Hi, I create custom kitchen units and have recently started using Shapr3D to model the room designs. There are quite a lot of non-standard door sizes in my designs so I’m wanting to build a base door model that I can import each time and change the dimensions on for each cupboard space. I want to model it as it will be made, with its tongue and groove components so I can create component cut lists for the lads that have started working with me. I can see how to do this as a 2D drawing, setting how lines relate to one another but when I extrude the elements I can’t see how to fix the relationship of a joint so it stays in place yet be able to change the length of a timber without its dimensions being altered. Maybe there’s a tutorial video that covers this type of things? Perhaps someone might be able to point me in the best direction?
Here’s a Facebook post that explains how I’m using Shapr3D with clients that might be of use seeing what I’m trying to do.
Then I would apply a horizontal/vertical constraint to your rails and stiles and an equal constraint; one to the rails and then one to the stiles. Then make the edges that the rails meet the stiles at coincident. You should then be able to grab either a rail or stile and move it and all of the geometry should stretch using the constraints.
I’m currently at work, so I can’t test this, but if I have time tonight I will.
Thanks for your thinking on this Jeremy. I was basically coming at it from the same way you were describing and then finding it odd that all those tools that are really useful in the 2D sketching for managing constraints disappear when you extrude a 3D body. The same logic that works for the tools in 2D would seem entirely applicable in 3D to edges or faces, but they are not there…
I can still make a sort of boxy version of the door components that I can amend sizes on in 2D and then extrude and repeat. It just adds repetition of process to create each element and to get all the chamfers in place, and end tongue cuts will need to be size note additions as the design sizes won’t match the finished item.
Hmmm. There’s definitely some tool application development needed here for repetition joint modelling in joinery. Hopefully someone from Shapr3D reads this and can have think about how those constraint tools are developed to work in 3D too?
Hey Olin,
I started drawing a door last night to play with this more, but had to get to bed. I’m wondering if you can window select the entire rail and just the end of the stiles and scale it out to a desired dimension. It’s not pretty, but it could work because you could make a handful of preset doors with all of the necessary chamfers and end tongue cuts, then import them into your current design when you need them, and only need to stretch them to your dims.
So far I’ve only used Shapr3D for my 3D printing hobby, which are all single-body solids, but by day I am a high-end commercial interior designer. We use Microvellum for all of standard cabinets and AutoCAD and Sketchup for custom designs. The only reason I’m not using Shapr3D in place of Sketchup is because I’m faster in Sketchup (currently) and the components. If Shapr3D made reusable “smart” components that update all instances when you update one, it would be a no-brainer.
This sounds like a workaround that’s worth a go. Cheers for your thoughts, it’s very useful to get another, perhaps more specialist view on things. As a small start-up I’m covering a lot of bases, with some skill background, but it posses it’s challenges.
Thanks for your input
You called me a specialist…LOL. I saw your laundry room cabinet and that looked great. Hopefully I can get back to this tonight. I’ve been training for a bike race next weekend and time is very limited for anything else.
Cheers I finished modelling another laundry room yesterday that was about twice the size of the one I linked to the post about. I used your idea for moving and sliding out the ends of the rails and stiles after building a standard door. Like you observed, it’s a bit of a clunky workaround but it does work. I’m just about to go and see the client to do a final detail agreement before it goes into the workshop, so having that proper component CAD set is a move on for the workshop process. Thanks for that and good luck for the bike race!
