FreeCAD: Exercise 6 (freecadhub)
Exercise 6 from the freecadhub course — learning Thickness and Fillet to create hollow shells and smooth edges.
Exercise 6 from the @freecadhub YouTube course. One exercise, two new tools — both are finishing operations that transform a solid into something that looks designed rather than drafted.
New Tools
Fillet — rounds selected edges by a specified radius. Select one or more edges, set the radius, done. The result is a smooth curved transition instead of a sharp corner. Useful for aesthetics and for parts that will be 3D printed or injection molded (sharp internal corners are stress concentrators).
Thickness — hollows out a solid body by selecting one face to remove and specifying a wall thickness. The rest of the solid becomes a shell of uniform thickness. This is how you turn a solid revolution into a bowl, cup, or enclosure without drawing the inner profile manually.
Exercise 6 — Dish
The part is a shallow dish: a Revolution gives the outer profile, Fillet softens the rim edge, then Thickness hollows the interior. A Pocket punches the mounting holes.
What Clicked
Thickness is the right way to make shells. The alternative — sketching both the outer and inner profile and revolving the gap — works but is fragile. Thickness keeps one source of truth (the outer profile) and derives the inner wall from it. Change the outer shape and the shell follows.
Fillet order matters. Fillet applied before Thickness rounds the outer edge. Applied after, it rounds the shell’s cut edge. Both are valid but produce different shapes — you pick based on what you’re trying to achieve.