Modeling Tools

The viewport always has one active tool; Select is the default. These make up the toolbar in the 3D modeling workbench (the default one — opening a drawing switches to the Drawing Tools).

Every model picture on these pages opens in BearCAD when you click it, so you can take any of them apart yourself.

	Tool	Shortcut	What it does
	Select	—	Look around and pick geometry; the default tool.
	Sketch	S	Pick a face (or the ground plane) to draw on.
	Rectangle	R	Draw a rectangle by two corners.
	Line	L	Draw connected lines and curves.
	Circle	O	Draw a circle by center and diameter.
	Fillet	F	Round a corner or edge.
	Chamfer	K	Cut a corner or edge flat.
	Offset	—	Parallel copies of sketch edges a constant distance away.
	Text	T	Place editable lettering in a sketch.
	Projection	—	In a sketch: pull outside edges in as references (or select and press Y).
	Construction Plane	—	Add a flat reference plane to sketch on.
	Shape	B	Place a cuboid, cylinder, or sphere straight into 3D.
	Extrude	E	Pull a sketch face into a solid — or cut into one.
	Loft	—	Blend a solid through two or more cross-section profiles.
	Revolve	—	Spin a profile around an axis into a solid.
	Sweep	—	Sweep a profile along a path of sketch lines.
	Combine	—	Boolean operations on bodies: merge, cut, intersect, difference.
	Move	—	Translate or rotate bodies into moved copies.
	Mirror	—	Reflect bodies or sketch shapes across a plane or line.
	Repeat	—	Copies of bodies spaced along an axis.
	Slice	—	Cut bodies into fragments with planes or faces.
	Joint	J	Connect parts with a kinematic relationship: hinge, slider, screw, …
	Dimension	D	Set exact lengths, distances, and angles.
	Constraint	C	Relate geometry: parallel, equal, coincident, …

Reference images for tracing over (import, scale calibration) are covered in Tracing images.

Habits that apply everywhere

• Click to start, move to preview, click or type to finish. While drawing, type a number or parameter name to make that dimension exact — Tab switches fields, Enter commits.
• Esc backs out; pressed again, it returns to Select.
• X toggles construction geometry — dashed reference shapes that never become part of the solid.
• The Context pane (right) shows the active tool's or selection's options.

See Navigation for camera controls and the view bear.