Cutting a hole in a solid, and making a circle a solid.

I have been drawing in AutoCAD LT for years so I'm very familiar with most 2-D commands however I cant seem to do some simple things in the Full Version of AutoCAD 2000 3-D.

Lets say I have drawn a circle and I want to make it a solid then give it a depth or Thickness with a hole in the center so it is a disc like a CD or DVD.

1, How do I Make a Solid circle?

2, How can I cut a hole in this solid?

From what i know about Autocad LT is that you can "view 3d objects but i was under the impression that there were no 3d tools in LT, Hence it being called LT and the lower price tag.

Check the Autodesk website to see if im right.

There are Plug ins for LT that will give you more tools like the full blown version of autocad. Do a google search, and you should find these.

Thanks

G

Whoops, I forgot to mention that I am now using AutoCAD 2000 Full

Mike

With the AutoCAD 2000 you have a CD named AutoCAD Learning Assistant. It is an excellent tool for initiate in 3D.

The solution to your problem is easy:

1 Draw two concentrically circles corresponding to the inner and the outer diameter of your DVD

2 Find the EXTRUDE command (Draw>Solids>Extrude) or just type EXTRUDE at the command line. When AutoCAD prompts you SELECT OBJECTS pick the two circles and hit Enter

3 At the prompt HEIGHT OF EXTRUSION enter the desired thickens (for example 1.95)

4 At the next question (Taper angle) hit Enter to accept the 0 value. If you are in plan view and the shading mode is wire frame, apparently nothing is changed, but you have from now two solids.

5 Substract the inner solid from the outer one: Modify>Solids editing>Substract. Select the outer solid first, Enter, select the inner one, Enter again. Now your DVD is ready.

Type UCS, Enter, Y, Enter, 45, Enter, PLAN, Enter, Enter.

Here is an other way to make a DVD by revolving a rectangle, but I will let you to discover your self the way.

Happy modeling!

Fuccaro, Thank You very much, your instructions were perfect and it worked out just the way I hoped. I coulden't figure out why the Donut command wouldn't work, once I Extruded a Donut I could not find the inned diameter.

Thanks again, this forum is a God Send!

Mike

Donuts are a tube or tyre shape, not a disc.

Have a go at my extrude and revolve tutorials on my site, they should get you more into 3D.

http://www.autocadzone.com

Nick

4 At the next question (Taper angle) hit Enter to accept the 0 value. If you are in plan view and the shading mode is wire frame, apparently nothing is changed, but you have from now two solids.

kindly elaborate it please

Thanks !

The original question was in two parts.

1) How do I make a solid circle?

2) How can I cut a hole in this solid?

Answers.

1) Draw a circle then use the Extrude or PressPull command to give it a height.

2) Draw a smaller circle on the top of the extruded circle you just created and use the PressPull command to press the circle in a downward fashion thus creating a void. Or...

3) Draw two circles one inside the other. Next, use the Region command and click on both circles when prompted. Next, use the Subtract command to subtract the inner circle from the outer circle. Then use the Extrude or PressPull command to give this "donut" a height.

Hint 1: The best viewing position for seeing the above would be one of the four standard isometric views.

Hint 2: The best visual styles to see the results would be Conceptual (my favorite) or Realistic.

Understand now?

An example showing one method to create a hole in an extruded circle using PressPull.

Note the blue colored circle drawn on the top of the 3D solid cylinder. Use PressPull to push the circle down into the cylinder to create the void.