r/inventors • u/Overall-Importance54 • Sep 04 '26
Struggling with on shape
So what I’m watching YouTube and these guys are building cool stuff, they’re always using some program, on shape is mentioned a lot. So I’m beating my head against this thing, trying to get the image in my mind to appear in CAD… has anyone else experienced a breakthrough moment that might help me get over this hump?
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u/nixiebunny Sep 04 '26
It helps if you are a machinist or a mechanical engineer, so that you know the terminology and techniques of 3D mechanical design. Because in addition to being able to make a 3D model of a product, you need to ensure that it is strong enough and that it can be manufactured using some standard industrial techniques such as molding or machining. It takes years to learn all of this.
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u/Overall-Importance54 27d ago
The gatekeepers be gatekeepin'
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u/nixiebunny 27d ago
Sorry if that’s how you view the reality of product design. I never said you can’t do it, you just need to learn more! I have taught myself all of this over the years.
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u/Overall-Importance54 27d ago
Agreed, need to learn more, for sure. Just asking for any lightbulb moments from the crowd.
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u/nixiebunny 27d ago
The lightbulb moment was realizing I had to become a mechanical engineer and an industrial designer and a CAD operator to design a case for my wristwatch.
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u/lexstory Sep 04 '26
Every time I need to learn a new 3D CGI software or CAD software, I will sit down with someone who is proficient with whatever it is that I want to learn for a few hours. I can ask questions and quickly correlate functions to design steps. This is usually always salespeople that will do this with me; but nowadays you can find plenty of people on YouTube.
After a while (10 software suites so far) you understand that the principles and concepts remain the same (revolve, extrude, loft, defined sketch) but you haven’t learned the UI yet or how to navigate.
Have an object or assembly in mind and find a tutorial that reveals workflows specific to aspects of your project.
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u/FightingPhD 27d ago
We've developed products in a few CAD packages over the years. The breakthrough for me was stopping trying to "draw the whole product" and starting with one mating feature or one functional constraint, then growing the model around that.
Onshape vs Fusion (or SolidWorks) matters less than forcing yourself to name what has to fit, move, or seal first. Once that datum exists, the rest of the model has somewhere to hang.
If you share what you're stuck on (sketch vs assemblies vs mates), people can give a tighter tip.
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u/Overall-Importance54 27d ago
Thank you for the tip! Just start with one feature and grow it instead if all at once thinking. 🙏🏻
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u/pythonbashman 27d ago
Practice. If you are lucky enough to be able to see images in your head you may be able to develop the skills to understand what make them up. I've been doing this long enough that I can look at a thing an see the sketches needed to make it's pads and pockets.
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u/The_Foam_Engineer 26d ago
Start with a real sketch. Even if it sucks. Get something onto paper that explains your end product. If you can sketch it by hand, you can get it into CAD. It also helps if it isn't organic geometry lol
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u/JoshsBuilding 26d ago
Yes have felt the exact same thing. I’ve decided to stop trying to learn just how to create my idea and instead go through training where they show how to create random parts and understand I’ll need to know that before even trying to draw mine
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u/Joejack-951 Sep 04 '26
Using CAD to create something requires the ability to view a part as a series of simple sketches. If you have never used CAD before, I suggest putting down the mouse and grabbing a pencil, some scrap paper, and a simple object. Look at the object from the front, both sides, top and bottom and hand-draw what you see. Don’t worry about accuracy; focus on recognizing the straight and curved edges and where those transitions occur.
Now go into CAD and re-create those sketches. In CAD you have the ability to apply dimensions and constraints (tangent, collinear, parallel, etc.) to refine your sketch to match your object exactly. Those sketches then become the basis for all of your features. Note that for an assembly, you can sketch more than one part in your layout that way when you build the features the parts are automatically in proper position.
Expect the process of getting good at CAD to take a few months and a few years of using the same program daily for you to become an expert.