AutoCAD 3D – Solid editing Tab – Part 1 – Union, Subtract, Intersect

In the next few blogs,

I will be going through the Solid editing Tab on the Ribbon,

To begin with, we have three tools,

known as Boolean’s – Union, Subtract, Intersect

These are the primary means we use to join, cut, or only keep the overlapping volumes between two bodies,

Using a combination of these Boolean operations, we create complex shapes out of simple ones.

Note that when you create a more complex shape using these Boolean’s,

You lose the ability to easily modify the shape using the stretch grips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Union

Joins bodies together,

you can select any one first,

when joined into one, the properties and colour of the first selected body will be used.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subtract

Cuts a solid using another solid, the first selection is the part,

the second selection is the cutting body.

If the newly created face/’s take on the appearance of the tool body,

This is normally due to the body / face being overridden in the property pallet.

You can change these faces by holding CTRL and Left clicking on the faces,

then open the property pallet and change the colour to by layer or one of your choice.

Notice that there is now one body though there is a gap between the two entities,

We can separate them using the Separate command, this we will go through later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Intersect

This option can be a bit tricky but very powerful,

it only keeps overlapping volumes between two bodies,

the body that is selected first is used as the properties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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