Part Design – Body ( Active Body )

What is a Body and How is it used in FreeCAD?

The “Body” in FreeCAD is a type of container. Ideally it is contained within a Part but as of this article this is not mandatory.

The “Body” is self-contained and is intended to not reference items outside of itself. This, however, can be overridden.

To work on the Body it must be Activated

Activating the Body in FreeCAD Part Design.

Initially after you add a new Part Design – Body it will set as active.

You can add a new Body in at least of two ways:

  • From the Part Design Menu by selecting Create Body
  • From the Part Design Toolbar by clicking the Blue Step Stool shape.

To activate an existing body, double click on the Body in Model Tab in the Combo View, or In the Tree View

The currently active Body will be highlighted in blue.

Currently Active Body

Adding “Features” to the Body

Features, as they are referred to in FreeCAD are discrete, contiguous sub-sub-parts of the body. The feature can be comprise of additive, or subtractive primitives, 3D manipulations of a sketch and Dress-Ups.

Patterns are not considered features at this time.

Features are sub-divided into four categories.

  • Additive Feature
    • added via the menu using “Create an Additive Feature”
  • Subtractive Feature
    • added via the menu using “Create an Subtractive Feature”
  • Additive Primitive
    • added via the menu using “Create an Additive Primitive”
  • Subtractive Primitive
    • added via the menu using “Create an Subtractive Primitive”
  • Dress-up
    • Fillet
    • Chamfer
    • Thickness
    • Draft

Properties of the Body

  • Body Placement
  • The Placement Property of the Body describes where the body will appear within the 3d Space.
  • If the body is Contained within a Part the Origin of the Part Con
  • Base Feature
  • Tip
  • Group

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