This is the third project in the AutoCAD tutorial series. Unlike the previous tutorial, this will involve more skill and is more advanced. I will not be as detailed as the last tutorial but I will provide instructions clear enough to follow. Below is a picture with a few dimensions of the desk that we are going to be creating. I haven't supplied all dimensions as I will be giving you them within the tutorial. We will be working in centimeters. Note that the dimensions are just a guide, they will not be final and I will be most likely be modifying them.
I assume you have read my past tutorials and know where the tools that I have mentioned in the previous tutorials are located
Well, why don't we get started? Fire up AutoCAD and start up a new drawing. I'm going to start with the most complex pieces of the model, first off is the handles on the draws of the desk.
Well, create a circle anywhere in the drawing with a radius of, let's say 10:
If you don't have the object snap toolbar on, turn it on now. This toolbar is very important. You can turn it on by right clicking the space above the AutoCAD drawing, going to ACAD and clicking on Object Snap:
Once that's sorted, select the line tool which is underneath the Line tool by clicking on it OR by typing “_line”.
Then on the object snap toolbar which you should be able too see since you activated it, click on “Snap to Quadrant” which is the circle with the 4 smaller circles around it:
Now click on a quadrant on the circle (preferably the one I have clicked in the picture below):
Once you have clicked there, go back to the object snap toolbar and click on “Snap to Quadrant” again. If you make a mistake and click the wrong one, press ESCAPE and start over from creating the first line.
Move your mouse down and click on the quadrant below the previous quadrant as shown in the picture below:
Create another 2D circle with a radius of 9 using the centre of the last circle as a snap:
Now activate the press pull tool, click on the inside of the outer circle but outside of the inner circle and to the left of the 2D line (see picture below). Then for the height input 1.5 and press ENTER:
Good, now we have our desk handle. Delete all of the 2D lines and circles, we don't need them anymore. Adjust your view so it's similar to mine in the picture below:
Create a 3D box using the top right corner of the handle as a snap, for the length input 25 and press TAB to input width. For the width input 5 and press ENTER:
The height can be whatever, but just make sure it goes DOWN:
Activate the 3D rotate tool. Select the handle itself and press ENTER. For the base point, use the same corner as you did for the starting point of the rectangle. Pick the blue rotational axis. Then lastly for the angle point, click on the same spot as the base point.
Now the handle should be rotating with your mouse. This time holding shift isn't going to work so we are going to rotate the handle the hard way. Zoom in and get a closer view. Adjust your view so it is comfortable and easy to work with.
Now take your time and move your mouse until the other end of the handle touches the box and seems align with it. This part can take a long time but don't rush this. Once you are satisfied, click to finalize it. See the picture below if you are unsure where to place it:
Once it is aligned, delete the 3D box as we don't need it anymore. The handle though we DO need so don't delete that.
Adjust your view so you can see the inner curve of the handle and create two 2D lines crossing as shown in the picture. This will give us an intersection snap to work with:
Activate the copy tool located under erase tool by clicking on it OR by typing “_copy”. Select the two 2D lines plus the handle itself and press ENTER.
For the base point, it doesn't matter at all; just click anywhere close to the handle.
Now there should be another handle that is moving with your mouse. Just place it close to the original handle, doesn't matter as we are going to move it again later:
Create a 3D box relatively close to one of the handles with the dimensions as shown in the picture below:
