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Basic Concepts of Creating Parts | 255
Basic Concepts of Creating Parts
You construct a model bit by bit, fashioning shapes to add to it and using
tools to cut away the portions of the shapes you do not need. In Mechanical
Desktop
®
, these shapes are the features of the part you are creating.
Analyzing Rough Sketches
You may be accustomed to jotting down design ideas on paper, starting with
a rough outline for a part and adding details as you go. Working with
Mechanical Desktop is similar: you put some thought into your idea, plan-
ning the best way to implement your concept.
In general, you follow this process to develop a part design:
Look at the whole part and decide how to break it down into simple shapes.
Identify the simplest element to use as your base feature.
Decide the order for creating additional features.
Determine the methods for creating the features.
As you build individual features, review and adjust your ideas about how
the features work together.
As you adjust your design strategy, you can revise the features you created
earlier.
With early planning, you can express your design in modular, simple terms.
When changes occur, as they often do in design work, you can easily accom-
modate them because of the parametric capabilities in Mechanical Desktop.
Any changes you make to your design are quickly recalculated.
As you study the part to determine the features you need and the order in
which to create them, also notice the relationships and patterns of the
shapes. Some features may be symmetrical, but others may be built most eas-
ily from simple shapes combined to form compound shapes.
The saddle bracket in this rough sketch has four distinct features: the saddle,
the mounting lugs, a boss, and strengthening ribs.
lug
boss
saddle
rib