In my last post, I specified the tessellation divisions for a mesh primitive box. Now I’m ready to create the mesh box that will eventually become a rubber grip for an air hockey paddle. I could create the mesh box by specifying the two corners of the base, similar to creating a rectangle. But, since I already have the main paddle model and I know I want the grip to be centered on this model, I’ll use the Center option for creating the box and select the center osnap on the sphere.
Next, I can pick the corner of the base, enter values for the length of each side, or select the Cube option. The Cube option is handy in this case because it enables you to quickly create the box by specifying only one value for length, width, and height. You can pick a point or type a value, just as you’re used to with other AutoCAD drawing tools. Even if you type a value, the direction in which you drag the cursor affects how the cube is positioned. For example if you drag in a random direction, the faces of the box are not parallel with the coordinate system. If you drag along a polar axis when you enter the value, the planes of the cube are parallel with the coordinate system.
To create this rubber grip, I dragged the cursor along a polar axis (since it’s a cube, it doesn’t matter which axis) and entered a length of 30, which is slightly larger than the diameter of the existing plastic handle.
Before moving on, I guess I should do a little layer management. I’ll create two new layers named Plastic and Rubber with different layer colors. I’ll put the new mesh box on the rubber layer and the solid objects on the plastic layer.
Key Concept:
- Create a mesh box
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