FreeCAD for Beginners #3 Offset Sketches and Datum Planes

[@dac7046]

Very nice. Finally somebody that understands how to teach to a beginner rather than just demonstrate basic functions.

[@Adventuresincreation]

Thanks for the feedback

[@JimHenderson19]

Awesome video. I just watched this twice. It is practical and easy to follow. I'm just starting to learn FreeCAD, but this was easy to follow the process. Thanks!

[@Adventuresincreation]

glad you like it.

[@ROLXXII]

Thanks again for this wonderful tutorial. Your videos are of great benefit to any beginner, because you demonstrate how to edit or modify the model as you go, allowing for a much more detailed understanding of where to go in the software to achieve the outcome. I only started using CAD software 5 weeks ago, with the last week on FreeCAD. My aim is to learn and create something new in FreeCAD everyday, which I then splice and produce the model on a 3D printer. Videos like yours keep people like myself enthusiastic, because we are not spending months scratching our heads trying to understand how to transform an idea on paper into a CAD model. Cheers once again!

[@Adventuresincreation]

Thanks for the feedback, it keeps me enthusiastic to make more when I know people are benefiting from the material. Your plan should make you a very competent freecad user. Keep up the good work.

[@rodneysmith1750]

Just as great as a reminder about offset sketches and datum planes, thanks again Ian!

[@Adventuresincreation]

You are welcome Rodney

[@yvonnebotha6643]

I've been using FreeCAD now for a couple of years. But IMO this is one of the better "approached" introductory series to FreeCAD! Thanks!

[@Adventuresincreation]

Thank you

[@winstonalan5731]

This is a really good tutorial. I know, I was trained in AutoCAD full 3D in 1998, and actually used to teach it. Have been playing with other programs for quite awhile, and until now I've never found a free CAD program I actually like. Well, I like this one. It's a very different approach to building a model, but I've been adapting to it. I can see this being a very useful bit of software. Keep up the good work on the videos. One thing I do notice (some constructive criticism) is that since you are very familiar with FreeCAD you sometimes choose a tool or do something so quickly I have to replay the video several times over at that point to pick up on what you did. It's an easy mistake, but even the smallest omission can drive a newbie to near madness trying to figure out what they missed. Seriously though, you did a great job over all. I know that teaching can be an enormous amount of effort that is too often taken for granted. Not here! Thank you for putting this together.

[@Adventuresincreation]

Thanks for the input, I will bear that in mind.

[@buddyairguy2249]

I enjoy the pace of your videos. I watched several series on FreeCAD and yours is about the right pace for me. On other videos I end up rewinding a lot to fully catch what they clicked on. Appreciate the effort you put into this. I'm a retired Navy Veteran and a retired Software Engineer and always wanted to get into CAD. I've learned how to 3D print, but want to be able to create my own models for Flight Sim hobby. Keep up the great work!

[@Adventuresincreation]

Thanks for the feedback and your service

[@majicMix911]

Wow, this was an excellent video. I leaned a ton. Thank you for taking the time to make this. My goal is to watch 1 of these videos per day. Should know FreeCAD in 2.5 months. Video 3/72 done

[@Adventuresincreation]

Excellent, I am working on some new ones.

[@bonnersommer7201]

Being 2 years old at the time of my comment, your tutorials still are unique covering all the beginner's obstacles and painpoints in the workflow (i.e. in this sequence: where ist my sketch gone now, and how do i see my part again) - thank you for that!

[@Adventuresincreation]

You are very welcome!

[@svvitchio]

Man, if I could leave more than 1 like I would, this helped me heaps. Thanks.

[@Adventuresincreation]

Glad it helped

[@MacceJohansson]

Hiding the line by changing 40.00 to 39.99 at 11:03 hurts so much 😂. Thanks for a great video! 👍😁

[@Adventuresincreation]

I agree, not ideal. I think you can just hide it with the refine command but I come from old cad systems where a very small offset was common.

[@highpointsights]

I'm appreciating a more linear approach. When you are teaching basics I get confused losing continuity when the one teaching tries include other approaches an features. THANKS A TON (metric of course)

[@Adventuresincreation]

You're very welcome!

[@RoadsterLoverMedia]

I understand why one might or might not use Datum Planes. The questions are: - Why would I want to resize the datum plane? - Since the Sketch can be any size, is the size of the Datum Plane a visual reference? - If not a visual reference, how would a sized Datum Plane impact the tool or other Sketches? Thanks again for the clarity of your presentation and the follow up support for questions.

[@Adventuresincreation]

The datum plane is just a visual representation, resizing would only be for convenience.

[@RoadsterLoverMedia]

@@Adventuresincreation Thanks for the reply.

[@jiritichy6855]

Wednesday, 9-13-203 I am new to FreeCAD, but not new to solid modeling. I just did this lesson #3. When you do the feature #2-sketch and pad on XZ plane(@6:33) I can see severeal methods to get around the problem of extruding feature which is not on the plane of the sketch. You can do it by moving the sketch(as you showing) or instead, leave the sketch in the middle(XZ plane) and when you do the padding command, there is a choice of 5 different types of extrusion(pad) in pad parameters(combo view-task window). Select Type "2 dimensions", then go down the distance you need to(if you do not know the distance to the bottom surface of the fish-select Measure -Measure linear in upper line menu and click on the XZ plane and the bottom surface of the fish(no use of "Ctrl" needed) and it will tell you how much you need to extrude to be exactly even. If you want to move the 'upper' (closer to the center) surface of the box you are extruding , there is a "2nd length" parameter window in Pad parameter task window -towards the bottom of it and you enter the dimension from the sketch plane(either in plus or minus amount). Alternatively you can click on bottom surface of the fish and create the reference plain for the sketch there and extrude from there. In the parameter window of the ref. plane Task window there is option to move the new reference any way you desire and so you can be extruding from there.... This FreeCAD actually has some serious punch under the sleave! I am starting to really like it!

[@Adventuresincreation]

Excellent input. There is always more than one way to skin a cat 🐈- the beauty of FreeCAD is you can develop a technique that works for you.

[@stever3886]

This is by far the best intro video out there for new beginners. There are MANY concepts introduced here. One thing that was a major point I got was using the sectional view....I have been adjusting the body transparency instead. Of course the sectional view assumes there is a solid behind to see. Also I learned to move the datum plane out so you can draw on it....major issue in past was body blocked that. One caution to new users is that if you move the plane out to far and then pad/pocket, you will get an error that says, two solids not supported at this time, the datum must be touching the same body so it is still considered a single body. I did also pick up that your constraints on the datum plane were connected to the GLOBAL origin and I suppose that is the key to the naming issue.....I’m guessing here. So going forward with the datum approach, can I connect to reference to the GLOBAL axis? So maybe another follow on to this video is to discuss how to constrain on a datum plane ......using global origin and global axis. I’m a new user and just want to learn correct concepts in the beginning. Many thanks for sharing!

[@Adventuresincreation]

You can place the datum planes on any axis that is available to you. The reason you get the multiple body error is currently you can only create one entity in a body. So anything you can do to split a body in two will result in an error. (hopefully this will change in the future).

[@SomeTechGuy666]

Sectional view was new to me too, and I've been using FC for a while. Good job for mentioning it.

[@onlyeyeno]

Thanks for taking the time and effort of making these excellent videos and sharing Your knowledge :) Best regards

[@Adventuresincreation]

You are welcome!

[@zzzzzz...9902]

Thanks a lot for this video! This helped me solve a problem I was having where even though I was selecting the face I wanted and pressing sketch, it was not actually setting the sketch on that face. Using a datum plane combined with offsetting that datum plane helped me sketch on that face. Thanks so much!

[@Adventuresincreation]

You are welcome, using the datum plane is a better solution than sketching on a face at this time due to the topological naming issue. I am glad you found a good solution.

[@urlkrueger]

I have been using FreeCAD almost as I would pencil and paper but am seeing that I need to change my way of thinking about the object I am drawing. You are showing me the way. Now I just need to get some practice in.

[@Adventuresincreation]

You can do it!

[@williamburns4751]

Very helpful! I'm new to FreeCAD, these videos are great!

[@Adventuresincreation]

Glad you like them, please share them with others.

[@jiangxu3895]

I was looking for a method of how to draft an offset plane in freecad like in fusion 360 and found your tutorial. Thank you!! Freecad currently is all programmer thinking mode that a lot of method was burried inside the parameters, but I understand, it couldn't be better for a free open source software.

[@Adventuresincreation]

Glad it helped

[@jimshockey6789]

Very helpful video. Thanks. I like the "Start" workbench when FC first loads. But, I also like to begin work with the "Part Design" workbench. For the best of both worlds, try this: In Preferences, switch "Auto load module after start up" back to "Start." Load the "Start" 'bench. Then, click the little gear in the upper right of the "Start" screen. Near the bottom, you will see "Switch workbench after loading." I chose "Part Design."

[@Adventuresincreation]

Cool, thanks

[@acceptableepiphany8807]

These videos are great! Do you have a video that touches on how, after offsetting and using a boolean such as cut, the program uses the original coordinates instead of the offset coordinates. I think you mentioned it in a video, but I don't think you showed how to work around it / fix it.

[@Adventuresincreation]

Thanks, I don't think I have covered that in a video.

[@raulantoniano3549]

Excellent lessons! Thank you very much! Greetings from Mexico.

[@Adventuresincreation]

Thanks Raul

[@grahamlongley8298]

Might be worth mentioning that the sketcher menu icoms can be placed down the RH side of the screen. This holds the full list & makes them easy to find amonst all the icons

[@Adventuresincreation]

Good point 😊

[@bmmacoh3387]

Very good tutorials and I am learning progressively. How do I place the list window on the left mine is above the sketch. Thank you.

[@Adventuresincreation]

You can click on the top of the list window and drag it to the left, when you see the background turn light blue it will allow you to dock the list there. You can just move them around.

[@dip8]

those tutorials are soo helpful idk what im gonna do

[@dip8]

i could donate something idk

[@Adventuresincreation]

Thanks! You become a channel member or join our Patreon. Or just keep watching the channel.

[@dzee9481]

Freecad videos that have been produced so far have been very informative and well done. You have made a video on making electronic boxes using parametric design. What if you have a PCB and you have the STEP file for that PCB and want to make an electronic box that would enclose the PCB. The PCB has say an LCD panel which you want to make a pocket to expose the LCD on the face of the Box and the PCB has holes to mount the PCB in the enclosure would be able to make a video of that type of enclosure. I have a STEP FILE PCB I would not know how to get it upload on this video. Thanks for the quick replay but would like to know how I could get the STEP File to you?

[@Adventuresincreation]

You can definitely do that, get me the step file and I will take a look at it.

[@RickCopes]

I enjoy you videos, they are great for learning Free Cad. A question: During you parametric table video, you mention that you would probably model the legs as a separate part and then assemble. How would you do that but use the same spreadsheet with all of the dimensions for the legs and the table top? Do you have a video that demonstrates that? Thanks

[@Adventuresincreation]

You can do it all from one spreadsheet or include multiple spreadsheets.

[@tomthompson7400]

A fantastic set of videos.

[@Adventuresincreation]

Glad you like them!

[@ThoughtandMemory]

Thanks for this series I'm upgrading from sketchup for the better meshes for 3D printing. Still a learning curve but not as vicious as blender.

[@Adventuresincreation]

Glad it's helping, much better meshes out of FreeCAD.

[@magneticartist]

Tip: you can also attach the datum plane to the face of the object. All you have to do is click the face where you want the datum plane to appear and you can start sketching right on top of that face instead of selecting same plane as the face because what if the face of the object is on a plane other than the default planes.

[@Adventuresincreation]

You can, but beware the tnp as the face may change its reference if you modify the model.

[@HaJoSchatz]

That's exactly the way to do it if you create features of a certain body, such as pockets in the object. Links them together, logically.

[@BStott]

@@Adventuresincreation Better form is to use a datum. Draw your secondary part. Then, use Boolean Operation to join the parts. They are parametric now and fused. The co-joined part will be properly associated for good 3D printing. Using Boolean fusing will allow drawing additional features from a part face, also.

[@chrisspain7776]

I can do all that already. I needed to know about data planes offset at various angles.

[@Adventuresincreation]

Keep watching, that's in a later video

[@stevewhalen3458]

Thank you for your excellent FreeCAD videos. I haven't really used FreeCAD much since about release 0.16 and you do an excellent job of showing what FreeCAD can do now and good tips about how to use the new tools. Your videos are much appreciated, but PLEASE drop the audio level of your intro/spinning logo sound down several thousand decibles. Watching your videos on a TV with a theater sound system is enough to scare the crap out of you unless you remember to make sure the volume is turned down BEFORE starting the video.

[@Adventuresincreation]

Thanks for the feedback Steve, glad you are enjoying the videos. I will lower the volume in the next one. Maybe to much drama on a surround sound 😉

[@stevewhalen3458]

@@Adventuresincreation Thanks for listening. I really appreciate your content. I ran a CMM in an aerospace company for a number of years so am familiar with datums and modeling, etc.. What I find especially helpful in your videos is that you connect the CAD concepts with the specific names FreeCAD uses and the way to use FreeCAD's tools effectively in a clear and consise way. FreeCAD has sure improved significantly since v0.16. As to the loud sound. I took a quick look at your music intro audio profile graph in Audacity to see why it might have had such a outsize impact on my theater sound and subwoofer setup. It looks like the "problem" may be an old one. I don't know if you've encountered it before, but years ago when television in the U.S. had just the 3 networks and our Federal government still had some control over broadcasters, they used to have rules to keep shows and commercials from abusing us consumers. The FCC had a maximum loudness rule because tv commercials would grab your attention by being a lot louder than the rest of a tv show.Of course commercial producers found a way to follow the rule and cheat and they succeeded pretty well. In the commercial, they would not exceed the maximum allowable decibles, BUT every sound in the commercial was always at the absolute max allowed, so the commercial would be perceived as significantly louder than the rest of the program. If you could barely hear the television while in another room, when a commercial came on, you could hear it everywhere in the house. The first seconds of your video look just like the old tv commercials: every bit of the waveform is clipped at the same high level, while later sound will only occastionally hit that level of sound. It looks like the music intro went through a filter somewhere that clipped it at the absolute max. That seems to interact with my home theater system in a way that makes my sound system think it's trying to pass along the sound of an explosion or something. It succeeds. What's interesting is that if I leave my volume level alone and just cover my ears during the music, after the music is over the volume level after that is just fine for the rest of the video (not painful at all). Anyway, thanks for the content and listening.

[@Adventuresincreation]

Interesting analysis, the music is actually from the KZbin music library. I like the upbeat sound of it but I am not the original producer of it. - I have lowered it, if you check out one of my earlier videos you will hear that it's much louder, I reduced it 40% but I can lower it further and will try it for the next video and have you test it then.

[@stevewhalen3458]

@@Adventuresincreation Thanks for lowering the sound. I just watched #4 (Revolves) and even starting with my theater system volume on relatively loud (listening to music loud), the new FreeCAD tutorial volume is fine. The music waveform in audacity looks more normal (not 100% clipped) and it's not triggering my system to simulate an explosion or whatever was making it go nuts during the music. Anyway, I've taken enough of your time away from your making excellent tutorials. Thanks again.

[@laly0033]

Ug, using v0.20 and when I add the box, pad it and move to edge I'm not seeing the lines you are talking about at 10:35. On mine it becomes one surface. If I click on side of box that is on the Z plane it also selects side of fish that is on Z plane. Like it's all been merged into one surface.

[@Adventuresincreation]

I'll take a look at it in v0.20

[@laly0033]

@@Adventuresincreation Thanks, if I change the position of the box on the Z plane then I do get a dividing line and it becomes 2 surfaces but would like to know if this is a version difference/enhancement or if I'm somehow doing something wrong or it's a setting/preference thing in FreeCAD. I'm like 110% noob, know nothing about any CAD software or CAD concepts even. Been slow going but I'm making some progress every day. Thank you for your videos, they are the best I found so far!

[@paulg3336]

TNP looks like it's days are numbered. The LinkStage3 development fork of FreeCAD seems to have it fixed. You can drag tool bars to the right edge of the 3D space too. I have one single row of constraint tools there and the other tools across the top. You can arrange them wherever you wish.

[@Adventuresincreation]

I am hoping it will be in stable release 0.20

[@jblacktube]

I moved to linkstage3 about a week ago and I haven't seen a TNP problem yet!

[@baxrok2.]

Being new to FreeCAD, this tnp has made learning a challenge. The datum plane helps but I'm looking forward to the fixed version. Thanks!

[@Adventuresincreation]

Me too... Thanks for the feedback

[@fischX]

Right now realthunders tnp patches get merged into mainline so we can expect that in two month 0.20dev be much better in handling that. Until then you just have to keep your workflow clean and use draft to start multi part designs.

[@Adventuresincreation]

I hope it can be done that quickly. It will make a huge difference to the work flow but you are absolutely right, for now, keep your workflow clean and leave chamfers and radii to the end.

[@macdroid53]

slapping sketches on random faces with reckless abandon will never best practice.

[@tinaguzman5318]

Hello Thank you for your great work doing this tutorial I appreciate a lot your videos. I have a question: could you or somebody tell me why could be the reason that I'm getting more constrains to solve for example when I'm doing the first sketch circle in the Datum Plane I have to solve 3 instead of 2 as shown in your video.

[@Adventuresincreation]

It could be that your first point is not on a reference and so you have to constrain that too. I am not 100% sure without seeing your file.

[@قاسمالعليوي-ل9ض]

Good day I need to know how the shape of the mouse is shown when you click on it in the video. Are you using a specific application?

[@Adventuresincreation]

Yes, it's linked in the video description.

[@WaltonV]

Nice video. I have one question: Is it possible to draw lines that snap into the previous sketches structures? Instead of just setting that distance by typing numbers.

[@Adventuresincreation]

You can use constraints to attach lines to sketches. It's that what you are looking for?

[@Townie001]

Could the hole in the second body be put in at an angle and be pocketed through both bodies.

[@Adventuresincreation]

It certainly can if you want it that way

[@DanAz617]

Dear Mr. AIC, I am using Ver 0.19, Rev 24291 (git), Rel. date 2021/04/15 09:17:08, OS Win 10 Ver 2009, 64-bit and it does not work as presented, at the time 14:35 of the video, which shows selecting the Origin001 of the model to apply the Datum plane, the software displays this error message "11:55:59 PositionBySupport: AttachEngine3D: link points to something that is not App::GeoFeature", perhaps the functionality has changed in this version vs what you are presenting. I was able to complete the lesson, however not step by step. Or is there some issue with my install? Best Regards, Dan

[@Adventuresincreation]

Hi Dan, Thanks for being so thorough with your explanation, I will have to watch the video and try it again in my version and see that it still works. I will let you know what I find.

[@chrisspain7776]

I also like the pace although I am not a beginner. My problem is, I need to work with sketches that are not orthogonal, and I am struggling to get that to work. I tried rotating the sketches, and I also tried creating planes and rotating them but the sketches keep jumping to a new position when I click OK. Also, when working in one plane, I need to refer to a point on a sketch in another plane so I can join the lines up, but I dont know how to refer to those other points because they use a different coordinates. Can you help please?

[@Adventuresincreation]

I think I know what you mean but it would help if you could point me to an example

[@chrisspain7776]

@@Adventuresincreation I found this but struggled to follow it... kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnWmpIN5rLyHadE

[@now-you-know-it]

Hi Blender is it possible to increase the icon bar icons . You are still THE KZbin CAD leader.

[@Adventuresincreation]

Hi Pieter. Do you mean the icon bars in FreeCAD or in Blender?

[@andrewmadeup7375]

I have a question, and dont know if this is the right place to ask? In Catia I never used scketches to make solids. I made my solids with a point in space, then line or lines referenced from that point to then make a surface. Then used the surface to make a solid which I could then use for booleans. Is this possible in FreeCAD?

[@Adventuresincreation]

I don't think so.

[@PDZ1122]

Great tutorials. However, i keep comoing across instances where doing the exact same thing you're doing produces different results. T abou 5:20 - Clicking on the pad, then Space makes the pad disappear. All good. Clicking on Sketch and then Space does nothing. No sketch anywhere. Double clicking on Edit sketch works, but the pad obscures the sketch. Highlighting the pad, then space and everything disappears. No sketch . Blank space. Damned frustrating

[@Adventuresincreation]

It sounds like you are clicking on the body. I would have to see exactly what's happening to be sure.

[@PatrickClemmond]

Thank you for sharing your valuable knowledge :-)

[@Adventuresincreation]

You are very welcome

[@billrunge92]

I've tried all of the pointer styles, but they all appear pretty much identical. I like the style you're using, but can't find it. I currently just have it set to CAD. Any thoughts on what I'm doing wrong?

[@Adventuresincreation]

I increase my pointer in windows using "set mouse pointer size" I also have my set freecad mouse style set to blender

[@petera9757]

You are still introducing the TNP by using the chamfer... As long as you leave for last and are ready to erase and redo that is fine, that is how I manage it as well. I really hope TNP will be sorted soon in 0.20, spending way to much time on workarounds. Regarding datum planes I just discovered yesterday I can only rotate +- 90 degrees... I will check if it is possible to rotate a sketch more, right now my design is limited by the 90, would like to try 120 or so (parametric model of a wheel)...

[@Adventuresincreation]

Definitely leave chamfers and radii for last. Technically you could model the chamfer but I wanted to keep it simple. I hope it's included in 0.20 too. That would be excellent. I didn't know there was a rotational limit, I will have to try it out.

[@danp762]

Hey, Thanks for making this video series. I have a problem and new. When I go from a sketch (constrained and saved) and use Revolution or Pad everything disapears. This doesn't happen most of the time. I'm hoping, I'm just doing it wrong and there is a simple fix. I have only tried those so far. Undoing the Revolution doesn't make it come back. I can't delete it and start over. It's just gone. The sketch is still there but it super small.

[@Adventuresincreation]

You need to hit the zoom 🔎 all key. Your model is out of sight.

[@danp762]

@@Adventuresincreation I did use "Fit All" and still didn't see anything. Is that what you are talking about? Fit All worked to see the sketch but not for the 3D model. The sketch was really small. I had to zoom in a lot with the mouse scroll wheel. I couldnt see any other object. I thought maybe, I added something way off to the side and couldn't see it. But if I cant see it I can't fit it. If you haven't seen this problem. I must be doing somthing wrong.

[@Adventuresincreation]

Yes, fit all. If there is no model then perhaps you have a problem with your sketch. Is it properly closed and constrained?

[@davidapp3730]

Thank you. Very helpful video but I can see I will need several views of the video to get it down pat.

[@Adventuresincreation]

That's the beauty of videos, you can rewatch and slow them down too.

[@calvinmconie4048]

Hi, I am getting stuck when you change the axis on the datum plane. I get a box coming up with ( you selected geometries which are not part of this active body. Please define how to handle those selections. If you do not want those references, cancel the command) thats as far as I can go. Any help would be much appreciated and keep up the good work..Thank you.

[@Adventuresincreation]

That usually means whatever you selected is not within the body that is highlighted. It may be that your body is not active (double click it) or your axis is not inside the body you want it to be (move it in the model tree)

[@calvinmconie4048]

@@Adventuresincreation Excellent result. So do I just double click each time I start a new one of the drawing? I have been clicking the part then body icon each time to get that far. My next problem is I cant remove the x y z lines during the drawing. I am so pleased it was something so simple. Thank you.

[@Adventuresincreation]

@@calvinmconie4048 the coordinate system (xyz lines) can be turned on and off the same way anything else is. Click on it in the model tree then press spacebar

[@calvinmconie4048]

@@Adventuresincreation Hi, I can get the datum into place now but when I click on ok in task I get the same white box back. If I go to origin and remove xyz, when I go back to task the xz axis is gone and origin is in there and I can not continue.

[@chrismartindale3193]

OK... so why if you want to move a sketch along the Y axis Do you change the Z position???

[@Adventuresincreation]

I agree, that is confusing. There are different axes in the sketch space they are in a different orientation to the model space

[@Elephantine999]

Really helpful. Thanks.

[@Adventuresincreation]

Great

[@brandonhindson8338]

when I completed the shape on video 2 at the end you told me to put a 10mm pad onto the shape which I did. but now I can't get to the sketch design showing the dimension since the shape is solid grey

[@Adventuresincreation]

You can hide the shape by highlighting it in the model tree and hitting spacbar

[@brandonhindson8338]

​@@Adventuresincreation thank you

[@MaxQ10001]

Thanks for making good content! Tip for transforming into great content: stop rambling about non topic stuff. Edit it away. Like talking two minutes about blender mouse. "I use blender mouse setup. The default is CAD. You can change it here." Is enough. 5 seconds. With these off topic ramblings throughout the video, we, your students, lose our focus, start thinking about other stuff, having to rewind, losing even more time. Again, thanks for the job you do! This is not complaining, just tips for improvement.

[@Adventuresincreation]

I appreciate the candid feedback.

[@queenidog1]

I've been following this series to the letter, with one window on the video, while I perform the operations in my FreeCad 0.20 version, in another window. If I don't get the same result, I back up. I've redone the "fish" at least 6 times already. But now I have an issue that I can't seem to fix. In the 3rd episode, where you add the rectangle in the XZ plane, you select the Pad (in Model view), then add a sketch. YOURS puts Sketch 001 directly inside the Pad "path", under the previous sketch. Mine, ALWAYS puts it under the Part path. I'm doing something wrong in between but I don't know what. I have screen prints to show what my model view looks like. Any ideas? After having Freecad for about 3 years, I decided to actually figure out how to use it. I come from a Visio 2D environment.

[@Adventuresincreation]

Make sure you have the correct active body

[@gergaly]

I'm a beginner in FreeCAD so bare with me. Since you offset the datum plane it is not fully parametric anymore (every time you edit the original sketch you have adjust the offset of the datum plane as well). If you edit the original sketch to move the bottom of the fish down the datum plane will stay there so the new feature won't be attached to the lower side of the fish. It will be on its side. So my question would be how do you attach the datum plane to the bottom of the fish so when you edit the original sketch it will move the datum plane as well?

[@Adventuresincreation]

You can make the position of the datum plane parametric, just like anything else. You can have it be a function of the part you are modifying if you like. The only reason we don't attach planes to faces, and use more datum planes than just faces, is the topological naming issue. If that gets resolved, then we can use faces instead of planes or attach planes to faces.

[@gergaly]

@@Adventuresincreation thanks for the quick answer! Can you show us how the attaching sketch to a face could brake? Or direct us somewhere where we can see? Because I did a couple of times but did not happen to me. I believe it can brake but I would like to see it how does it happen? Will the sketch migrate to a different face on the object?

[@Adventuresincreation]

@@gergaly If you create a rectangular sketch, pad it. Create a sketch on a face and pad it. Now go back to your original sketch and change the profile of the rectangle to a sawtooth or similar. You will see the second sketch will attach to a different face, or more accurately, the number of the original face is assigned to a different face. This will cause your second sketch to be on the wrong face. It's pretty random too.

[@gergaly]

@@Adventuresincreation Thanks! I've tried it. It works as you described it.

[@CraigMassey_nz]

Done. Flat fish now has an attachment with two holes in it. I am going back to watch it again as I'm not exactly sure what the tnp issue is. I accepted my datum plane being snapped to the bottom face of the "fish" and that worked, but I see in the comments that will have issues due to tnp and I don't currently understand why. And a final comment. There probably is a way to do this that you didn't discuss to keep things simple, but having to move the sketch to align with the base by specifying seems a bit naff, I'd assume there was a way to tell it to align itself with that face. Which may trigger this tnp thing again, so I definitely need to learn what it is about. Making progress in my understanding. Thank-you.

[@Adventuresincreation]

The Topological Naming Problem (TNP) is an issue where if you use a face as a reference then you modify the model, your references can get changed and your model will break. That's why, for now, we are using offset sketches and offset datum planes. In the "near" future this issue will be fixed and we can create sketches and datum planes referencing faces until then, we should be careful not to do that. Also, do your chamfers and radii last, that way if you do make a change to the model you can redo them fairly easily. Again, once the TNP is fixed, that will no longer be problem.

[@CraigMassey_nz]

I am also getting some weirdness with my installation where when I start a new sketch, my other objects disappear and I can only see my new sketch. Makes it tricky to line things up. Once I close it I can see everything again and go back in and edit the sketch to position everything. Not asking you to fix that (unless you know exactly what causes it and it's a simple fix), I will join the FreeCAD support forms and ask questions like that there.

[@CraigMassey_nz]

@@Adventuresincreation Thank-you.

[@Adventuresincreation]

@@CraigMassey_nz You can go back to the model tree and turn those parts back on using the space bar.

[@abtappy1190]

Thanks very helpfull 👍🏼

[@Adventuresincreation]

Glad it was useful

[@brian_akemche]

When I sketch something and make sure it's fully constraint and I close the sketch, it does not appear. I just see a blank screen. Is there something I might be doing wrong? I mean other than toggling visibility on and off, because I tried that already.

[@Adventuresincreation]

That seems very odd. The sketch does not normally disappear (apart from toggling visibility). I would love to take a look at your file.

[@RichPenn]

Excellent , thank you

[@Adventuresincreation]

You are welcome. I am glad it helped.

[@richardhwiggins2914]

I am using freeCAD 0.20.2 I have tried to add the box to the drawing. when I go to sketch the plains are there but the X-Z plain is not on my fish and I click it all I see is the X-Z plain not the bottom of the fish. I cannot figure out how to get the X-z plain to show on the fish. I have tried this several times redrawing and starting over. HELP please Richard H Wiggins

[@Adventuresincreation]

Can you post your file somewhere so I can see it.

[@weedfreer]

I've found difficulties when trying to apply this to a sketch often finding that it's better to do this using the body that owns the sketch instead. Is there anything wrong with doing it that way rather than on the sketch itself?

[@Adventuresincreation]

I think it depends on what you are trying to do. If you are moving the body for a boolean operation this may be a good solution however, you may have multiple sketches in a body and then you would want to apply the offset to the sketch itself. What problems are you having?

[@weedfreer]

@@Adventuresincreation the placement options just never seem to stick...it's really hit and miss...not sure what I'm doing wrong. I seem to do a lot better just applying the settings to the body itself

[@michaeldonoghue9015]

You might answer this in a future video because I just started going through the playlist but if you set that one sketch to be 39.99 mm placement, won’t that detach the piece from the main body of the fish? Don’t we need all the parts to be a solid body if we are going to mill this from a piece of metal?

[@Adventuresincreation]

You cannot create a model that has multiple parts from one body. It just won't work. The change doesn't disconnect it just makes a very small step.

[@ronmorgan5296]

How do you set the units to inches?

[@Adventuresincreation]

You change it in settings.

[@ronmorgan5296]

@@Adventuresincreation ok thank you

[@ronmorgan5296]

In which workbench

[@garyweliver1870]

When I go to select a point. The points are so small I select the line? How do I enlarge the point size, zooming in does not help. Thanks

[@Adventuresincreation]

I believe they are bigger by default in version 0.20 however, you may be able to change the size in the setting for the sketcher. (I have not confirmed this)

[@garyweliver1870]

OK, I am a beginner, I am guessing you are referring to 0.19.2? In settings for "sketcher" how do I get to the sketches settings menu? Thanks in Advance

[@Adventuresincreation]

@@garyweliver1870 sorry, you will find it under Edit>Preferences>sketcher There are lots of adjustments you can make there that might make it easier for you to select the points.

[@garyweliver1870]

Changing the size of a point (vertice?) Seems to be a subject nobody knows the answer, I went to edit>perferences> sketches and there is nothing there that makes my point size larger so that I can just select a corner point (not the lines) in order to constraint the square? Again I am a beginner using FreeCad, I am a beginner so I beg of you to please not assume I know anything yet. Thanks

[@edsutjr]

This has really been helpful, but I'm stuck on one thing... After creating the sketch on the datum plane you add the circle and constrain it without specifying anything that locks the circle in the horizontal axis. When I walked through this video my circle was not fully constrained but I couldn't fix the horizontal motion of the circle. How did you do that?

[@edsutjr]

I backtracked and see that I did not adjust the z position of Sketch001 to 39.99. When I did that, I noticed that I was able to place the circle on the Y axis and it auto-constrained to that axis. Any idea (aside from me just doing something stupid) why that would make a difference?

[@Adventuresincreation]

I don't think that made the difference, probably when you first placed it, you were not close enough for it to automatically constrain.

[@edsutjr]

@@Adventuresincreation Ok you're right (of course). I guess it was a late night. I tried it again and things worked as expected. Sorry, and thanks for a great set of videos! Just to beat anyone else that reads this to the punch... yes it was just me doing something stupid. 🙂

[@Adventuresincreation]

@@edsutjr No worries, it's a fun learning curve.

[@krd3281]

Hi There, when I select the first plane(XZ) my existing part disappears, any ideas on whats going on?

[@Adventuresincreation]

Yes, navigate back to the model tree, you will see the part is greyed out. Click on it and hit the space bar, the model will reappear. Freecad is automatically hiding the model to make it "easier" for you 😉

[@krd3281]

well that was what you were talking about earlier, sorry about that. Also thanks for such a swift reply, I am a cad user but as you would know changing systems can be a bit frustrating but finding your channel is great gift, cheers

[@Adventuresincreation]

@@krd3281 I am glad you have it sorted out now.

[@davidanthonybatten9150]

how do you turn on the origin to see the planes? Nothing happens when I clcik it?????

[@Adventuresincreation]

In the model tree under the body, you will see the origin, click on it then hit the space bar or right click and toggle the view.

[@davidanthonybatten9150]

@@Adventuresincreation Thanks ever so much. So how come i have to ask you how to do it when this guy is meant to have done a video on it but just mumbles something into a bowl of water or what I dont know......thanks again.

[@Adventuresincreation]

@@davidanthonybatten9150 I am glad it worked for you.

[@jblacktube]

Do you have a patreon account yet?

[@Adventuresincreation]

Not yet... I will let you know when I do.

[@Adventuresincreation]

I just set up a patreon page, please feel free to take a look www.patreon.com/AdventuresinCreation

[@yosyp5905]

why did you modify the sketch's attachment value to manually offset it inatead of sketching directly onto the wanted face?

[@Adventuresincreation]

Because of the topological naming issue.

[@yosyp5905]

@@Adventuresincreation I see, has it been fixed in Linkstage3?

[@Adventuresincreation]

I believe it has but hasn't made it to mainstream freecad yet

[@TheRainHarvester]

how can I use a datum plane to create two parts? Like a base geometry which kicks off 2 related flat parts (with holes) which can be used for the path workbench?

[@Adventuresincreation]

I am not sure I fully understand what you are trying to do but if you have created a datum plane in one body you can create a second one another body.

[@TheRainHarvester]

@@Adventuresincreation I am trying to create 2 parts that sandwich on top of each other. But after they are made, I need to edit/tweak them. So modify a dimension in a sketch (or datum plane?) and have BOTH parts be modified. If I use"link external geometry edge" you get only one chance, because, once you pad a sketch, you can never change the underlying geometry that created the linked edge! It's like freecad twarts every method somehow. Surely there must be a way. So frustrating.

[@philipgaudet4232]

You were offsetting your sketch by changing the z value yet you were woking in the xz plane so you should have to offset in the y dimension. Why z not y?

[@Adventuresincreation]

That's an excellent question. It has to do with the local coordinate system and the model coordinate system. All sketches will move "in and out" in the Z direction relative to the local coordinates. The best way to test it is move the sketch in the other directions and observe the effect.

[@philipgaudet4232]

@@Adventuresincreation It's not obvious which way the x or y offsets are going to move on a datum plane without trying them. If an LCS is attached and turned on that helps. This is always going to be confusing to me since the xyz display(global?) in the bottom right corner is not applicable.

[@Adventuresincreation]

The best way is to just try it. You can always use ctrl + Z to undo any changes.

[@ff-mu6cc]

Nice!

[@Adventuresincreation]

Thanks!

[@quinxx12]

Video starts at 5:10

[@Adventuresincreation]

Not sure what you mean?

[@imacmill]

The attachment offset adjustments makes no sense at all to me. Your first example adjustment shows you changing the Z value, but the sketch is actually moving along the Y axis (as made evident by the axis 'gadget' in the bottom right of the screen...it would have helped to have the axial planes displayed on screen, too, as it would have made it clearer what's going on). Can someone please explain this weirdness to me...it's been driving me nuts for days whilst trying to learn this stuff.

[@Adventuresincreation]

It's the difference between the local coordinate system and the global coordinate system.

[@imacmill]

@@Adventuresincreation Thank you! I figured it out shortly after I posted...another KZbinr clued me in. It would be nice to see a local axis gadget attached to the datum plane somewhere.

[@Adventuresincreation]

@@imacmill no worries, it can be confusing however, I just move stuff in one direction if that doesn't work just ctrlZ then try another, you soon get used to it.

[@imacmill]

@@Adventuresincreation Ya, that's the only way, really, but it's helpful to at least be aware that the z-axis is always perpendicular to the sketch...the X/Y are harder to determine by observation because the view can be rotated to any angle.

[@richardhwiggins2914]

I would add I have tried on 0.19.1, 0.19.3 and I get the same thing

[@Adventuresincreation]

Post your file somewhere so I can get to it and I will take a look

[@karlsberzns]

not the last anymore 👍(edition)

[@Adventuresincreation]

You are only on #3

[@karlsberzns]

@@Adventuresincreation Sorry I made a mistake by printing,

[@bradennotbrendan]

Had a couple facepalm moments watching this realizing how much trouble i couldve avoided by just watching these videos before diving into the software

[@Adventuresincreation]

Good job you found them now (SMILE)

[@yosyp5905]

creating a cube whose geometry intersects another body's is bad practice, you should have booleanned the two pads or done something different

[@Adventuresincreation]

Take a look at my boolean video

[@SysdefWonder]

10:45 That's a very bad advice. Try to create a chamfer after you did such a dirty trick.

[@Adventuresincreation]

🤦‍♂️

[@davidanthonybatten9150]

6 mins in???

[@Adventuresincreation]

What happened?

[@BStott]

Must Use Boolean feature to combine the two Pads. Simply moving one object to be imbedded into another object is poor form. Your Problem: Inserting one object into another and leaving them that way creates a problem with 3D printing parts needing strength through integral integrity. When you join two objects by just inserting them into each other - as the two or more objects print - they are printed as separate objects. They print as discrete separate entities close together. There is poor strength this way. Watch a part print. You can see the co-joined have distinct outlines. The print will not be a single object. This shows a poorly designed CAD entity. OK for trinkets, few toys, art - junk. Not Quality. [Disclaimer: Been there. Done that. Learned from experience.]

[@Adventuresincreation]

Thanks for your input.

[@davidanthonybatten9150]

what does the start of this video have to do with it??? Wating time of people trying to learn why????? 4.30 mins in and nothing so far blah blah blah

[@Adventuresincreation]

Move on and find other videos more suited to your style of learning.

[@majicMix911]

Fast forward you 🤡

[@davidanthonybatten9150]

But how would I know to fast forward a time of four and a half mins on the first time of seeing it? Waffle waffle vids should be last in the que