CAD Software Forum

I am new to Intellicad, and for that nature, pretty new to CAD itself. I would like to create a 3D hex nut with hexagon side and a circular hole drilled thru the center from top to bottom. Is there there a way to "cut out" a portion from a 3D object? For instance, can i cut out a cylinder from the center of a cube?
I also tried another method: drawing 2D and changing the thickness to a non-zero value. For the hex nut, i first created a 2D six-sided polygon and a circle at its center. Then i changed the thickness for both the polygon and the circle to a non-zero value which then makes the hole thing look like a 3D hex-nut with a drilled hole in the center from top to bottom. The problem with this is, when I do "hide" in rendering, i notice in 3D view that there are no "top" and "bottom" faces of nut. So then, i tried to create the top and bottom faces with 3D face and also 2D planes, but I can't cut out a circle from those.
I also tried to creat this by drawing a circle on a plane, and then increasing the thickness, a very similar method described about. With this one, in 3D view, I only see a circular pattern on the top and bottom faces, the depth of hole is missing.
I hope I have been able to clearly explain this. Thanks for any help in advance.

A new Intellicad user

Sk:

Well, what you're looking for can be easily achieved with solid modellign, but this feature has not been added to ICAD, as I understand, it will be very shortly.

Anyway, you can still get that 3D model using 3d surfaces. What you need is the ruled surface (rulesurf) and the tabulated surface (tabsurf).

The ruled surface is generated by two lines, polygons or curves that define the shape. The tabulated is generated by a profile curve, polygon or line, and a extruding vector determined by a line.

First, draw the section of the nut with the hexagon and the circle in its center point (ICAD can get CENTER snaps on Polygons...).

Ok, then, draw a line from the circle's center. Pick a point, and then use the @0,0,z coordinates, where the z value will be the thickness of the nut. This line is a reference for the tabsurf.

You can set the surftab1 and surftab2 variables. These ones control the number of faces that conform the surfaces. The more faces, the more accurate the surface is. The default is 6.

OK, so, open the surfaces tool box and pick the tabsurf command, pick the hex and then the line, and you'll see it extruded with the line's height. Repeat with the circle.

Notice that if you hide, no caps are made, so pick the rulesurf command, pick the hex, then the circle and you'll get your cap. Just copy it to the top of the line and it is ready!

I recommend that the guide lines and the surfaces to be drawn in separate layers, for easier handling of the drawing.

Well, hope this helps...

Alberto,
Thanks for the reply. I did get most of it done, except for I have one little thing with the "ruled surface". I had put a circle in the center of the hex (polygon) and tried to create a ruled surface between these two. What I get is an self-intersecting surface, with lines crossing each other. The help file stated that to get a polygon mesh, i should select same ends of the entities. By this i understood, that if i click on the left side of the hex, i should click on the right side of the circle when creating the surface... is that correct or i am doing something wrong? I can't seem to get the right surface (without any intersection) no matter how i click on the ends of the entities. Thanks for the help.

Sk:

Well, it is tricky sometimes. Try to draw only half polygon and half circle, and then try with the ruled surface, you'll get a half nut face, that can be completed with a mirror.

Related to this...see Smoother Rendering by
me, at the Cadopia forum..