COMPUTER-AIDED

DRAFTING
LABORATORY
A Laboratory Manual
on FreeCAD 0.19

Compiled by:
Kresil Joy P. Jimenez
MSU-IIT
LABORATORY 3
IMPROVING UNDERSTANDING OF
CONSTRAINTS THROUGH ARC DESIGNS
This tutorial is meant to introduce the reader to the basic workflow of the Sketcher
Workbench.
The Sketcher Workbench exists as a standalone module, so it can be used to draw
generic 2D (planar) objects. However, it is mostly used in conjunction with
the PartDesign Workbench. A closed sketch is normally used to create a face or a
profile to be extruded into a solid body with an operation such as
The reader will practice:
• Creating construction geometry
• Creating real geometry
• Applying geometric constraints
• Applying datum constraints
• Obtaining a closed profile
For a more in-depth description of the sketcher, read the Sketcher reference.

Final result of the sketch, with all geometry fully constrained, including construction
geometry for support.
Setup

1. Open FreeCAD, create a new empty document with File → New.

1.1. Switch to the Sketcher Workbench from the workbench selector, or the
menu View → Workbench → Sketcher.
Some actions to remember:

• Press the right mouse button, or press Esc in the keyboard once, to
deselect the active tool in edit mode.
• To exit the sketch edit mode, press the Close button in the task panel, or
press Esc twice in the keyboard.
• To enter again edit mode, double click on the sketch in the tree view, or
select it, and then click on .

Create a sketch
2. Click on .
2.1. Choose the sketch orientation, that is, one of the base XY, XZ, or YZ planes.
Also choose if you want an inverted orientation, and an offset from the base plane.
2.2. We will use the default plane and options.
2.3. Click OK to start constructing the sketch.
We are now inside the sketch edit mode. Within it, we're able to make use of the
majority of the tools of this workbench.
Note: the tree view will switch to the task panel; in this interface expand the Edit
controls section, and make sure the Auto constraints option is enabled. Other
options can be changed including the size of the visible grid, and whether we want
to snap to it; in this tutorial we will not snap to the grid and we will also hide it. In
other sections of the task panel you can also see which geometrical elements and
constraints have been defined.
 Upper part of the task panel of the sketcher.

Construction geometry
3. Construction geometry is used to guide the creation of "real" geometry. Real geometry
will be the one shown outside of the sketch edit mode, while construction geometry will
only be shown inside the edit mode. Therefore, you can use as much construction
geometry as you need to build real shapes.
3.1. Click on . Now geometrical elements will be drawn
in Construction mode.
3.2. Click on .
3.3. Approach the origin of the sketch, the point should highlight and near your
cursor the coincident constraint icon will appear.
3.4. Click on the point, then move the pointer to start drawing a new line from it.
Move the pointer so that the line has a length to around 30 mm . You don't have
to be very precise in this step; later we will set the correct dimension.
3.5. Repeat this procedure four more times to place construction lines in a star
pattern. Don't worry too much about their size or position, just extend them in the
four quadrants.
3.6. Now exit construction mode by clicking again on .
Note: up to this point the line tool is still active. This means we can keep
clicking on the 3D view to draw as many lines as we want. If we wish to exit
this tool, we can press the right mouse button, or press Esc in the keyboard
once. By doing this the pointer won't create lines any more, it will just be a
pointer allowing us to select the objects we just created. In this pointer mode
we can pick and drag the endpoints of each line to adjust its placement.
Note 2: do not press Esc a second time as this will exit the sketch edit
mode. If you do this, re-enter the edit mode by double clicking on the sketch
in the tree view.
Take a look at the task panel again. The Solver messages section already
indicates that the sketch is under-constrained, and it mentions the number
of degrees of freedom.
Look at the Constraints and Elements sections to see the new listed
constraints and lines. Once your sketches have many elements, it may be
difficult to select them in the 3D view, so you can use these lists to select
the object that you wish exactly.

Construction lines forming a star shape with its center in the origin.
Real geometry
Real geometry must make a closed shape if it is to be used as a profile that can be
extruded by tools such as .
Make sure you are not in construction by clicking on , if you have
not previously exited this mode.

Outer arcs
4. Create a circle.

4.1. Click on
4.2. Click on the origin of the sketch to position its center point.
4.3. Click anywhere in the 3D view to set the circumference radius as a distance
from the origin. Make it approximately 8 mm . Again the dimension will be fixed
later.

5. Create a series of arcs.

5.1. Click on .
5.2. Approach the endpoint of one of the construction lines, and click on it. This will
set the center point of the circular arc to be coincident with this line's endpoint.
5.3. Click once in the 3D view at an arbitrary location to set simultaneously the
radius of the arc, and the first endpoint of it. Define an approximate radius of 8
mm .
5.4. Move the pointer in an anti-clockwise direction to trace an arc that has its
concavity pointing towards the origin of the sketch. Click to set the final endpoint
of the arc, defining a circular arc that approximately sweeps 180° or half a circle.
5.5. Repeat these steps with each construction line, so that each of them has a
circular arc at its tip. We will call these O-arcs for outwards-arcs.
 Circular arcs added at the endpoints of the
construction lines. Also, a central circle.

Inner arcs
6. Create an arc between each pair of the previous O-arcs.

6.1. Still with the tool active, click somewhere between two O-arcs
but further away from the origin of the sketch, to set the center point of a new arc.
6.2. Click somewhere close to the endpoint of one O-arc, and move the pointer to
sweep another arc finishing close to another endpoint of a different O-arc, as if you
were trying to join the endpoints. This time the concavity must point away from the
origin.
6.3. Repeat these steps, so that each pair of O-arcs has a new arc between them.
We will call these I-arcs for inwards-arcs.
To summarize, the O-arcs should have their curvature pointing outwards, and
their concavity pointing towards the origin of the sketch; the I-arcs should have
their curvature pointing inwards, and their concavity pointing away from the
same origin.
 Circular arcs added between the first set of arcs placed.

Constraints
Take a look at the task panel again. Due to the new geometrical elements that we have
drawn, the Solver messages section indicates even more degrees of freedom. A degree
of freedom (DOF) indicates a possible movement of one element. For example, a point
can be moved both in horizontal and vertical directions, so it has two degrees of freedom.
A line is defined by two points, therefore in total it has four degrees of freedom. If we fix
one of those points, then the entire system has only two degrees of freedom available; if
we additionally fix the horizontal movement of the remaining point, we only have one
degree of freedom left; and if we also fix the vertical movement of this point, then the last
degree of freedom disappears, and the line cannot move from its position any more.
Up to now when we have drawn lines and curves, the sketcher has added automatic
constraints for us, those that keep the lines tied to the origin, and the O-arcs tied to the
construction lines. But we haven't added other explicit constraints so the geometrical
shapes can still be moved in many directions. Constraints are "rules" that tell us under
which conditions a geometrical object can move and by how much. They are used
to eliminate the degrees of freedom so that the sketch has a stable shape. If we eliminate
all degrees of freedom, then the sketch is fully constrained, and has a fixed shape, that
is, its points cannot move at all. In general, it is a good idea to fully constrain sketches
because this will result in stable models.
There are two principal types of constraints:

• Geometric constraints define characteristics of the shapes without specifying

exact dimensions, for example, horizontality, verticality, parallelism,
perpendicularity, and tangency.
• Datum constraints define characteristics of the shapes by specifying
dimensions, for example, a numeric length or an angle.
•

Geometric constraints
Equal length and radius
7. Geometrically constrain the lines and arcs.
7.1 Select all five construction lines. You only need to click once to select an
element.
7.2. Press
Note: this creates only four constraints. The constraints are chained, the first line
has the same length as the second one, which has the same length as the third
one, which again has the same length as the fourth one, which has the same length
as the fifth one. So in this case, the first and the fifth have the same length.
7.3. Select all five O-arcs, those centered on an endpoint of a construction line.
7.4. Press
7.5. Repeat with all I-arcs, those between the O-arcs.
Note: again the constraints are chained. Therefore all O-arcs will have the same
radius, and all I-arcs will have the same radius. At this moment, the specific value
of these lengths is not fixed. You may use the pointer to drag a point and see how
the sketch is updated while respecting the constraints in place.
7.6. Select the construction line that is closest to the vertical axis.
7.7. Press (optional). If you drew the construction line downwards over
the Y axis, an automatic Point on object constraint was already placed,
keeping the construction line vertical. In this case, no additional Vertical
constraint is necessary.
Note: as you add constraints, overlay symbols indicating the type of
constraint appear over the geometry in the 3D view. If these symbols
obfuscate your view, you can hide them by unchecking the constraint in
the task panel. Also note that the number of degrees of freedom decreases
after adding each constraint.
 Note 2: if you wish to temporarily disable the constraint, you may select it
and press . When you want to apply it again,
press again the same button.

Sketch with equality constraints applied to the construction lines, and to the two
sets of arcs.
Tangency
8. Apply tangency to the arcs.
8.1. Select one endpoint of an O-arc and then the closest endpoint of the
adjacent I-arc.
8.2. Press .This makes the two adjacent arcs connect smoothly at
their endpoints.
8.3. Repeat for all endpoints of the O-arcs and I-arcs to obtain a closed profile.
Note: applying the tangential constraint very often will move the geometry
around in order to produce a smooth connection. You may have to use the
pointer to reposition the points a bit before applying the next tangential
constraint. Try placing the endpoints in such a way that two arcs aren't too
far apart, so they can be connected with a short line rather than a long line.
As of this step, we have now created a closed profile, as all arcs have been
tied together. Now we can provide datum constraints to fix the shape of the
sketch. While the dimensions of lines and arcs remain unfixed, we can drag
the points of the sketch and observe how the entire sketch changes.

Sketch with tangential constraints applied to the arcs, which closes the
shape.
Datum constraints
These constraints specify the numerical distances between two points, and
angles between two lines.
Distances and angles
9. Adjust the size of the construction lines.
9.1. Select the vertically constrained construction line.
9.2. Press
9.3. Set the length to 30 mm . Because all construction lines are constrained to
have the same length, all these lines adjust their sizes at the same time.
10. Adjust the angle between the construction lines.
10.1. Select the vertical construction line and the construction line closest to it.
10.2. Press
10.3. Set the angle to 72° .
10.4. Repeat the same procedure for each pair of construction lines, and use the
same angle.
Note: at this stage, the sketch may have very few degrees of freedom left, meaning that
its shape cannot be changed too much. If you attempt to add more constraints, these may
cause a conflict with the previously added constraints. If this is the case, do not add these
constraints, and proceed with the next steps.

Sketch with length constraint applied to one vertical construction line (left), and angle
constraints to three pairs of construction lines (right).
Radius
11. Adjust the size of the arcs.
11.1. Select one of the O-arcs, centered on the endpoint of a construction line.
11.2. Press .
11.3. Set the radius to 8 mm . Because all O-arcs are constrained to have the
same radius, all these arcs adjust their sizes at the same time.
11.4. Select one of the I-arcs, between two O-arcs.
11.5. Press
11.6. Set the radius to 11 mm . Because all I-arcs are constrained to have the
same radius, all these arcs adjust their sizes at the same time.

Sketch with radius constraints applied to the outwards arcs (left),

and inwards arcs (right).

11.7. Finally, select the circle in the center of the sketch, press ,
and set the value to 8 mm .
 We should end up with a fully constrained sketch. It can be confirmed by noticing
the change in color of the real geometry, and by the message that is shown in
the task panel.

Sketch with all geometrical and datum constraints applied.

Extrusion
12. Now that we have a fully constrained sketch, it can be used to create a solid body.
12.1. Exit the sketch edit mode by pressing the Close button, or
pressing Esc twice. The sketch should appear in the tree view and the 3D view.
12.2. Switch to the PartDesign Workbench.
12.3. With the sketch selected in the tree view, press
choose the default XY-plane, and press OK . The sketch should appear now
inside the Body.
12.4. Select the sketch, and then press , choose the default
options, and press OK to create a solid extrusion.
Fully constrained sketch with only the most important constraints showing.

Solid extrusion produced with PartDesign Pad.