ATOM 3D Tutorial

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Alibre Atom3D Tutorial
Table of Contents
Section 1, Introduction and basic part modelling:.......................................................................2
What is Alibre Atom3D?..................................................................................................................................... 3
What is Parametric CAD?.................................................................................................................................. 3
Hardware requirements:.................................................................................................................................... 3
Create the base component:............................................................................................................................. 5
Section 2, The Revolve Tool and Assemblies:..........................................................................12
Create the Vertical Column component:.......................................................................................................... 12
Create an assembly to combine the base and vertical column components together:....................................24
Section 3, modelling the clamp and 2D drawings:....................................................................34
Create the Clamp component:......................................................................................................................... 34
Create a 2D drawing of the clamp:.................................................................................................................. 49
Section 4, threads and feature pattern:....................................................................................58
Create the ‘Clamp Pin’ component:................................................................................................................. 58
Create the ‘Thumbscrew’ component:............................................................................................................. 72
Section 5, the sweep function:..................................................................................................83
Create the ‘Scriber’ component:...................................................................................................................... 83
Part modelling practice: The ‘Scriber Collar’:................................................................................................... 90
Create the Clamp Assembly:........................................................................................................................... 91
Section 6, Sub-assemblies and editing:..................................................................................103
Finish the ‘Main Assembly’:........................................................................................................................... 103
Editing the ‘Base’ component:........................................................................................................................ 116
Summary:...................................................................................................................................................... 123
Section 7, tips and tricks:........................................................................................................123
Document Revision: A Page 2 of 123 March 2019

Section 1, Introduction and basic part modelling:
What is Alibre Atom3D?

Alibre Atom3D is a parametric CAD system. This is the same type of software used widely by
designers and engineers across a multitude of industry sectors. Alibre Atom3D has been
specially designed with hobbyists and those new to 3D design in mind. The focus is on
keeping it simple- Alibre Atom3D provides all the tools users need to create parts suitable for
CNC machining and 3D Printing. Alibre Atom3D is supplied as a perpetual, stand alone
licence (upgrade options will be available but are entirely optional). The software and all files
created are stored locally- there are no hidden costs such as rental of cloud based storage
space.
What is Parametric CAD?

For anyone unfamiliar with the term, the easiest way to think of parametric is ‘parameter
driven’, when you perform an action it gets stored as feature within the model. At any point
during the design process you can go back and modify these features and the part will update
accordingly. Drawings of parts remain linked to the parent part file- realize you need to
change the size of the part after producing the drawing? No problem, modify the part then
open the drawing back up and all the views and dimensions will update automatically.
Hardware requirements:
Alibre Atom3D will run on most modern computers without issue, below are the minimum
hardware requirements:
• Windows 7, 8 or 10 (64 bit versions only)
• 4gb ram
• Direct X 9 compatible graphics card (integrated graphics are fine for light work
although a dedicated graphics board is recommended)
• Internet access
• SSD storage is recommended to improve loading times in larger models.

Fig 1.1
In this tutorial we will go through the creation of a ‘Mini Gauge’ as shown in Fig 1.1 (many
thanks to Neil Wyatt for the design).
In section 1 we will focus on producing the base component

Fig 1.2
Alibre Atom3D offers two main working environments, “Parts” and “Assemblies” (see Fig 1.2).
As a rule of thumb, anything that is cut from a single piece of material (or built as a single
component in the case of 3D printing) should be modelled using the Part workspace. If
something is comprised of multiple pieces (even if these are subsequently welded together),
then you would create the constituent components as separate parts and then combine them
together using the Assembly workspace. If you produce your model in a way that mimics how
it would actually be manufactured you shouldn’t go far wrong.
Create the base component:

From the Alibre Atom3D home window, open
a new part workspace by clicking on the blue
part icon (see Fig 1.3).
Fig 1.3

Fig 1.4
Fig 1.4 shows the part workspace. This is broken into 3 sections:
A) The main ribbon
B) The design explorer – all created features are listed here
C) The main window
Basic controls:
• Rotate view, hold left and right mouse buttons and drag
• Zoom in / out- scroll the mouse wheel (note AA3D zooms to / from the mouse cursor).
• Pan – press down the mouse wheel and drag
• Left click to select items
• Right click to bring up shortcut menus
To create the basic shape for the base

component we first need a sketch. Sketches
must exist on flat faces or reference planes,
as this is a new model we can use one of the
provided reference planes. Select the ‘XY’
Fig 1.5 plane by left clicking on the edge of the plane
in the main window. Then click on the
‘Activate 2D Sketch’ button on the ribbon (see
Fig 1.5) to enter sketch mode.

Sketches in Alibre Atom3D must be both

sized, and positioned in relation to the
software co-ordinate system. The software
provides an origin point to position to when
starting a new part.
Click on the ‘Circle’ command under the

‘sketch figures’ section of the ribbon. Click on
the origin point provided in the centre of the
main window and move the mouse away from
the origin. This will create a circle (see Fig
1.6).
Fig 1.6
Type in ‘25’ and press enter to size the circle.
The circle will be coloured in grey to indicate
that there are no remaining degrees of
freedom and a dialogue at the bottom of the
main window should read ‘fully defined’.
Click the green tick ‘deactivate sketch’ button

top left to exit sketch mode.
Fig 1.7
Select the sketch in the main window by left
clicking on the edge of the circle, then click
on the ‘Extrude’ button located in the ‘Boss
(add material)’ section of the main ribbon.
Fig 1.8

Set the depth to 10, then click OK (see fig

1.9).
This will create a 3D part- drag whilst holding

down left and right mouse buttons in the main
window to rotate and inspect the part.
Note that a feature named “Extrusion<1>” is

now listed in the design explorer.
Fig 1.9
We can now create the support collar on the
top surface of the base. Left click on the top
face of the part in the main window- this will
highlight it blue (See Fig 1.10). Next click on
‘activate 2D sketch’ to start a new sketch on
this face.
Fig 1.10

Create a circle (again starting on the origin

point) 10mm in diameter (see Fig 1.11).
Come out of the sketch mode, then use the

extrude (add material) function to create the
collar. Set the depth to 2mm.
This will add a second feature named

“Extrusion<2>” to the design explorer.
Fig 1.11
Select the face on top of the second extrusion
and start a new sketch. Draw a circle 6mm
diameter starting on the origin point and exit
sketch mode.
With the new sketch selected, click on the

‘Extrude’ button located in the ‘Cut (Remove
Material)’ section of the ribbon as shown (see
Fig 1.12).
Fig 1.12

Set the Type to ‘Through ALL’ and input ‘2’

into the Draft angle box. Uncheck the
‘Outward’ option (the value in Draft Angle will
change to ‘-2’ upon doing this) and click OK.
This will create a tapered hole that runs

through the entire part.
Fig 1.13
In the main window, select the upper edge of
the base shape (be careful to get the edge
rather than a face), then click on the
‘Chamfer’ tool located in the ‘Geometry
Transform’ section of the ribbon.
Set the size to 2mm then click Apply (see Fig

1.14).
Now click the ‘Close’ button to exit the

Chamfer tool.
Fig 1.14

Fig 1.15, left: The finished base component.
Fig 1.15
Click on the Alibre Atom3D roundel (top left)
and then choose ‘Save’ to save the part (see
Fig 1.16).
Choose a location you will be able to find

easily on your machine (for example create a
folder on the desktop called ‘Alibre Atom3D
Tutorial’ and save into that), as you will need
to locate the part in the next section.
Fig 1.16

Section 2, The Revolve Tool and Assemblies:
In section 1, we looked at the basic interface of Alibre Atom3D, and how to create a simple
part using the extrude tools. In this section we will cover some more in depth sketching and
demonstrate the use of the revolve cut tool to create the ‘Vertical Column’ component, then
use the Assembly workspace to combine the new part with the base created in section 1.
Create the Vertical Column component:

From the Alibre Atom 3D home screen, click
on the Part icon to start creating a new
component.
We need to start off by creating a sketch on

one of the pre defined sketch planes. In the
previous section we selected this in the main
view- sketch planes can also be selected
from the model tree on the left hand side as
shown. Selecting items from the tree can
often be easier than finding something in the
main view once a model becomes more
complex.
Select the ‘X-Y Plane’ as shown in Fig 2.1,

then click on ‘Activate 2D sketch’ to start a
new sketch (see Fig 2.2).
Fig 2.1
Fig 2

Create a circle around the origin, and specify

the diameter as 6mm as shown in Fig 2.3.
Click on the Deactivate Sketch button to exit

the sketch.
Fig 2.3
Sketches can also be selected from the
model tree- select Sketch<1>, then create an
extrusion using the Extrude command
(located under the ‘Boss (Add Material)’
section of the main menu).
Fig 2.4

Set the depth to 200mm as shown in Fig 2.5,

and click ‘OK’
Fig 2.5

We now need to create a 2 degree taper on

the end of the part, to match the tapered hole
in the base component.
Rotate and zoom the main view so that you

can see the whole part as shown in Fig 2.6
(reminder, click and hold left and right mouse
button to rotate, scroll the middle mouse
wheel to zoom).
To create the taper we can use the ‘Revolve

Cut’ command. The Revolve tools are used to
create features which are rotationally
symmetrical around an axis- think turned
components. The tool requires a section
sketch and an axis.
To create the section sketch:

Select the XZ plane, then activate 2D sketch
mode.
Fig 2.6

Fig 2.7
In order to position the cross section sketch, we need to create some reference geometry. To
do this we can use the Project to Sketch function- which pulls information from the part into
the sketch. Create a reference feature for the end of the rod as shown in Fig 2.7:
A) Click on the Project to Sketch button, located under the Sketch Tools section of the
ribbon.
B) Click on the top edge of the rod- this will add the edge into the ‘Entities to project’
section of the tool.
C) Change the Output Option to ‘Create reference figure’, and tick the ‘Maintain
association to source entity’ check box (this option links the created reference line to
the part) then click OK.
D) This creates a reference line on the end of the part that we can position / dimension
our sketch against.

Standard figures vs Reference Figures:

When creating sketches in Alibre Atom 3D there are two line types available. Standard
figures (e.g. lines and circles) are used in the 3D functions to create features. These have
strict rules, such as no gaps or overlaps. Reference figures are lines that are not used in the
3D functions, so do not have the same restrictions as standard figures. Reference lines are
very useful when creating more complicated shapes. Figures can be switched between
standard and reference by right clicking on the line and choosing either ‘Convert To
Reference Figures’ or ‘Convert To Regular Figures’ option.
Fig 2.8
Now we can create the cross section for the cut.
A) Click on the ‘Line’ tool located under Sketch Figures.
B) Left click to start a line (do not hold down the mouse button), then move to the right
trying to keep horizontally aligned with the starting point. The software should
automatically snap the line to horizontal (denoted by the black arrow symbol above
the line). Left click again to finish the line.
C) After clicking, a new line will start, connected to the end point of the first. Move the
mouse directly down from this point, the line should snap perpendicular to the first as
shown. Left click to finish the second line segment.
D) A third line will start, from the end of the second- move the mouse over the start of the
first line (a little asterisk tooltip will show when you have the point selected) and left
click to close the shape. As this is a closed shape the line tool will automatically finish.
Note: If you only want to draw one or two lines, you can press the ‘Esc’ key to finish the line
tool at any point.

Fig 2.9
Now we have defined our basic shape, we can use a combination of constraints and
dimensions to finish the sketch.
A) Left click on the ‘Coincident Constraint’ option, located under the Constraints section
of the tool bar. This tool allows us to connect points together.
B) Left click on the node in the top right corner of the section sketch.
C) Left click on the right hand node of the reference line created earlier. This will snap
the section sketch to the corner of the rod.

Fig 2.10
Alibre Atom 3D allows dimensions to be input whilst sketching (as we did when creating the
Base component), however often it is easier to define the shape first and then manually add
the dimensions in afterwards.
To manually add a dimension:

A) Left click on the Dimension button.
B) Left click on the right hand edge of the section sketch.
C) Move the mouse over to the right (do not hold down the mouse button), then left click
again the position the dimension- a dialogue will appear. Input a value of 12mm and
press the enter key to accept the value.
D) The finished dimension.

We also need to define the angle of the taper.
To dimension the angle:
1: Left click on the dimension tool
2: Left click on the vertical line
3: Left click on the long edge of the triangle
4: Move the mouse such that the cursor is

positioned vertically above and between the
two lines and left click again. Input a value of
‘2’ into the dialogue and press Enter.
Fig 2.11 shows the finished sketch. Note that

all lines are in grey to indicate that there are
no remaining degrees of freedom left in the
sketch.
Click Deactivate Sketch to exit sketch mode.
Fig 2.11
Rotate and zoom the main view as shown in
Fig 2.12.
Fig 2.12

Fig 2.13
We can now create the taper using Revolve Cut:
A) Click on the ‘Revolve’ command located under the ‘Cut (Remove Material) section of
the main menu ribbon.
B) Make sure the section sketch is listed under the ‘Sketch to Revolve’ section of the
tool, then left click in the ‘Axis’ box and select the outside cylindrical face of the rod,
then click ‘OK’.
C) This finished taper.
A few final details to finish the part:
Create a 0.5mm fillet on the tapered end of

the rod as shown in Fig 2.14.
Fig 2.14

Fig 2.15: The finished fillet.
Fig 2.15
Create a 0.5mm chamfer on the other end of
the rod (note when changing the size of a
fillet or chamfer, type the required size in the
‘Distance box’ and then left click in the
‘Entities to Fillet’ / ‘Edges/Faces to Chamfer’
box to apply the change in value).
Fig 2.16

Save the part into the same folder as the

base component created in the last article,
use the file name ‘Vertical Column’.
Fig 2.17: The finished Vertical Column

component.
Fig 2.17

Create an assembly to combine the base and vertical column components together:
Go back to the Alibre Atom 3D home window,

then click on the assembly button (Fig 2.18)
to open a new assembly workspace.
Fig 2.18
When starting a new assembly, Alibre Atom
3D will open the ‘Insert Part / Subassembly’
window, which allows us to bring in the parts
previously modelled (by default the software
should go to the folder where you last saved
a part).
Left click on the ‘Base’ component and click

the ‘Open’ button as shown in Fig 2.19.
Fig 2.19
This will now enter the assembly workspace
and a preview of the part will follow the
cursor. Left click once somewhere in the main
view to place one copy of the base part (we
don’t need to worry about it’s position at this
stage). Then click the ‘Finish’ button to exit
the part insert mode (note that when in this
mode, each left click in the main view will
place an additional copy of the part- which is
handy when dealing with things such as
fasteners that are often used multiple times in
an assembly).
Fig 2.20

If you left click on the part in the main view

and drag the mouse whilst holding down the
left mouse button, the part is free to move
within the workspace. This needs to be fixed
in position relative to the assembly co-
ordinate system (the green planes / axis for
the assembly as shown in Fig 2.21). To do
this we need to use assembly constraints to
lock all 6 degrees of freedom for the
component.
Right click on the a face of the base

component to bring up the right click menu,
then left click on the ‘Show Reference
Geometry’ option.
Fig 2.21
This will make the construction planes the
base part was built around visible, which are
shown in light grey to denote they belong to
the part rather than the assembly (see Fig
2.22).
Fig 2.22

Click on the ‘Quick’ button located in the

‘Constrain’ section of the assembly toolbar as
shown in Fig 2.23.
Fig 2.23
This will bring up the ‘Assembly Constrain’
tool (Fig 2.24).
Fig 2.24

Fig 2.25
We can now use the assembly constrain tool to create a constraint between the XY plane of
the part and XY plane of the assembly as follows:
A) Left click on the grey XY plane of the part.
B) left click on the green XY plane for the assembly (at this point the part will move so
that the two planes are coincident with each other).
C) Click the green ‘Apply’ tick on the Assembly Constrain tool.
D) An ‘Align’ constraint has now been added to the assembly model tree on the left.

The Assembly Constrain tool will remain open

to allow us to quickly move onto the next
constraint.
Left click on the grey YZ plane of the part,

then left click on the green YZ plane of the
assembly and click the apply tick to accept
the constraint.
The part will now be locked in place in all but

the vertical direction.
Fig 2.26
Left click on the grey XY plane of the part,

then left click on the green XY plane of the
assembly and click the apply tick to accept
the constraint.
Fig 2.27
The result should be 3 align constraints in the

assembly tree as shown in Fig 2.28.
Click the red ‘x’ in the top right corner of the

Assembly Constrain box to close the tool.
Fig 2.28
If you left click and drag on the part in the
main window it should be fully fixed and will
not move in any direction (applying
constraints to 3 planes will lock all 6 degrees
of freedom).

We can now bring in the Vertical Column

component and position it in relation to the
Base.
Left click on the ‘Insert Design’ button under

Fig 2.29 the Insert section of the assembly ribbon as
shown in Fig 2.29.
Select the Vertical Column component and

click ‘Open’, then left click in the main window
to place 1 copy of the part into the assembly
and click ‘Finish’ to exit the insert part tool.
Open the ‘Quick’ constrain tool. Left click on

the outside surface of the taper at the bottom
of the vertical column, then left click on the
tapered surface of the hole on the base
component as shown in Fig 2.30, and then
click the apply button.
This will centre the column on the hole in the

base component and add an ‘align’ constraint
into the assembly tree.
Fig 2.30
Rotate the main view so that you can see the
underside face of the base component and
the flat face on the end of the vertical column.
Left click on the flat face on the end of the

vertical column, then left click on the flat face
on the bottom of the base component and
click apply.
Fig 2.31

This will align the end of the vertical column

with the bottom of the base as shown in Fig
2.32.
Fig 2.32
Fig 2.33: Top perspective view of the
assembled components.
Fig 2.33

Fig 2.34: The assembly tree- note that we

now have 5 constraints defining the position
of the parts, and both parts are listed at the
bottom of the tree.
Fig 2.34

Fig 2.35

Save the assembly by clicking on the Atom roundel top left and then clicking ‘Save’.
A) This will open the assembly save dialogue (‘A’ in fig 2.35). As assemblies deal with
multiple parts, this dialogue indicates what changes are being made to each
component. As the assembly is a new file, this is denoted as ‘NEW’ in the save action
column and has a small folder icon next to it. Left click on the folder icon.
B) This brings up the standard save dialogue. Change the file name to ‘Main Assembly’
then click the Save button.
C) This will bring us back to the assembly save dialogue seen previously, with the file
name and folder location information updated with the details just entered. Hit the ‘OK’
button to save the assembly.

Section 3, modelling the clamp and 2D drawings:
In section 2, we looked into creating the ‘vertical column’ component, and an introduction to
assemblies. We are going to look at creating a more complex component – the clamp, which
includes features in 2 directions and an introduction the 2D drawing module.
Create the Clamp component:

From the Alibre Atom3D home window, click
the Part icon to start a new part.
Select the XY Plane (reminder- you can

select this in both the main view or from the
model tree on the left), and then click the
‘Activate 2D Sketch’ button to start a new
sketch.
Create a circle sketch figure, centred on the

Fig 3.1 origin point and input a diameter of 6.2mm.
Create a second circular figure starting from

the same position and input a diameter of
10mm as shown in Fig 3.1.
Note: When you create a closed sketch within

a larger closed sketch, the inner sketch will
be treated as a cut feature. This short cut
allows us to create the body of the
component and a 6.2mm hole in a single
operation.
Click on the Line sketch figure button, then

start drawing the shape as shown in Fig 3.2.
Left click to the bottom left of the two circles,

and then move the mouse to the right (do not
hold down the mouse button) and the line
should snap to horizontal. Left click once then
move the mouse up as shown to start the
next line segment. It should snap
perpendicular to the first as shown in Fig 3.2.
Fig 3.2

Left click again to end the perpendicular line

segment, then move the mouse back to the
left so it snaps horizontally as shown (see Fig
3.3).
Left click again to end the 3rd line segment,

then press the ‘Esc’ key to exit the line
drawing mode.
Fig 3.3
Fig 3.4

We will now use the ‘Tangent Constraint’ option to snap the upper and lower horizontal lines
to the 10mm diameter circle as shown in Fig 3.4:
A) Left click on the Tangent Constraint button, located along the bottom row of the
Constraints box
B) Left click on the upper sketch line as shown
C) Left click on the edge of the 10mm diameter circle
D) The line will snap to the top of the circle
Left click in some empty space in the main

view (or press the Esc key on your keyboard)
to clear the tool, then apply another tangent
constraint between the lower horizontal line
and the 10mm diameter circle.
Next, use the dimension tool to apply a

dimension between the origin point and the
vertical line to the right hand side of the
sketch, and input a dimension of 15mm.
A quick reminder of applying dimensions:

- Click on the Dimension button
- Click on what you want to dimension from
Fig 3.5 (in this case the origin point)
- Click on what you want to dimension to (the
vertical line)
- Click a 3rd time to locate the dimension
- Type in the desired value and press the
enter key.
Fig 3.5: The sketch with both tangent

constraints and the dimension.

Fig 3.6
To complete the sketch we can now use the Trim command to remove any unwanted line
segments as shown in Fig 3.6:
A) Click on the ‘Trim’ button located under the ‘Sketch Tools’ section of the main ribbon
B) Move the mouse over the segment of line to be removed, it will highlight black, then
left click to remove it.
Use trim to remove the two sections of

horizontal line that extend past the 10mm
diameter circle.
Next use it to remove the right hand side of

the 10mm circle as shown (see Fig 3.7).
Fig 3.7

Fig 3.8: The completed sketch.
Click on the ‘Deactivate sketch’ button to exit

sketch mode.
Fig 3.8
Select the sketch (reminder this can either be
selected by left clicking on the edge of the
sketch in the main view, or by selecting it in
the model tree on the left).
Click on the ‘Extrude’ button under the ‘Boss

(Add Material)’ section of the main menu. Set
the ‘Type’ to ‘Mid Plane’ (this will make the
part symmetrical about the XY plane) and set
the ‘Depth’ value to 10mm, then press ‘OK’ as
Fig 3.9 shown in Fig 3.9.

This will create the initial body of the part, and

includes a 6.2mm diameter hole to fit over the
vertical column component created in the
previous article.
We now need to create a 2mm wide slot

through the clamp component so that it can
be compressed to grip onto the column.
Select the top face of the part as shown in Fig

3.10, then click ‘Activate 2D Sketch’ to start a
new sketch.
Fig 3.10
Click on the ‘Rectangle’ button located in the
‘Sketch Figures’ section of the ribbon.
Draw a rectangle as shown in Fig 3.11:

• Left click to place the top left corner of
the rectangle (start in the right hand
side of the hole)
• Move the mouse to the position of the
bottom right corner of the rectangle (in
Fig 3.11 this case just off the right hand edge of
the part) and left click again.
• Note: Do not hold down the mouse
button between clicks.

Fig 3.12
We now need to apply some constraints to position the rectangle.
Firstly we will centre the left hand edge of the shape on the origin point using a ‘Midline
constraint’ as shown in Fig 3.12:
A) Click on the ‘Midline constraint’ button located in the ‘Constraints’ section of the
ribbon.
B) Left click on the left hand vertical line of the sketch
C) Left click on the origin point
D) The line will be centred on the origin point.

Fig 3.13
To locate the right hand edge of the rectangle we can use the ‘Collinear Constraint’ to snap
to the existing edge of the part as shown in Fig 3.13:
A) Click on The ‘Collinear Constraint’ button located at the top of the Constraints section
of the ribbon.
B) Left click on the right hand edge of the part
C) Left click on the right hand vertical line of the sketch
D) The sketch line will be fixed to the right hand edge of the part.
Finally use the dimension tool to specify the

width of the rectangle.
Make this 2mm, as shown in Fig 3.14.
Fig 3.14
Click on the ‘Deactivate Sketch’ button to exit
sketch mode.
With the new sketch selected click on the

‘Extrude’ button under the ‘Cut (Remove
Material)’ section of the ribbon.
Set the type to ‘Through ALL’ then click ‘OK’

Fig 3.15 as shown in Fig 3.15.

Next we need to create a hole through the

side of the clamp for the locking pin to fit
through.
Select the flat face on the left hand side of the

part as shown in Fig 3.16, then click ‘Activate
2D Sketch’ to start a new sketch.
Fig 3.16
Create a circle sketch figure to the right hand
side of the part as shown in Fig 3.17, and set
the diameter to 6.2mm.
Note- when placing the circle Alibre Atom3D

provides red guidelines to help position the
sketch. Position the circle so that it is aligned
with the origin point along the X axis as
shown.
Fig 3.17

Fig 3.18
Now we can use a reference line to lock the centre of circle in line with the origin point as
detailed in Fig 3.18:
A) Click on the ‘Line’ button located in the ‘Reference’ section of the ribbon.
B) Left click on the origin
C) Left click on the centre point of the circle
D) As the circle was already in line with the origin (thanks to the red guide line) the
reference line is automatically given a horizontal constraint (indicated by the green
double arrow shown in the middle of the reference line).
Note if the circle wasn’t lined up with the origin in the previous step, you can manually add
the constraint after creating the reference line.

Fig 3.19

Finally, we need a dimension to control the position of the circle in relation to the end of the
part, as detailed in Fig 3.19:
A) Click on the ‘Dimension’ button, then left click on right hand edge of the part.
B) Left Click on the centre point of the circle
C) Click again to position the dimension and input a value of ‘5mm’
D) The finished dimension.
Note that this automatically creates a reference figure on the right hand edge of the part.
Deactivate the sketch, then create an Extrude

Cut feature to create the hole.
Set the type to ‘Through ALL’ and click ‘OK’

as shown in Fig 3.20.
Fig 3.20
To complete the shape we can use the Fillet
function to round off the square ends of the
part as shown in Fig 3.21.
Click on the Fillet button under the ‘Geometry

Transform’ section of the ribbon.
Set the radius to 5mm, and then click in the

‘Entities to fillet’ box to apply the new value.
Fig 3.21 Finally pick the 4 horizontal edges on the end

of the part as shown and click ‘Apply’.

Alibre Atom 3D allows us to modify the

appearance of parts. This component would
be manufactured from brass, so we will
change the colour to orange to represent this
material (and differentiate this part from the
steel base / column when we bring it into the
assembly).
To modify the appearance of a part:
Right click on the part in the main window,

then left click on ‘Color Properties...’ from the
pop up menu as shown in Fig 3.22.
Fig 3.22
The Colour Properties dialogue provides a
number of options to control the appearance
of the part and changes are shown in the
preview at the top.
Reducing the value of ‘Opacity’ will make a

part transparent.
Increasing the value of ‘Reflectivity’ will add a

gloss finish to the part.
Click on the ‘Color’ button to open the colour

picker.
Fig 3.23

In the Color dialogue, click on the orange

swatch as shown (see Fig 3.24), then click
‘OK’.
The new colour should now be shown in the

preview in the ‘Colour Properties’ dialogue.
Click ‘OK’ in this window as well.
Fig 3.24
Fig 3.25
Fig 3.25: The finished clamp component.

Fig 3.26
Click on the Alibre Atom3D roundel and then choose ‘Save’ to save the part. Save the part
into the same folder as the parts from the previous articles using ‘Clamp’ as the file name
and click ‘Save’ as shown in Fig 3.26.

Create a 2D drawing of the clamp:
To create a 2D drawing of the clamp

component- click on the Alibre Atom3D
roundel (top let) from within the part
workspace, click on new and then click on
‘New Drawing’ as shown in Fig 3.27.
Note: Creating a new drawing from within a

part or assembly workspace is a handy
shortcut as the software will automatically
jump to the view creation window for the
part / assembly you started from. If you start
a drawing from the home window you will
have to browse to find the file you want to
create a drawing of.
Fig 3.27
This will bring up the ‘New Sheet Properties’
window.
Alibre Atom 3D includes a number of

standard drawing templates we can use. For
this part click on the drop down list and select
the ‘JIS A4 Landscape’ template, then click
‘OK’ as shown in Fig 3.28.
Fig 3.28

The standard templates include a number of

pre defined fields for the page title block
which come up in the ‘Fill In Text’ box when
you first create a new drawing. I personally
recommend to leave these blank at this
stage, so simply click ‘OK’ to dismiss this
dialogue (we will fill this info in later).
Fig 3.29
Fig 3.30

The software now brings up the ‘Standard View Creation’ window to allow us to choose our
initial views of the part.
Fig 3.30A shows the window as it opens. The red square (labelled ‘Front’ under the ‘View
Selections’ dialogue) is shown in the preview to the left. All other views are elevations from
this view in either 3rd or 1st angle depending on selected template (ANSI and JIS templates
all use 3rd angle projection whilst the ISO templates are set to 1 st angle).
The orientation of the front view can be changed using the arrows next to the preview.
The software also selects an appropriate view scale based on the size of the part and sheet
size- given this is a small component the part has been up scaled to 3 : 1.
Alibre Atom 3D provides front, top and right elevations by default- add in the top right
isometric view by clicking on that square under ‘view selection’ as shown in Fig 3.30B, then
click ‘OK’.
The software now switches to the drawing,

with 4 blue outlines showing the overall size
and relative position of the views centred on
the position of the mouse.
Move the mouse into the middle of the page

so all 4 squares fit within the page border
(see Fig 3.31), then left click to place the
views on the page.
Fig 3.31
Fig 3.32: The views are created after
placement.
Fig 3.32

Fig 3.33
At this point it is worth changing the default circular dimension style for the drawing, as
shown in Fig 3.33:
A) Click on the ‘Dimension Styles’ button, located in the ‘Drawing Tools’ section to the
right of the ribbon
B) Switch to the ‘Circular Dimension’ section of the Dimension Styles menu.
C) Change the drop down list under ‘Circular Dimension Options’ from ‘Linear’ to ‘Smart’,
then click ‘OK’.
This change means the software will automatically select the most appropriate dimension
type to use for circular figures- so for example a complete circle will be given a diameter
dimension whilst arcs will be detailed with a radius, which is a big time saver.

Fig 3.34
Next we can reposition the views to make best use of the space available on the page, as
shown in Fig 3.34:
A) Left click on the view you want to move- a 4 way ‘arrow cross’ will appear in the top
left corner of the view.
B) Move the mouse over the cross- the tool tip will change to a hand icon, then left click
and drag to reposition the view as needed.
Moving the front view will move the top and

right elevations as well (as they are aligned to
it), whilst the isometric view can be moved
independently from the elevations. Move the
3 elevations to the bottom left of the page,
and move the isometric view to the top right
to create a bit of space for dimensions (see
Fig 3.35).
Fig 3.35
It is often useful to show hidden lines, to help
make a part like this easier to follow.
To show hidden lines for the Front view, left

click within the view- this brings up a quick
access toolbar, move the mouse over the
‘Manage view’ option and an additional
window appears above the toolbar. Check the
‘Hidden Lines’ check box (see Fig 3.36) to
Fig 3.36 turn on hidden lines for this view.

Fig 3.37
We could also bring in all centres for this view by clicking on the ‘+’ button under Centres in
this menu, however it is often more useful to bring in centres for specific radial figures, rather
than everything in the model.
To create a centre mark for the front view as shown in Fig 37:
A) Move the mouse over the edge of the ‘C’ shape in the front view and right click, then
click on ‘Insert Center’ from the pop up menu.
B) This creates a centre mark for just the selected figure.
We are now ready to start applying

dimensions to the drawing.
Click on the ‘Dimension’ button, located in the

‘Annotations’ section of the ribbon as shown
Fig 3.38 in Fig 3.38.
Dimensions in drawings are applied in the

same way as in the 2D sketch mode for parts.
Create the dimensions shown in Fig 3.39 for

the right view.
Fig 3.39

Fig 3.40: Create these dimensions for the

front view.
Note that the software creates radial

dimensions for the inner and outer circular
figures, as both shapes are partial circles.
Fig 3.40
We need a dimension to show the overall
length of the part, however both the front and
top views have a radius at one end.
We can create the dimension we need as

follows:
In the top view, create a dimension between

the back vertical edge of the part and the
Fig 3.41 outermost circular edge using the dimension
tool as shown (see Fig 3.41).
This will bring up the ‘Slot Dimension Options’

dialogue.
In the ‘Linear to Circular’ drop down box,

change the value from ‘[0] Line To Center’ to
‘[1] Line to Outside’ and then click ‘OK’ as
shown in Fig 3.42.
Fig 3.42

Left click to place the dimension.
Fig 3.43 shows the drawing with the

annotated views.
Fig 3.43
To finish the drawing we now need to update
all the information in the title block.
Firstly we need to change the scale note to

match the views. The scale note in the
standard drawing templates is taken from the
‘Default Sheet Scale’.
To amend this, right click on ‘New Sheet 1’ in

the ‘Drawing Explorer’ on the left of the
screen, and then click on ‘Sheet Properties...’
Fig 3.44
This will open up the ‘Edit Sheet Properties’

dialogue.
Change the ‘Default View Scale’ to 3 : 1, then

click ‘OK’ as shown in Fig 3.45.
The ‘Scale’ note will update to the new value.
Fig 3.45

To bring up the drawing template fields, move

the mouse over the page border and the
tooltip will change to ‘tick’ symbol (see Fig
3.46). Double click on the border to open the
‘Edit Text Fields’ dialogue.
Fig 3.46
To update the value of the fields, left click on
the field you want to change, then type the
required value into the ‘Prompt:’ box as
shown (see Fig 3.47).
Update the fields as required, then click ‘OK’,

and the title block will update with the new
information.
Fig 3.47
Fig 3.48: The finished drawing.
Fig 3.48
Finally, save the drawing into the same folder as the Clamp component (you can use the
same name for the drawing as the part, as Alibre Atom3D uses a different file extension for
parts and drawings).

Section 4, threads and feature pattern:
In section 3 we created the ‘Clamp’ component and looked at the basics of 2D drawings. We
are now going to create 2 new components, the ‘Clamp Pin’ and ‘Thumbscrew’, including
accurate M6 threads and a knurled pattern around the outside of the “Thumbscrew” part.
A note about threads: Accurately modelling threads greatly increases the complexity of the
model, which can slow down graphics performance and significantly increase load times. I
would only recommend modelling them if you intend to directly manufacture a component
from the 3D model (for example on a CNC lathe or a 3D printer). In instances where the
thread is to be cut manually or for reference components, such as fasteners in an assembly,
then the best option is to annotate the thread details on a 2D drawing.
Create the ‘Clamp Pin’ component:
Create a new part, select the XY plane and

activate 2D sketch.
Create a 6mm diameter circle, centred on the

origin as shown in Fig 4.1.
This should be a fully defined sketch.
Fig 4.1

Deactivate 2D sketch, then click on the

‘Extrude’ button under the Boss (add
material) section of the main menu.
Change the ‘Type:’ option to ‘Mid Plane’, set

the Depth to 25mm and then click ‘OK’ as
Fig 4.2
The mid plane option makes the extrusion

symmetrical around the sketch plane as
shown in Fig 4.3.
Fig 4.3

Select the YZ plane, then start a new sketch.
Create a 3.5mm diameter circle to the left

hand side of the part, in line with the origin as
shown in Fig 4.4 (you will get a red guide line
once you get the centre point of the circle in
line with the origin point).
Fig 4.4
Next, create a reference line (located under

the ‘Reference’ section of the ribbon)
between the origin and the centre point of the
circle. Alibre Atom 3D should automatically
create a horizontal constraint on the
reference line, assuming the circle was lined
up with the origin in the previous step (if no
horizontal constraint is created, add one
manually by selecting the reference line, then
clicking the horizontal constraint button
Fig 4.5 located under the ‘constraints’ section of the
ribbon).
To finish the sketch, create a dimension

between the centre point of the circle and the
left hand edge of the part as shown in Fig 4.6,
set the distance to 5mm, then deactivate
sketch,
Fig 4.6

Click on the ‘Extrude’ option located under

the ‘Cut (remove material) section of the
ribbon.
Change the Type to ‘ThroughALL’, then click

Fig 4.7
Fig 4.8: The finished cut.
Fig 4.8
Click on the Chamfer button (located under

the ‘Geometry Transform’ section of the
ribbon).
Set the size to 0.5mm, then click in the

‘Edges/Faces to chamfer’ box to apply the
value.
Select the circular edges at both ends of the

Fig 4.9 part, then click ‘Apply’ as shown in Fig 4.9.
Then close the tool.

Fig 4.10: The finished base component.
We can now create the M6 thread on the part

using the Helix tools.
The Helix tools in Alibre Atom 3D are very

straight forward, all that is required is a cross
section sketch and everything else can be
specified in the tool itself.
Fig 4.10
The Helix cut function is ideal for threads,
whilst the Helix boss function is the easiest
tool to create wire forms such as springs.
To create our section sketch for the thread:
Select the YZ plane, and activate 2D sketch.
Using the ‘line’ tool draw a triangle just off the

right hand end of the part is shown in Fig
4.11.
Fig 4.11
Fig 4.12

Create a fillet to define the root of the thread using the fillet tool as shown in Fig 4.12:
A) Select ‘Fillet’ located under the ‘Sketch Tools’ section of the ribbon.
B) Set the radius to 0.125mm, then click in the ‘Figures to fillet:’ box and select the two
lower lines of the triangle as shown, then hit ‘Apply’
C) The finished sketch fillet.
Using the dimension tool, create the 60

degree angle as shown in Fig 4.13.
Make sure there is an ‘equal’ constraint

between the left and right hand sides of the
triangle as shown.
Fig 4.13

Create a dimension of 0.438mm between the

centre point of the radius and the top right
corner of the thread profile as shown (see Fig
4.14).
Fig 4.14
Position the sketch with the following

dimensions:
• 0.5mm from the end of the part to the
centre of the radius
• 3mm from the centre axis of the part to

the upper horizontal line as shown
(see Fig 4.15).
This is now a fully defined sketch.

Unfortunately the outer radius of our thread
form is exactly the same as the radius of the
base part we are cutting, which can lead to
artefacts after the cut operation. In order to
avoid this issue, we can extend the section
profile to be bigger than the radius of the part.
Fig 4.15

Fig 4.16
Firstly we need to convert the top horizontal line to a reference figure as detailed in Fig 4.16:
A) Right click on the horizontal line, then click on ‘Convert to Reference Figure’
B) This converts this line segment from a standard figure to a reference line.

Next, using the ‘Line’ tool draw an extension

to the shape as follows:
Starting at the top left corner point, go up

vertically, horizontally across to the right and
then down to the other corner to close the
shape as shown in Fig 4.17.
Fig 4.17
Finally create a dimension of 0.2mm between

the reference and standard horizontal lines as
shown in Fig 4.18.
This should now be fully defined sketch.
Deactivate sketch mode.
Fig 4.18

Fig 4.19
Create the helix cut as detailed in Fig 4.19:
A) Click on the Helix tool located under the ‘Cut (remove material)’ section of the menu.
B) Click in the ‘axis’ box in the helix cut tool, then select the outside surface of the pin as
shown.
C) Make sure the type is set to ‘Height and Pitch’. Set the Height to 13mm, and set the
Pitch to 1mm, then click ‘OK’
D) The finished cut.

To finish the thread we now need to deal with

the termination.
To do this we can create a second helix cut

with a taper- which will neatly blend out the
thread.
Select the flat face at the end of the thread as

shown in Fig 4.20, then activate a 2D sketch.
Fig 4.20
Fig 4.21

Instead of drawing the cross section again, we can use the ‘Project To Sketch’ function to
duplicate the face as detailed in Fig 4.21:
A) Click on the ‘Project to Sketch’ button located under the ‘Sketch Tools’ section of the
ribbon.
B) Click in the ‘Entities to project’ box, then click on the face at the end of the thread.
C) Check the ‘Maintain association to source entity’ check box, then click ‘OK’
D) This duplicates the edges of the face, creating a fully defined section sketch.
Deactivate 2D sketch.
Create a second Helix cut, and set the axis to
the outside face of the pin.
Change the Type to ‘Revolution & Pitch’ as

shown in Fig 4.22.
Fig 4.22

Set the ‘Revolutions’ value to 0.5mm, the

‘Pitch’ to 1mm and the ‘Taper’ to 60 degrees,
then click ‘OK’ as shown (see Fig 4.23).
The large taper angle ensures that the cut will

neatly blend out around the edge of the pin.
Fig 4.23
Fig 4.24: The finished thread.
Fig 4.24

Fig 4.25
Save the part into the same folder as the parts created in the previous articles, set the File
Name to ‘Clamp Pin’ and click ‘Save’ (see Fig 4.25).

Create the ‘Thumbscrew’ component:
Create a new part, then start a 2D sketch on

the XY plane.
Create a 20mm diameter circle, centred on

the origin point as shown in Fig 4.26.
Deactivate the sketch.
Fig 4.26
Create an extrusion, set the type to ‘Mid

Plane’ and the depth to 3mm as shown (See
Fig 4.27) then click ‘OK’.
Fig 4.27
Select the flat face of the part as shown in Fig

4.28, then activate 2D sketch mode.
Fig 4.28

Draw a 10mm diameter circle, centred on the

origin point as shown in Fig 4.29.
Then deactivate 2D sketch.
Fig 4.29
Create a second extrusion, set the type as ‘To

Depth’ and make the depth 2mm (see Fig
4.30), then click ‘OK’.
Fig 4.30
Fig 4.31: The finished base shape for the

thumbscrew.
We will now create a grip around the edge of

the thumbscrew using a cut and the circular
pattern function.
Note- as with threads, patterns can add a lot

of complexity to a model reducing
Fig 4.31 performance.

Fig 4.32
To create the cut feature on the cylindrical outer face of the thumbscrew, we will first need to
create a reference plane to work on, as detailed in Fig 4.32:
A) Click on the ‘Plane’ button located under the ‘Reference’ section of the ribbon.
B) Select the XZ plane (either by clicking in view or by selecting from the model tree) and
change the ‘Distance’ value to 10mm, then click ‘Apply’
C) This will create a plane that sits on the edge of the thumbscrew (note the plane will be
added into the model tree on the left with the name ‘Plane<1>’).
Select the reference plane we have just

created, then activate 2D sketch.
Use the line tool to draw an angled rectangle

as shown in Fig 4.33. Alibre Atom 3D should
automatically add in perpendicular / parallel
constraints as you draw the shape.
Fig 4.33

Next, use the ‘midline’ constraint (located

under the ‘constraints’ section of the ribbon)
to centre the left hand long edge of the
rectangle onto the origin point as shown in
Fig 4.34.
Fig 4.34
Fig 4.35

We now need to apply an angle dimension to the shape. We can dimension from the model
‘Z’ axis, however this isn’t selectable from the 2D sketch view so we have to work in 3D as
shown in Fig 4.35:
A) Whilst still in 2D sketch mode, rotate the view slightly by dragging the mouse whilst
holding down the left and right mouse buttons at the same time.
B) Click on the dimension tool, then click on the Z axis, which is now selectable.
C) Click on the long left hand edge of the rectangle.
D) Click above the shape and just to the left of the Z axis to place the dimension, and
make the angle 30 degrees.
We can now switch back to a 2D sketch view

by clicking on the blue ‘Reset View’ button,
located to the left side of the ribbon as shown
in Fig 4.36.
Fig 4.36
Create a dimension of 0.2mm between the

long edges of the shape as shown in Fig
4.37.
Fig 4.37

Finally dimension the length of one of the

long edges- make this 4mm.
Note- when dimensioning the length of an

angled line, the software can give you one of
3 possible dimensions:
• The linear height
• The overall length (i.e. the length that
is parallel with the selected line)
Fig 4.38 • The linear width
After clicking on the line to dimension it, move
the mouse around the line to specify which
dimension you need.
This should now be a fully defined sketch.
Deactivate 2D sketch.
Create an extrude cut feature, set the type as

‘To Depth’, the depth to 0.1mm and make
sure the ‘Reverse’ box is checked, then click
Fig 4.39

Fig 4.40
We can now use the ‘Circular Pattern’ tool to copy the cut feature around the outside surface
of the thumbscrew as detailed in Fig 4.40:
A) Click on ‘Circular Pattern’ located under the ‘Geometry Transform’ section of the
ribbon.
B) Under the ‘Circular Feature Pattern’ tool, click in ‘Center’ and then select the outside
cylindrical face of the component as shown.
C) In the ‘Instances’ box, change the value to 96, and in the ‘Angle’ section, change to
the right hand radio button (this option evenly spaces the specified number of
instances around 360 degrees) and click ‘OK’
D) The finished grip pattern.

Select the flat face on the end of the smaller

protrusion and activate 2D sketch mode.
Draw a 5mm diameter circle, centred on the
origin as shown in Fig 4.41.
Deactivate sketch mode.
Fig 4.41
Create an extrude cut feature, set the type to

‘Through All’ and click ‘OK’ as shown in Fig
4.42.
Fig 4.42
Click on the Chamfer button (located under

‘Geometry transform’), set the size to 0.5mm
and select the front edge of the smaller
protrusion as shown (see Fig 4.43), then click
‘Apply’.
We will now create the female M6 thread.
Select the ‘XZ’ plane and activate 2D sketch

mode.
Fig 4.43

Draw a triangle using the line tool, positioned

just below the thumbscrew to the left hand
side of the 5mm hole we just created.
Apply an equal constraint to the upper and

lower angled edges of the triangle and create
a 60 degree angle between them. Make sure
the right hand edge of the triangle has a
‘vertical’ constraint.
Fig 4.44
Create a dimension of 0.375mm from the left
hand tip of the triangle to the top of the shape
Change the right hand edge of the triangle to

a reference figure (this option is found under
the right click menu), then extend the shape
with the line tool and set the distance to
0.2mm as shown in Fig 4.45.
Fig 4.45
To position the section, create a 2.5mm

dimension between the origin point and the
vertical reference line as shown in Fig 4.46.
Use a ‘coincident constraint’ (located under

the ‘Constraints’ section of the ribbon) to snap
the top of the triangle to the bottom edge of
the part.
Fig 4.46 This should now be a fully defined sketch.
Deactivate the sketch.

Fig 4.47
We can now create the thread as shown in Fig 4.47:
A) Click on the ‘Helix’ tool located under the ‘Cut (remove material)’ section of the ribbon.
Click on ‘Axis’ and then select the inner cylindrical face of the hole as shown.
B) Make sure the type is set to ‘Height and Pitch’. Set the height to 6mm and the pitch to
1mm. If the preview shows the thread path moving away from the part, check the
‘Reverse’ option, then click ‘OK’.
C) The finished thread.
As this is another brass component, set the

colour to orange as follows:
• Right click on the part

• Click on ‘Color Properties...’
• Click on the ‘Color’ button in the ‘Color
Properties’ dialogue
• Change the colour to orange in the
‘Color’ dialgue
• Click ‘OK’ on both dialogues
Fig 4.48

Fig 4.49: The finished thumbscrew

component.
Fig 4.49
Fig 4.50
Save the part into the project folder, use ‘Thumbscrew’ as the file name and click ‘Save’.

Section 5, the sweep function:
In section 4 we created 2 components, the ‘Clamp Pin’ and ‘Thumbscrew’, which included
accurate male and female threads respectively. We will now create the final two components
for this model, the ‘Scriber’ and ‘Scriber Collar’. The scriber component features the Sweep
function- which creates shapes by flowing a cross section along a path. We will then create
an assembly for the clamp mechanism.
Create the ‘Scriber’ component:
Create a new part, select the XY plane, then

activate a 2D sketch.
Starting from the upper left corner using the

‘Line’ tool, draw an angled line down towards
the origin, then continue with a horizontal
segment as shown in Fig 5.1.
Fig 5.1
Use a midline constraint to centre the
horizontal line segment onto the origin point
Fig 5.2
Add a 50mm dimension to the horizontal line
segment as shown in Fig 5.3.
Fig 5.3

Next, create an angle dimension between the

horizontal and angled line segments, and set
the angle to 30 degrees as shown in Fig 5.4.
Fig 5.4
Fig 5.5
We now need to dimension the length of the angled line- the easiest way to do this is to add
a parallel dimension to this section of line as detailed in Fig 5.5:
A) Click on the ‘Dimension’ button on the ribbon, then click on the angled line segment
as shown. This will initially default to a horizontal dimension.
B) To change this to a parallel dimension, move the mouse down towards the bottom end
of the line, the preview will switch to the parallel dimension type as shown.
C) Click to place the dimension, type ‘150’ into the dimension box and press enter.
We now need to create a fillet between the

two line segments. Click on the ‘Fillet’ button
located under the ‘Sketch Tools’ section of the
ribbon.
Change the size to 4.5mm, then click in the

‘figures to fillet’ box to apply the new value.
Select the two line segments, then click
‘Apply’ as shown in Fig 5.6.
Fig 5.6

Fig 5.7: The completed sketch.
Click the green tick ‘Deactivate Sketch’ button

to exit sketch mode.
Fig 5.7
At this point, Alibre Atom 3D will bring up an
error box as shown in Fig 5.8. The reason for
this is that in most cases, 3D functions in
Alibre Atom 3D require a closed cross
section, however this is not the case for a
Sweep path so click ‘Ignore’.
Note: It’s tempting to tick the ‘Do not show

Fig 5.8 this warning’ check box, however I would
recommend not doing so as this warning can
be very useful in spotting small errors in
sketches for other tools such as Revolve or
Extrude.
Now that we have defined a path for the

sweep, we need to create a cross section to
flow along that path.
Select the YZ plane (this can be selected

either in the main view, as shown in Fig 5.9,
or from the design explorer on the left), then
activate a new 2D sketch.
Fig 5.9

Create a Circle figure, starting on the origin

point, and specify the size as 3mm.
This should be a fully defined sketch,

deactivate 2D sketch mode.
Fig 5.10
Fig 5.11

We can now create the sweep as detailed in Fig 5.11;
A) Click on the ‘Sweep’ button located under the Boss (Add Material) section of the
ribbon as shown.
B) This will bring up the ‘Sweep Boss’ dialogue. Click on the ‘Sketch to Sweep’ box.
C) Select the cross section sketch- as this is a small sketch it may be easier to select this
from the design explorer on the left (as we created this second, this is listed as
‘Sketch <2>’).
D) Next, click in the ‘Path Objects’ box, and select the path sketch either in the main view
(as shown) or by selecting ‘Sketch <1>’ from the design explorer on the left, and click
‘OK’.
Fig 5.12: The finished sweep.
Now we need to create a revolved cut to

create a point on the end of the scriber.
Start a new sketch on the XY plane.
Fig 5.12
Draw a small, right angled triangle using the
line tool, positioned just above the right hand
end of the scriber as shown in Fig 5.13.
Fig 5.13

Use the midline constraint to snap the bottom

right corner of the triangle to the centre point
of the right hand edge of the scriber as shown
in Fig 5.14.
Fig 5.14
Creating the midline constraint automatically
creates a reference figure on the end of the
part.
Use the coincident constraint (located under

the ‘constraints’ section of the ribbon) to
connect the top right hand corner of the
triangle to the top point of the reference figure
as shown (see Fig 5.15).
Fig 5.15
Finally apply a 10mm to the top, horizontal
edge of the triangle using the dimension tool
Deactivate Sketch to exit sketch mode.
Fig 5.16

Create a Revolve Cut, set the ‘sketch to

revolve’ as the section sketch we just created,
then click on the ‘Axis’ box, and select the
cylindrical surface on the end of the scriber
as shown in Fig 5.17 and click ‘OK’.
Fig 5.17
Fig 5.18: The finished scriber component.
Fig 5.18
Finally, save the part into the folder with all
the previous components, set the file name to
‘Scriber’ and click Save as shown (see Fig
5.19).
Fig 5.19

Part modelling practice: The ‘Scriber Collar’:
Fig 5.20
The final component required for the mini gauge is the Scriber Collar- we have covered all
the tools and techniques required to create this part. Please create the component as per the
drawing in Fig 5.20, and save into the model folder as ‘Scriber Collar’.

Create the Clamp Assembly:
From the Alibre Atom 3D home window, click

on the ‘Assembly’ button to create a new
assembly.
This will open a new assembly workspace

and bring up the ‘Insert Part / Subassembly’
dialogue.
Select the ‘Clamp’ component (this was the

part we created in section 3), and click ‘Open’
Fig 5.21
This will move into the ‘Inserting’ mode- a
copy of the selected part will be placed into
the assembly for each left click in the main
view. Left click once to place a single clamp
into the assembly, then click ‘Finish’ as shown
in Fig 5.22.
We will now have a single clamp in the

assembly- and this will be free to move (to
check for freedom of movement for a part,
move the mouse over the part to highlight a
face, hold down the left mouse button and
drag- the part will move with the cursor if it
has any freedom of movement).
Fig 5.22 When creating an assembly in Alibre Atom

3D, the first component must always be fixed
in relation to the assembly co-ordinate
system (i.e. the green origin / planes that the
software provides when starting a new
assembly workspace).

Fig 5.23
The way I recommend doing this is by aligning the planes the part was constructed around
with the planes provided in the assembly. In order to do this we first need to make the clamp
components construction planes visible, as detailed in Fig 5.23:
A) Right click on a face of the clamp, then click on ‘Show Reference Geometry’ from the
right click menu
B) The parts reference planes are shown in light grey to differentiate them from the
assembly planes.
Hint: sometimes the part and assembly planes can obscure each other (depending on where
the part was positioned in the assembly). Left click and drag on a face of the clamp to move
it until you can clearly see all 3 grey planes for the part and all 3 green plans for the
assembly as shown in Fig 5.23 B.

Fig 5.24
We can now locate the part by applying constraints between the corresponding part and
assembly planes.
Click on the ‘Quick’ button located under the ‘Constrain’ section of the ribbon to bring up the
‘Assembly Constraints’ tool, then create a constraint between the part and assembly ‘XZ’
planes as detailed in Fig 5.24:
A) With the ‘Assembly Constraints’ tool open, left click on the border of the ‘XZ’ plane for
the part (shown in grey), and then left click on the ‘XZ’ plane for the assembly (shown
in green). The part will move so the two planes line up.
B) Click the green tick to accept the constraint. This will add an ‘align’ constraint to the
Design Explorer on the left.
We can now move onto the next constraint.

Select the two ‘YZ’ planes as shown in Fig
5.25, and hit ‘Apply’.
Fig 5.25

Finally, select the two ‘XY’ planes and then hit

‘Apply’.
Fig 5.26
Fig 5.27: The part is now aligned with the
assembly planes, and we have 3 ‘align’
constraints in the design explorer on the left.
Note that if you left click and drag on a face of

the part, it should not be able to move.
Fig 5.27
Next, click on the ‘Insert Design’ button
(located under the ‘Insert’ section of the
ribbon) and place a single copy of the ‘Clamp
Pin’ component (which we created in section
4) into the assembly as shown in Fig 5.28.
Fig 5.28

Fig 5.29
Open the ‘Assembly Constraints’ tool (the ‘Quick’ button on the ribbon), and create a
constraint between clamp and the pin as detailed in Fig 5.29:
A) Select the outer cylindrical face of the clamp pin, and the inner cylindrical face of the
hole in the split end of the clamp. This aligns the clamp pin with the hole, however the
hole in the pin ends up on the right hand side of the clamp- whereas we need this to
be positioned on left hand side.
B) Click on the ‘Flip’ button on the ‘Assembly Constrain’ tool to flip the pin over (note you
may have to click the button twice to get the pin the change position).
C) The pin is now flipped over (don’t worry about the lateral position of the pin at this
point). Click the green tick to accept the constraint.
The clamp pin is now in the correct

orientation, however we need to move it over
to the left. To do this, highlight a face on the
clamp pin, hold down the left mouse button
and drag in the direction you want to move
the pin. The pin should translate, whilst
maintaining it’s alignment with the hole in the
clamp.
Move the pin so that it is positioned as shown

in Fig 5.30.
Fig 5.30

Place a single copy of the ‘Scriber Collar’

component into the assembly as shown (see
Fig 5.31).
Fig 5.31
Fig 5.32
We need to position the collar so that the flat face on the end of the collar sits to the right
hand side of the clamp as shown in Fig 5.32:
A) Select the flat face on the end of the collar, and the flat face on the right hand side of
the clamp. This will align the collar with the face as shown.
B) Click on the flip button to reposition the collar so that it is facing away from the clamp,
then click ‘Apply’.

Next, select the cylindrical face on the outside

of the clamp pin, and the cylindrical face on
the inside of the collar as shown.
This will align the collar over the pin. Click

‘Apply’.
Fig 5.33

We now need to align the hole in the clamp

pin with the hole in the collar.
Left click and drag on the two parts to move

them so that you can see both holes as
shown in Fig 5.34.
Select the two cylindrical faces on the insides

of the holes to line them up, then click ‘Apply’.
Hints on creating assembly constraints:

• The Assembly Constraints tool will
automatically select the most likely
Fig 5.34 constraint based on whatever is
selected, however you can keep
editing the settings until you get the
desired result. Nothing is fixed until
you click the ‘Apply’ button.
• It is easy to inadvertently create a

constraint you did not intend to. If this
happens, you may get a pop up error
saying ‘constraint over defined’ and a
number of the constraints in the design
explorer will be shown in red italics to
indicate a problem. If this happens left
click on the blue back arrow in the
‘Assembly constraints’ tool to undo the
last action.
• If you accidentally click a something

you didn’t intend to when creating a
constraint, you can clear the current
selection by left clicking in an empty
area of the main view.

Fig 5.35: The Scriber Collar and Pin Aligned.
Fig 5.35
Place a single copy of the ‘Thumbscrew’
Component into the assembly (we created
this part in section 4).
Fig 5.36
Use the ‘Assembly Constraint’ tool to create a
constraint between the flat face on the end of
the shoulder of the thumbscrew and the right
hand flat face of the clamp as shown.
Make sure that the thumbscrew if positioned

so that it is facing away from the clamp (use
the ‘Flip’ button if required), then click ‘Apply’.
Fig 5.37

Next, create a constraint between the

cylindrical face on the outside of the shoulder
on the thumbscrew, and the cylindrical face
on the outside cylindrical face of the pin as
shown in Fig 5.38, and hit ‘apply’.
Fig 5.38
Finally, we need to create an angular
reference to control the angle the scriber will
be held at, however there are no suitable flat
surfaces on either the scriber collar or the
clamp pin to define this angle.
To get around this, we can use the

construction planes for the scriber collar.
Right click on the outside surface of the

scriber collar and click on ‘Show Reference
Geometry’ as shown in Fig 5.39.
Fig 5.39

Fig 5.40
We can now create the angle constraint as detailed in Fig 5.40:
A) Select the grey reference plane for the scriber collar, and the green reference plane
for the assembly as shown. The ‘Assembly Constraints’ tool will default to an ‘align’
constraint.
B) Click on the ‘Angle’ button in the ‘Assembly Constraints’ tool to change the constraint
type from ‘Align’ to ‘Angle’ as shown. This will set the angle to the default value of 90
degrees, and the collar will rotate accordingly.
C) Change the value in the ‘Angle’ box to 30, then click on the ‘Reverse’ button, then
click ‘Apply’ to create the angle constraint.
Click on the red ‘X’ in the top right corner of the ‘Assembly Constraint’ tool to close it.

Fig 5.41: The finished clamp assembly. We

should have 4 components;
• Clamp
• Clamp Pin
• Scriber Collar
• Thumbscrew
There should be a total of 10 constraints

under the ‘constraints’ section of the design
explorer.
Fig 5.41
Save the assembly as detailed in Fig 5.42:
A: The save window will open. Click on the

folder symbol for the assembly (it will say
‘NEW’ next to it under the ‘Save Action’
column as shown) to bring up the standard
‘save as’ dialogue.
B: Change the file name to ‘Clamp Assembly’

and click ‘Save’, and then click ‘OK’ on the
‘Save’ window.
Fig 5.42

Section 6, Sub-assemblies and editing:
In section 5 we created 2 components, the ‘Scriber’ and ‘Scriber Collar’, featuring the sweep
function. We also created an assembly; the ‘Clamp Assembly’. We will now finish the ‘Main
Assembly’, using the ‘Clamp Assembly’ we created in the last article as a sub-assembly. We
will also look into editing parts from within the assembly.
Finish the ‘Main Assembly’:

Start up Alibre Atom 3D, then open the ‘Main
Assembly’ we created in section 2 of the
tutorial.
Fig 6.1
Click on the ‘Insert Design’ button, located in
the ‘Insert’ section of the assembly toolbar as
shown in Fig 6.2.
Fig 6.2

Select the ‘Clamp Assembly’ we created in

the last article and click ‘Open’ as shown in
Fig 6.3.
Fig 6.3
Left click to place a copy of the ‘clamp
assembly’ into the ‘main assembly’ and click
‘Finish’ as shown in Fig 6.4.
The ‘Clamp Assembly’ is added to the design

explorer as a single item and is treated as a
single component. Clicking on the ‘+’ symbol
next to it’s listing in the design explorer allows
you to view all of it’s constituent parts.
Fig 6.4
Click on the ‘Quick’ button, located under the
‘Constrain’ section of the assembly toolbar to
open up the Assembly Constraints tool as
shown in Fig 6.5.
Fig 6.5

Fig 6.6
Create a constraint between the clamp and the vertical column as detailed in Fig 6.6:
A) With the Assembly Constraints tool open, left click on the cylindrical face on the inside
of the clamp, and the cylindrical face on the outside of the vertical column
components as shown.
B) The clamp will move to line up with the vertical column. Click the green tick to apply
the constraint.

Fig 6.7
Next, create an angle constraint between the side of the clamp and the assembly Z-X plane
as shown in Fig 6.7:
A) With the Assembly Constraints tool open, select the flat face on the side of the clamp
component.
B) Next click on the edge of the assembly ‘X-Z’ plane (alternatively select the X-Z plane
from the design explorer on the left). Note at this point the constraints in the design
explorer will turn red as the default option for the assembly constraints tool is align,
which is not possible due to existing align constraint between the vertical column and
clamp.
C) Click on the angle button to change the constraint type from an align to an angle. The
clamp will rotate to a 90 degree position and the errors in the design explorer should
now be resolved.
D) Change the value in the angle box to 180 degrees, and click the green tick to apply
the constraint. The clamp will rotate back to its original orientation and there should be
no constraint errors in the design explorer.

Click the red cross in the top right corner of

the Assembly Constraints box to close the
tool as shown in Fig 6.8.
Fig 6.8
Fig 6.9

In a large assembly, it is often helpful to rename some of the constraints that control critical
positions.
We can rename the angle constraint we just created as detailed in Fig 6.9:
A) Right click on the angle constraint we just created in the design explorer on the left
(the default name is ‘Angle(1)’), and left click on ‘Edit’.
B) This brings up the ‘Assembly Constraints’ window. Delete the contents of the ‘Label’
box.
C) Change the label to read ‘Clamp Angle’ then click ‘OK’
D) The constraint is now named ‘Clamp Angle’ which makes it much easier to identify
from the rest of the constraints.
Fig 6.10
Next, create a constraint to control the vertical position of the clamp assembly as detailed in
Fig 6.10:
A) Open the ‘Assembly Constraints’ tool by clicking on the ‘Quick’ button, then select the
top flat face of the base component as shown.
B) Rotate the view slightly such that you can see the underside flat face of the clamp,
then left click on this face.
C) The clamp will move down the vertical column so the face is in contact with the base
component. Click in the ‘Offset’ box, and change the value from 0 (the default option)
to 100, then click the green tick to accept the constraint. The clamp will slide up the
vertical column to just over the mid point.

It would also be helpful to rename this

constraint as it controls the vertical position of
the clamp.
Fig 6.11 shows a short cut method to change

the name of the constraint:
A) Right click on the constraint created in

the previous step (currently labelled
‘Mate(1)’) then click on ‘Rename’
B) This will enable a text edit mode

directly in the design explorer. Change
label to read ‘Clamp Height’ and press
the return key on your keyboard to
accept the new label.
Fig 6.11
Next we can bring in the ‘Scriber’ component
we created in the previous article.
Click on the ‘Insert Design’ button, select the

scriber and click ‘Open’. Left click to place a
single copy into the assembly then click
‘Finish’ as shown in Fig 6.12.
Fig 6.12
Right click on a face of the scriber, and select
the ‘Show Reference Geometry’ option to
make the construction planes for the scriber
visible (see Fig 6.13).
Fig 6.13

Do the same for the ‘Scriber Collar’

component. Fig 6.14 – the scriber collar and
scriber with reference geometry shown.
Fig 6.14
Fig 6.15
Next, apply a constraint between the reference planes for the scriber and scriber collar as
detailed in Fig 6.15:
A) With the Assembly Constraints tool open, select the large horizontal plane for the
scriber as shown.
B) Next, select the vertical plane running through the middle of the scriber collar.
C) The scriber should rotate around so that the two planes line up, with the angled end of
scriber facing up as shown. Note that if the angled end of the scriber faces down, hit
the ‘Flip’ button in the Assembly Constrain tool to flip the scriber the other way up.
Once the scriber is positioned correctly, click on the green tick to accept the
constraint.

Now create a constraint between the

cylindrical face on outside of the angled
section of the scriber, and the cylindrical face
on the inside of the collar as shown in Fig
6.16.
Fig 6.16
Click on the green tick to accept the
constraint (see Fig 6.17).
Fig 6.17
Fig 6.18

We now need one additional constraint to control the depth of the scriber, which is created
as shown in Fig 6.18:
A) Select the vertical reference plane for the scriber as shown
B) Select the cylindrical face on the outside of the scriber collar. Note Alibre Atom 3D will
now centre the plane on the collar.
C) Change the value in offset to 50mm, and then tick the ‘Reverse’ check box. The
scriber should move to the position shown, click on the green tick to accept the
constraint and then close the Assembly Constraints tool.
Note: When creating a constraint between a flat face or plane and a cylindrical face, Alibre
Atom 3D aligns the plane with the centre axis of the cylindrical face, any offsets are
measured from the centre axis of the cylinder.
Rename the constraint we just created

(default label ‘Align (8)’) to ‘Scribe Depth’ as
Fig 6.19

At this point I would recommend turning off

the reference geometry for the scriber and
scriber collar as shown in Fig 6.20 (to do this,
right click on the part you want to disable the
reference geometry for, then uncheck ‘Show
Reference Geometry’).
Fig 6.20

Editing an assembly constraint:
The assembly is set up so that we can easily

adjust the position of the clamp assembly and
scriber as desired.
To change the angle of the clamp, right click

on the ‘Clamp Angle’ constraint from the
design explorer on the left, and left click on
‘Edit’ as shown in Fig 6.21.
Fig 6.21

In the ‘Assembly Constraints’ window, change

the value in ‘Angle:’ to 135 degrees, then click
‘OK’ as shown (See Fig 6.22).
Fig 6.22
Fig 6.23: The clamp assembly is now rotated
to 135 degrees. Note that due to the
constraints used, the scriber moves with the
clamp.
Fig 6.23
Save the assembly (the save option is found
under the ‘Alibre Atom 3D’ roundel, top left).
There are no new components and the
location of the assembly is already set so we
can simply click ‘OK’ on the save window as
shown in Fig 6.24.
Fig 6.24 Keep the assembly open.

Editing the ‘Base’ component:
There are two approaches to editing a component that is used in an assembly. The simplest
approach is to edit the part file independently of the assembly as follows:
• With the assembly closed, open up the part file to be edited.
• Make the desired changes to the part, save and then close the part.
• Open the assembly, the latest version of the part is loaded, and the assembly will
update accordingly.
The other option is to edit the part from within the assembly, which can be very helpful in
situations such as:
• Creating parts that have to fit closely together.
• When designing linkages, hinges or other arrangements where the dimensions of one
part directly impact the position of another.
• When designing things such as casings that have to enclose other components.
This type of editing is referred to as ‘in context’, the following is an example of an in context
edit for the base component:
Now that we have assembled the whole mini

scribe, the base looks rather smaller
compared to the size of the rest of the model
and would likely be unstable in use. To
counter this we can modify the base to
provide more stability.
Right click on the base component in the

main assembly window, then left click on the
‘Edit Here’ option as shown in Fig 6.25.
Fig 6.25

Fig 6.26: The main toolbar changes to the

part editor, and the model tree for the base
component is visible in the design explorer on
the left.
Note that the rest of the assembly is also

shown in the tree, and the appearance of the
other components in the assembly are
changed to semi transparent to differentiate
them from the part being edited, which
remains solid.
Fig 6.26

To change the diameter of the base, we need

to modify the sketch for the initial extrusion
we used to create it.
Locate ‘Sketch<1>’ in the base model, right

click on it and left click on ‘Edit’ as shown in
Fig 6.27.
Fig 6.27

Fig 6.28
We can now change the diameter of the base sketch as detailed in Fig 6.28:
A) Double click on the 25mm diameter dimension.
B) Change the value in the diameter box to 50, then click the green tick to accept the
change.
C) The diameter of the sketch will update to the new value.
Click on ‘Deactivate Sketch’ to exit sketch mode.
Fig 6.29: The base extrusion will now change

to the new diameter, however as this was the
first feature in the model tree, the other
features are currently hidden.
Fig 6.29
Click on the ‘Generate to Last Feature’ button
(located top right of the ‘Part Modelling’
toolbar), to rebuild the remaining features of
the base part.
Fig 6.30

Fig 6.31: The base part updated with the new

diameter.
Fig 6.31

Now that we are happy with the changes to

the base, we need to exit the part editor and
return to the assembly workspace.
Right click on ‘Base Part<1>’ in the design

explorer on the left, and uncheck ‘Edit
Part/Subassembly’ as shown in Fig 6.32 to
deactivate the part edit mode.
Fig 6.32

Fig 6.33: This brings us back into the

assembly workspace. Note that the modelling
features of the base are no longer visible in
the design explorer on the left, and that the
appearance of the other components has
reverted to the standard solid display.
Fig 6.33
Click on the Alibre Atom 3D roundel and then
click on ‘Save’ to save the changes as shown
in Fig 6.34.
Note that when editing parts from within the

assembly, you save the changes by saving
the whole assembly rather than the part itself.
Fig 6.34

Fig 6.35: The save dialogue will come up,

note that the ‘Base Part’ is listed with a ‘Save
Action’ of ‘MODIFY’ to indicate that this part is
being updated.
Fig 6.35
Summary:
In this tutorial we have created a set of parts and assemblies for the ‘Mini Scribe’ model,
covered the basics of 2D drawings and looked at in context editing. This covers a good cross
section of the functionality available in Alibre Atom 3D, and shows a typical modelling work
flow.
Section 7, tips and tricks:
Here are a few things to always keep in mind when creating designs in Alibre Atom 3D:
• If you are unsure whether you should be creating a design as a single part or an
assembly, keep in mind how the finished item will be manufactured. If it is created as a
single item (either cut from a blank of material or 3D printed as a single piece) then it
should be created as a part. If it is made from multiple components then make the
individual pieces as parts, and then combine them in an assembly.
• When creating a new part, your first sketch must be positioned in relation to the origin
the software gives you. Subsequent sketches can then be positioned against the part
itself, and always remember to fully define your sketches.
• All sketches and features used to create a part are listed in the ‘Design Explorer’ on
the left hand side of the screen. If you need to make a change to your design,
remember you can edit any of these sketches or features by right clicking on the item
in the tree and selecting ‘Edit’. Once you’ve made your changes, remember to click on
the ‘Generate to last feature’ button to return the model to the end of the feature tree.
• When creating a new assembly, always constrain the first component to the assembly
construction planes. This is often easiest using the part reference planes, which can be
made visible by right clicking on the part and choosing the ‘Show Reference Geometry’
option.

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Section 1, Introduction and basic part modelling:

What is Alibre Atom3D?

What is Parametric CAD?

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In section 1 we will focus on producing the base component

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Create the base component:

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To create the basic shape for the base

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Sketches in Alibre Atom3D must be both

Click on the ‘Circle’ command under the

Click the green tick ‘deactivate sketch’ button

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Set the depth to 10, then click OK (see fig

This will create a 3D part- drag whilst holding

Note that a feature named “Extrusion<1>” is

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Create a circle (again starting on the origin

Come out of the sketch mode, then use the

This will add a second feature named

With the new sketch selected, click on the

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Set the Type to ‘Through ALL’ and input ‘2’

This will create a tapered hole that runs

Set the size to 2mm then click Apply (see Fig

Now click the ‘Close’ button to exit the

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Fig 1.15, left: The finished base component.

Choose a location you will be able to find

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Section 2, The Revolve Tool and Assemblies:

Create the Vertical Column component:

We need to start off by creating a sketch on

Select the ‘X-Y Plane’ as shown in Fig 2.1,

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Create a circle around the origin, and specify

Click on the Deactivate Sketch button to exit

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Set the depth to 200mm as shown in Fig 2.5,

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We now need to create a 2 degree taper on

Rotate and zoom the main view so that you

To create the taper we can use the ‘Revolve

To create the section sketch:

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Standard figures vs Reference Figures:

Now we can create the cross section for the cut.

A) Click on the ‘Line’ tool located under Sketch Figures.

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To manually add a dimension:

B) Left click on the right hand edge of the section sketch.

D) The finished dimension.

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We also need to define the angle of the taper.