FreeCAD Lesson 06 - Compression Spring Video Lecture | Mastering FreeCad: Tutorial for Beginners - Design Softwares

hello and welcome to another video
tutorial about free CAD in this video
tutorial we are going to learn how to
model this compression spring like it is
shown here on the screen we will well
therefore learn how to insert a helix
within the part module workbench and we
will learn how to do a sweep in the part
module workbench we will do a sweep of a
profile along a path in 3d we will also
learn how to install macros from a
freaking homepage to enhance free cut
with more capabilities and functions and
features and we will also talk about an
alternative way to create a compression
spring if it comes to CPU usage which we
will try to keep low the version of free
cat I'm using here is with 0.15 stable
release under Windows 7 64 bit so let's
get started first I'm going to close
this document here I'm going to insert a
new document and if not already done
please switch to the pod module
workbench and as you can see you can
insert part primitives but you can also
insert geometric shapes in 3d now let's
use this icon here and you can see a
list of all the geometric primitives you
can insert in 3d for this case we will
insert a helix and here you have four
different parameters you can apply to
the hallux
let's use a pitch of six millimeters and
the total 8 of V Alex of 60 millimeters
so that we get 10 complete turns of V
halex the mid radius of the hallux
should be 10 millimeters we won't need a
conical Alex so the angle could be zero
degrees and we use right hand italic
sweaters okay with us we could also
choose down here a different position
and a different direction if we like but
we will but we will choose these values
to be at default values and we click on
create and if we switch to EXO metric
view we can see what the HELOCs is
inserted here we close with our dialog
here and then we will create a sketch of
a circle and then in the next operation
we will sweep with circling along the
helix in 3d so let's switch to where
Sketchup workbench as you can see here
we will need a sketch on V X Z plane so
I click on your sketch and choose the X
that plane no reverse direction or
offset I choose okay I assume a little
bit in and I do a circling I make sure
that the midpoint of a circle is set on
the horizontal x-axis I will give these
two points a horizontal dimension of 10
millimeters because that's what we set
as value for the radius of the helix and
I will apply a radius constraint to the
circle of 2 millimeters and that's it we
close with sketch because we already are
fully constrained and now we are ready
to do our sweep in 3d therefore we
switch back to a part module workbench
and we click on the icon for the utility
to sweep so of course as I said before
we need a profile and the sweep path for
this operation the profile we have is
the sketch so we can click on the sketch
here to mark it and apply I click on
this icon here to add the sweep profile
now we will select the sweep path
therefore we it is about advice will do
to click in empty space to be sure that
nothing is marked here nothing is
selected we will click on the sweep path
and then we will click on these
different segments each turn of the
helix is at the moment one segment so I
have to do a multi select here by
holding down ctrl on the windows system
I'm using and clicking on all these
turns and when I say done
I want to create a solid and I want to
enable a friend adoption or an adoption
make sure that the beginning phase here
and the end phase of the operation which
will then be here are coplanar I say
okay and here we go
the sweep operation was done
successfully now as you can see on the
left hand side in the tree view the
helix and the sketch are still visible I
can manually toggle the visibility by
using the spacebar or using the
right-click menu here so now they are no
more visible only the sweep is visible
in 3d now if we have a look at
compression springs which are used in
real life they are normally centered on
a plane our face here and the planar
face here maybe we may have a cylinder
or something like that inside and maybe
one outside to get some sort of a
centering maybe you can say and
technically speaking we want to make
sure that the compression spring does
only move along its main axis and does
not move in any other direction so
therefore we will insert two cubes and
we make a boolean cut with a compression
spring modeled here to show this also in
our 3d model
so I'm going to insert in the part
module backbench
a cube I'm going to select the cube in
the 3d view I switch here to the data
tab I will give it a length of 25
millimeters a width of 25 millimeters as
well and the 8 of 3 millimeters so as
you can see here the position of the
plate I just insert it is wrong so I
will select the cube and click here in
replacement third tab and then I will
click on these three points here to
chase to change for placement I will
change
placement in X direction by minus 12
comma 5 millimeters and in y direction
it's also minus 12 comma 5 millimeters
and in Z direction is minus 3
millimeters okay so if you have a closer
look here I chose dimensions bigger when
the dimensions of whispering to be sure
to have overlapping contours often with
boolean operations such as cut off use
especially with cut you have problems if
you don't have overlapping contours if
you just have contours which are equal
co-planner or things like that
you may be getting problems so now I am
going to select the sweep
when I press control to do a
multi-select and select the cube and
then I do a boolean cut by using this
icon here and as you can see here we now
have a planar face here so I will repeat
now this operation here on top to have a
complete compression spring okay so now
I'm inserting another cube as before I
will choose the length to be 25
millimeters will to be 25 millimeters
and via 8 to be 3 millimeters so now I
will choose the placement to be in X
Direction minus 12 comma 5 millimeters
in Y Direction minus 12 comma 5
millimeters so now I'm centered here and
the Z Direction should be 60 millimeter
because that's what we entered before as
we ate for the Horlicks I click on OK I
choose Ricard I hold on ctrl key on my
windows keyboard choose cube 0 0 1 and
apply boolean cut and we are completed
with our simple compression spring so a
real compression spring would have a
finer pitch in the lower region and in
the upper region then in the middle
region so to model a realistic spring as
possible you would need to free Alice's
to be inserted
and then you would do free sweeps you
would do a multi fusion and your cut you
can also use a macro from the homepage
or free kit the homepage is located at
WWF recap web dork
and a macro section at least that's how
I often reach the macro section is with
clicking on tutorials here and within
the tutorials you have macro recipes
when you click on that you will get here
a list of macros which you can insert in
free cut to get additional functions so
now I like to show you a macro FC spring
helix variable if you click on this you
get here a picture of how your spring
could look like and you get a complete
explanation with everything like that
what you need to to insert and how are
the different values combined with each
other and things like that
now to insert your macro with within
freecad there is also a tutorial on the
free cat home page how to do that I can
now show you at least my method with
using Windows 7 and free cat and well I
do it like this
you have these icons here to record a
new macro and to open an existing macro
and to edit it or whatever
and the first thing I do is that I
record a new macro let's call it test I
will record and then I will press stop
and if I open this button I have all the
macros within my macro destination
directory I can here choose a new
destination directory and as you may
already know and edit preferences if you
have a look at the different registers
here you also have a register named
macro and you have a macro path where
you can see in which directory the free
card stores at least at the moment its
macros and you can change it here so I'm
going to open and edit my test macro
like I do select it here in the list and
I said
and when I say eat it and now I can
select all those lines and delete them
and then I can change to my browser I
can mark all the text here and then copy
it we have a clipboard to the two VMT
macro here and then save for macro and
that's it
for running the macro you just press on
the label here or you can place a macro
on your own custom toolbar within
freecad so that's what I want to want it
to show here and now I wanted to show
you an alternative way to create a
compression spring as you can perhaps
imagine with hallux approximation here
uses quite some CPU power if you have a
modern CPU and modern PC and things like
that
this may be not a problem but if you
have an assembly with a lot of Springs
and things like that and a lot of
internals and a lot of parts
maybe you're quickly running low on CPU
power so maybe you can start thinking
about an alternative way to model a
compression spring and this way will not
take so much CPU power as using the
hallux to do this I will create a new
document here to show you this method we
will use four part module bug bench and
we will insert a torus the torus we will
leave with its initial values at the
moment of main radius of 10 millimeter
and the radius here of a circle of two
millimeters now when you have a look at
the part design workbench
you will have here possibilities to
create patterns such as linear or polar
pattern for example but these operations
are only meant for object
transformations you know it is meant to
have a pad or pocket and then apply a
pattern to the pad or pocket operation
here we have a complete solid which we
want to do a trend a transformation we
want to have an array of the solid so we
need to use the draft workbench and
there we have an array tool it is this
icon here on top it creates a polar or
rectangular array from a selected object
so we will select the torus and then we
will start making V array okay so we
select the torus we click on V array
tool we change to the data tab of V
array 2 and let's see what we will have
as values are we don't want to views the
different copies of the array the axis
is at 0 0 of the vector of the axis is
pointing in that direction with this ok
we have an angle of 360 degrees but it's
also ok the interval in X direction we
set to 0 and also be interval in y
direction we set to 0
we only want to have an interval in z
direction
and the interval should be six
millimeters let's the pitch we used in
the example of the helix spring okay now
the number of copies in x-direction
should be one the number of copies in y
direction should be one and the number
of copies in z direction should be ten
so now we have 10 Tori or to say 10
rings here if we now would insert our
cubes in the pod module workbench let's
insert the cube let's switch to the data
tab let's say 25 millimeter by 25
millimeter by 3 millimeter let's correct
the placement in X we have minus 12
comma 5 and Y we have minus 12 comma 5
and in that we have minus 3 millimeter
we say ok we select the array we
multi-select the cube we do a boolean
cut the insert the second cube and now
we do again change the dimensions of a
second cube to be 25 by 25 by 3
millimeters and we change the placement
of a second cube we click here on these
three dots X is minus 12 comma 5
millimeters Y is minus 12 comma 5
millimeters and that
a
should be 54 millimeters in that case
to be correct and then we do
multi-select the cut and then the cube
do boolean cut and that would be another
way of well symbolically
modeling a compression spring just to
give you something to think about and to
have as a second thought if you're
running low on CPU usage well we have
reached the end of this lesson I hope I
could show some things and please leave
your comments and remarks on the YouTube
channel and well maybe see you in
another video bye