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Check draft for moulding and casting
Colour the part by its draft angle against the pull direction of a mould, see which faces release, which need more draft and which release from the other half, with each one's share of the area.
Written for PartCraft 0.4. The same help is inside the app: press F1.
Parts made in a mould, a die or a sand casting need draft: walls tilted a little so the part slides out. Draft analysis colours every face by how much it tilts away from the direction the mould opens (the pull).
Turn it on
- In the Design workspace, open Views and choose Draft analysis.
- Set Pull: the direction the mould opens, along X, Y or Z either way, or Square to a picked face: press Pick a face and click a flat face of the part.
- Set Minimum draft, in degrees: the least tilt your process needs (often 1° to 3°).
The part is coloured:
| Colour | Means |
|---|---|
| Green: Positive draft | Tilted toward the pull by at least the minimum: releases from this half of the mould |
| Ochre: Needs draft | Within the minimum either way, such as a vertical wall: add draft here |
| Red: Negative draft | Tilted away from the pull by at least the minimum: releases from the other half, or is an undercut if the part is to come out of one half |
Each class's share of the part's surface area is shown beside it. Reverse the pull looks from the other half of the mould: green and red swap.
Curved faces are judged point by point, so a cylinder lying across the pull shows a band that needs draft along its sides.
The colours follow the part as you change it. EscEsc or Close turns the analysis off; nothing is saved in the part.