Welcome to the Onshape forum! Ask questions and join in the discussions about everything Onshape.

First time visiting? Here are some places to start:
  1. Looking for a certain topic? Check out the categories filter or use Search (upper right).
  2. Need support? Ask a question to our Community Support category.
  3. Please submit support tickets for bugs but you can request improvements in the Product Feedback category.
  4. Be respectful, on topic and if you see a problem, Flag it.

If you would like to contact our Community Manager personally, feel free to send a private message or an email.

Where can I learn a sequence of steps for sketching?

michael_mcewenmichael_mcewen OS Professional Posts: 77 PRO
After hand drafting for 20 or so years, I'm learning Onshape.  This is my first CAD program.  I've been putting in hours of study, listening to tutorials, following and making test sketches, with a fair bit of success.

But as soon as I try to make my own sketches for my work (lighting design), I am quickly confounded by my lack of understanding about constraints, and the requirement of CAD to fully define all elements of a sketch.  Again, I have read all the tutorials, and I do have a basic understanding of the purposes of these elements.

What I have come to realize is that with hand drafting, the sequence of steps in making a sketch can be arbitrary, as once committed to paper, the relationships are clear, if dimensioned properly.  There's no history of steps, because it doesn't matter.  So, even though my approach to drafting may be unconventional (self-taught), my drawings don't care!

But with CAD, I realize that I'm missing a fundamental understanding of how to approach making a sketch.  I've come to realize that consideration of the point of origin, and the step by step of constraining of elements in order to fully define a sketch, is essential.

I continue to make sketches in Onshape as I always have approached sketching, and I end up with a sea of blue lines and arcs, with absolutely no idea of how to get to black, fully defined elements.  I've tried tugging on lines to see what comes loose, and then, frankly, thrashing about FOR HOURS in search of a fix.  

Here's an example: 

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/4a78b4d43bba9895005d0217/w/5d35f7e08d1b0971e81a8eee/e/f614241248b14b441e30bbe0

Can anyone point me to a basic course where I can begin from the bottom up to build a foundation of understanding of the basic elements and a rational sequence of steps in building a sketch in CAD?  I need to acquire a strategy of approach.

Thank you,

Michael

Best Answers

Answers

Sign In or Register to comment.