SOLIDEDIT

AutoCAD has many editing commands that allow you to edit existing solids. In this Lesson four of the more frequently used editing commands will be discussed.

They are: Extrude faces, Move faces, Offset faces and Delete faces.

Before you can learn how to use these editing commands, you must first understand how to select the surfaces and how to add or subtract material.

Selecting a face to edit.

Selecting the correct face to edit is very important. To select a face, place your cursor on an open area of the face (surface). Do not select an edge. (Consider turning off Osnap. It may prevent you from placing the cursor in the correct location) The edges of the face will become dashed to indicate which face has been selected. (If the preferred face is under another face, left click again. Use Remove to de-select a face. (You ll understand better when you use it.)

Positive vs. Negative value

Positive value adds material. Negative value subtracts material.

This sounds basic but you need to think about this. For example, if you need to increase the size of a hole you will enter a negative value because when the hole increases in size material is subtracted from the solid model.

ERROR MESSAGES

Sometimes, when using these commands, AutoCAD gets a little confused. If AutoCAD gets confused it stops working. If this happens you usually have to reboot the computer. So it is always a good idea to