch, first select the plane on which to build it. This can either be accomplished by clicking on one of the part's flat surfaces or by using one of the primary three planes. For this sketch, we will use the primary ZX-Plane.

In the Part tree view menu on the right, double click on "ZX Plane" to select it. Then Click on "Sketch" in the main menu on the left side of the screen.

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Step 5. Draw the sides and bottom

Create another closed cross-section region (shown, using a handful of lines) and a center-line. This will be the sides and bottom of the mug. Feel free to choose any shape you like, keeping in mind that if the handle does not touch the sides, it may look quite strange.

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Step 6. Select the Revolve cross-section

Select "Done" in the sketch mode.

Select the "Revolve" tool. Now click in the region to select it as the cross-section to revolve.

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Step 7. Select the Revolve center-line

In the revolve dialog box at the bottom of the screen, click in the box labeled "Centerline" to activate it. Now click on the line in the drawing to select the center-line for the revolve operation. You should see a wireframe of what the 3D solid will look like.

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Now, change the "Angle" to 360 so that the mug will be a full circle (the revolve tool is set to 180.0 degrees by default).

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Click "Done" to build the solid (complex operations may take a while, so give it a few seconds). You should now see your final mug!

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If you are curious about what is going on behind the scenes, you can see how all of the polygons are drawn by changing the "View" to "debug" in the menu at the bottom of the application. It should look something like the figure to the right. The small red lines indicate the polygon's normal vector placed at its baricenter.