2.6. Chair and Table | Learn SelfCAD

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2.1. Dollhouse project, part 1
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2.5. Armchair & Sofa
2.6. Chairs & Table
3.1. 3D Print - Slicer interface
3.2. 3D Print - Settings
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Hello! This time we are about to model a table and chair. All we need is SelfCAD, of course ;)

Table: Create a Tabletop

To create a tabletop you can simply add a cube and change its dimensions. My tabletop is 160 cm long (deep), 80 cm wide and 4 cm high. Its upper surface is at the height of 76 cm, so I changed its Y position to 72.

Table: Model a Leg

We can use several tools to model a leg. I want to show you one of the 3D Shapes called... Shape. Simply. This tool always creates objects that are solids of revolution, but you can customize their shapes.

Each shape consists of at least one segment. The first thing you can do is changing the top and bottom radius and choose if they should be filled or not. Then there is a slider that allows creating only a sector of the solid of revolution. Lower, you can choose the number of edges and change the segment's height. The next option is Position Offset, which should be inactive when you model the first segment. The most interesting in this tool is the bevel offset. If its value is different from zero, two more sliders are available - bevel level and bevel weight.

To make the leg set both radius values to 6, increase the number of edges for example to 16 and change the height to 10. Now, add a new segment.
The second segment has both radius values 4, height 50 and position offset 5. As you can see, position offset moved the second segment higher. Additionally, an offset smoothness slider appeared which can be helpful if you want to model the offset later. You can set this value to 1.
Add the third segment and set its radius to 6, height to 6 and offset to 2.

The sum of all segments heights and offsets should be equal to 72.

Table: Copy the Legs

Place the first leg under the tabletop. Use Copy to make all three legs.

Table: Prepare the Table for Printing

When the table is ready, group all its parts and rotate 180 degrees. Then, decrease its size 5 times.

Chair: Add Two Cubes

Now let's model a chair. First, add two cubes to the scene - for a seat and for a back.

The first cube has width 51, height 4 and depth 42. This cube is placed at a height of 43 units.

The second cube is 51 units wide, 97 high and 4 deep. The back will be curved, so set the width segment parameter to 10.

Chair: Bend the Second Cube

Rotate the back around the Z-axis. Use the Bend (D+B) tool. In the advanced settings turn on the Dynamic Origin switcher. Drag the front arrow to bend the object slightly.

Chair: Shorten the Back

Rotate the back again. Then, select its bottom polygon and move it at the same height as the bottom polygon of the seat.

Chair: Skew the Back

Select the back and use Skew (D+S) to tilt it slightly in Z-axis. Then, move the back closer to the seat to reduce the gap between both objects.

! The rule for Skew, Taper, Twist and Bend tools is that an object isn't deformed at the height at which the origin is placed. Here the origin is in the bottom part of the object, so its bottom polygon stays in place.

Chair: Add a Leg

Add a new cube to the scene. Set its width and depth to 8 and height to 43, then apply the cube. Move the object under the seat.

Chair: Change Shape of the Leg

Select the leg and use Taper (D+T). This tool allows for changing the size of the top and bottom parts of an object.

Open advanced settings and change the origin position to top. Then, select the tiny checkboxes next to X and Z values. These checkboxes cause that when you change X value, Z will be changed to. Now you can enter -5 into the X text field.

Chair: Finish the Chair

Use copy and move to create the remaining legs and finish the chair.

Finally, group all chair objects and reduce that group's size.

Next Lesson

At the moment it's the last modeling lesson. After all these tutorials you should know what are the basic tools in SelfCAD and be able to create your own models. But there are still many, many possibilities I haven't show you. Feel invited to watch my other courses and learn how powerful SelfCAD is.

So it was the last MODELING lesson, but not the last lesson! Click here to see how slicer works and print your models.