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SpaceCAD
LESSON 5. More editing - Mercury Spacecraft Instrument Console Panel Section

STEP 2. Draw a single dial.
Now make a Circle with a diameter of 3 in the upper left corner. The radius, which you can type in the distance box of the circle command, is 1.5.

Next, draw a short tick at the top center of your circle (D1). Use the thinnest solid line type.

The pattern of tics around the circumference of the circle is called a polar array. To create this pattern, you will use a new command: Polar Array . Use this command to make many copies of an object or group of objects in a circular pattern.

  1. First, set Snap to Center.
  2. When you click the Polar Array icon, a prompt will come up asking you for the number of copies and the angle of rotation. For the dial face, set the number of copies to "60" and the angle to "6" (60 X 6 = 360). DO NOT check "> 360". Click OK to close the dialog box.
  3. In response to the "Select Entities" prompt, select the tick at the top of the circle by clicking the left mouse button with the cursor positioned on the mark.
  4. Next, click the right mouse button to stop selecting entities. In response to the prompt, "Center of rotation?", set the Snap to Center and then left click on the edge of the circle.

The result should look like the image below.

Right click to complete the Polar Array command. Set the Snap to Grid for the next step.

Change the Line Type setting to the thickest type. Draw a longer tick with the Line command.

Set Snap to Center. Click the Polar Array icon again to start. This time make the number of ticks "12" and the angle "30" (12 X 30 = 360). Don't check "> 360". Then set Snap to Center to finish as you did before.