PartDesign Workbench

The Part Design Workbench aims to provide tools for modelling complex solid parts and is based on a Feature editing methodology. It is intricately linked with the Sketcher Workbench.



Basic Workflow
The sketch is the building block for creating and editing solid parts. The workflow can be summarized by this: a sketch containing 2D geometry is created first, then a solid creation tool is used on the sketch. At the moment the available tools are: More tools are planned in future releases.
 * Pad which extrudes a sketch
 * Pocket which creates a pocket on an existing solid
 * Revolve which creates a solid by revolving a sketch along an axis
 * Groove' which creates a groove in an existing solid

A very important concept in the PartDesign workbench is the sketch support. Sketches can be created on standard planes (XY, XZ, YZ and planes parallel to them) or on the face of an existing solid. For this last case, the existing solid becomes the support of the sketch. Several tools will only work with sketches that have a support, for example, Pocket - without a support there would be nothing to remove material from!

After solid geometry has been created it can be modified with chamfers and fillets or transformed, e.g. mirrored or patterned.

The Partdesign workbench is meant to create a single, connected solid. Multiple solids will be possible with the Assembly workbench.

The Tools
The Part Design tools are all located in the Part Design menu that appears when you load the Part Design module.

They include the Sketcher Workbench tools, since the Part Design module is so dependent on them.

Tutorials
Only for a development version of FreeCAD that is not currently available as a binary or installer:
 * PartDesign Bearingholder Tutorial I
 * PartDesign Bearingholder Tutorial II