For those of you just learning CAD, some words may seem foreign—extrusion, chamfer, radius, and fillets aren't exactly intuitive. No worries, read up on the terms below as a refresher or an introduction to the most common CAD terms and operations.

Main CAD Operations

Extrude / Extrusion: An extruded face of an object expands or contracts (or cuts through/against) empty space or another part of the object. This enables part of the object to grow or shrink, either organically in a 3D environment or based upon a two dimensional drawing or sketch in a flat plane. An extruded shape is referred to as an extrusion. In finished parts, an extrusion is formed by continuously shaping a material through a jig or mold of some kind.

Sweep: A 2D shape or form that is extruded along a 2D line or curve in order to create a three dimensional object.

Loft: A transitional shape cast between two or more sketches / 2D objects. As with ribs or drafted solids, a lofted form can ease mechanical stresses between surfaces in a finished part.

Coil: In 3D modeling, a tool is available to create spring geometry or to coil part of an object into the shape of a spring or helical solid.

How to Refine CAD Models

Chamfer: A chamfer is a beveled edge connecting two surfaces. If the surfaces are at right angles, the chamfer will typically be symmetrical at 45 degrees. The edges of objects or models are typically chamfered, although the internal circumferences of holes are also frequently chamfered to aid in the fitting of fasteners.

Fillet: In mechanical engineering, a fillet is a rounding of an interior or exterior corner or edge of a part design. Fillet geometry, when on an exterior corner/edge is of concave function (in these cases, fillets are typically referred to as rounds), whereas a fillet on an interior corner is convex.

Radius: In circles, the distance between the central point and any point on the circumference. Determining the radius of manufactured circles is crucial in adjusting their relationships to other parts/geometries and their overall scale.

Clone / Copy: A chamfer is a beveled edge connecting two surfaces. If the surfaces are at right angles, the chamfer will typically be symmetrical at 45 degrees. The edges of objects or models are typically chamfered, although the internal circumferences of holes are also frequently chamfered to aid in the fitting of fasteners.

Draft: Modeled against two planes of an object, one plane is drafted to change its position relative to the other plane by a user-set number of degrees. As with ribs, drafting a surface can change its relationship to other faces and ease mechanical stresses exerted on a final part by reducing the number or severity of sharp intersections between surfaces.

Emboss: A raised or recessed feature created from a profile or 2d sketch (often text or other associated small features).

Rib: A structure between two planes that adds additional strength by easing the angle at which the two planes intersect. This additional material helps transfer loads between the surfaces/adjoining objects.

Lip: A feature that joins two 3D objects along a specific line or seam.

Geometry References

Vertex: A single point in space usually on an object's surface; the building blocks of all polygonal objects. Lines intersecting create vertices where they meet.

Face: One side of an object in a plane, can often be extruded to become three dimensional.

Rest: A flat area on the side of a curved object that protrudes to the inside and outside of an object. This feature can aid in joining features of two separate finished parts or in placing geometry or holes on a flat surface within the confines of a curved object.

Plane: A flat area or zone that can be used in triplicate to define a three dimensional space. The XY, XZ, and YZ planes can accomplish this. In order to plate an object properly for 3D printing, assigning the base of the object to the XY plane allows it to sit flat in the desired orientation when imported into a 3D printer's host software or slicing program.

Spline: A spline is a curved line, defined by three or more vertices. It can be 2D, with all its vertices on a single plane, or 3D.

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This post is provided by Fictiv, the most efficient manufacturing platform for fabricating parts. Powered by a distributed network of highly vetted vendors, the online interface makes it easy for customers to get instant quotes, review manufacturing feedback, and manage orders—all through a single service.

Conceptualize & design new home appliances including air-conditioners, washers, refrigerators, TVs, ceiling fans and more. Manage the whole design development process as followed 1) Design research to understand users more 2) Ideation to propose ideas to planning department 3D data creation to create mock-ups for discussion/validation survey 4) Hand over designs to manufacturing for mass production

We're so accustomed to the design constraints imposed on vehicles by the need to accommodate engines and transmissions that we sometimes fail to see the possibilities when those mechanical elements are no longer required.

That can't be said of the folks at Bollinger Motors, a Hobart, NY startup that is developing the Bollinger B1, an all-electric on-and-off-road sport utility truck (SUT). From the outside it looks like an old-school off-road vehicle from Land Rover or Jeep, but inside it is very different.

B1 chassis minus the batteries.

The motors and batteries in an electric vehicle don't need to occupy the same space as an engine and transmission. In the Bollinger B1 they were dropped into the plane of the chassis—as is typically done with electric vehicles.

Storage front and back.

This makes for a low center of gravity and allows for creative use of space in the area that would normally house the engine. The floor of the B1 extends from the tailgate at the back of the vehicle to the tailgate in front. That's right, a truck with tailgates at both ends! 

An opening through the firewall allows long material to be carried inside the vehicle. In this photo the rear seats have been folded to the sides to get them out of the way. 

What would normally be the engine compartment was turned into a sort of trunk, with a lid that lifts up and a tailgate that folds down. An opening through the "firewall" separating the forward trunk from the cab makes it possible to stow 12' material in a 12' 6" long vehicle by running it from tailgate to tailgate between the seats. Longer material can be carried if you are willing to drive with one or both tailgates down. The rear seats can be removed or folded out of the way to make it possible to haul wide material such as plywood.

Because there is no engine, there is no need for a large radiator and it's external manifestation, the full width grill. 

Small grills on either side of the front tailgate allow air to flow into the radiators used to cool the motors and inverters.

Instead, the front tailgate is flanked by a pair of small grills, which allow air to flow through radiators used to cool the inverters and electric drive motors. It's all-wheel-drive and there is a motor at each axle.

Motor at  rear axle; there's another like it at the front.

The B1 has a boxy body with a stripped down back-to-basics look.

As with many off-road vehicles, the rear roof and sides can be removed to turn it into a sort of convertible or open-bed pickup. What's cool about the way Bollinger did this is that with the roof and sides out of the way the rear "wall" of the vehicle can be shifted forward to close off the back of the cab.

Of course there's more to the B1 than an unusual body configuration; it's a high clearance all-wheel-drive vehicle capable of going anywhere an off-road vehicle can go. And it does this using electric motors and batteries instead of an internal combustion engine. An electric vehicle may have limited range but its acceleration is stellar, due to the high torque produced by electric motors. The vehicle produces 360 hp and is capable of speeds up to 127 mph.

The B1 will be offered with battery configurations that allow for a 120 or 200 mile range between charges. It takes 7-12 hours to charge fully depleted batteries with 220-volt AC current. That time can be compressed to 75 minutes if the battery is charged with a quick-charging (CHAdeMO) system. The charge can be used to power the vehicle or anything (like tools or appliances) plugged into it.

It's unclear what this thing will cost or when exactly it will be available. Bollinger Motors plans to produce the B1 in the U.S. and begin shipping it in 2019.

Atlanta-based magician Victoria Skye has a sideline creating optical illusions "using art, science and math." She created this one below, which we are having a very hard time wrapping our head around:

Yes, the lines are actually parallel. I had to break out the ruler myself.

As Digg points out, this is based on the "cafe wall" optical illusion.

You can see more of Skye's illusions here.

Life is best lived when reminded it's short. Remind yourself, friends and colleagues with beautiful prints of a life in weeks.

The Roomba has made all of our lives easier from cleaning up after us to serving up some much-needed laughs moonlighting as "DJ Roomba." Someday soon you may be seeing a similar looking robot make an appearance in the world of architecture. Designer Han Seok Nam is looking to cut down on labor costs and up efficiency with his design, Archibot.

Animator James Curran's got a neat schtick: He moves to a new city, lives there for 30 days, and creates a daily GIF of what he did there each day. He then strings them together into what he calls Gifathons. So far he's got:

Tokyo

New York

L.A.

When he's got a new one up, you'll see it here.

[Spoilers.]

HBO typically releases an "inside the episode" video after each episode of "Game of Thrones." These behind-the-scenes vids are typically just a few minutes long. But after Sunday's epic episode, fans were treated to an extra-long behind-the-scenes look at how they created, among other things, the crazy sequences of a dragon strafing everything in sight.

Because CG doesn't currently render convincing flames, real fire was used for much of the sequence, from attaching a flamethrower to a crane to using explosive charges to setting 20 stuntmen on fire at once. And the amount of follow vehicles--trucks, an electric jeep, a zipline camera, a souped-up drone--is just nuts:

He/She takes an active, hands-on role in leading ideation with team members, providing art direction to other designers, and working with Program Managers and Design Technologists to implement designs into technology frameworks. This important role requires broad knowledge and advanced skills in visual design, user experience, user interface, and a solid understanding of available client-side technologies.

My friend Gary showed up at our book club wearing a pair of Chuck Taylors. Nothing unusual about that except that he's in his 70s and had no idea they were in style. He's been wearing Chucks since the 1950s—just the way they come out of the box.

But what about people who like customized gear? Here are 5 ways to hack your Chuck Taylors that go beyond painting them, drawing on them, or lacing them in an unusual manner.

Wah-Wah Pedal Chucks

This design allows guitarists to put the wah-wah pedal in their shoe instead of their shoe on the wah-wah pedal. About the video—anything that encourages people to play Jimi Hendrix is all right with me.

Charged Up Chucks

What do you get when you sew a bunch of diodes onto a shoe and control them with an app? An intense pair of shoes that light up like a Las Vegas casino sign.

Glowing Chucks

These hacked shoes of all use an electro-luminescent panel and an inverter to light up the star. They look good and might actually make it safer to bike or skateboard at night.

Chuck Sneaker Speakers

For when you'd rather listen to your sneakers than wear them. And once you've drilled a piece out of the bottom you won't we wearing them again.

Arduino-Controlled LED Chucks

These programmable Chucks are like the on steroids version of those kids shoes with soles that light up. 

Over the past few weeks, we've been fielding questions from our Core77 audience for a favorite YouTube maker of ours, Ben Uyeda of HomeMade Modern. Founded in 2013, Uyeda has managed to build up a collection of videos showing anyone how to make simple yet elegant DIY projects. In the meantime, he has gained a number of sponsors, which means his biggest passion can also be a full time job.

We received a number of questions from our audience relating to the best tools for a DIY job, his thoughts on preserving intellectual property, as well as how to become a YouTube sensation yourself. Here's a look at Ben's answers:

Question 1: "You're fully kitted out with Ryobi tools. Are you sponsored by them, or do you just really like their tools?"

Question 2: "What's your favorite DIY tool and why?"

Question 3: "What are your thoughts on creating content showing how to recreate someone else's design?"

Question 4: "How does video limit or influence your creative ability? Have you been doing this long enough that everything revolves around creating easily reproducible projects, or do you have a desire to make some projects that use complicated technology such as a 5 axis CNC?" 

Question 5: "For designers who want to get into the business of monetizing content, what advice or resources can you recommend?"

Thanks for chatting with us Ben! You can check more from HomeMade Modern now on Ben Uyeda's YouTube page.

We're looking to do more 5 question, reader-driven interviews with designers and makers in the future—if you have any suggestions for people you'd like to ask questions via Core77, comment with their names in the thread below!

(Title image: Brit + Co)

You could be forgiven for thinking all cars in the future will be electric. But chances are there will still be diversity when it comes to automotive propulsion systems. That's because engineers are constantly tweaking the efficiency of the internal combustion engine; turbochargers, superchargers, variable valve timing, direct fuel injection and other tricks all increase efficiency and power by a few percentage points each.

But what manufacturers really want is to increase efficiency by double digits. One technology that offers this promise, and that manufacturers have been chasing for a while is HCCI, or Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition. GM, Mercedes, Nissan, Lotus and others have all been working on it, but none have perfected it enough to get it to market. Mazda, however, has just announced that they have.

HCCI is a technology by which fuel and air are compressed in an engine's cylinders to such a high density that the mixture spontaneously combusts--no spark plug necessary--driving the piston into its power stroke. Diesel engines work this way, and the higher compression ratio of diesel is what literally gives it more bang for the buck. (Higher compression = more power when the fuel mixture ignites.) The downside with diesel is that it creates dirty fumes, requiring expensive post-exhaust systems to prevent the car behind it from being covered in soot.

To achieve HCCI with conventional fuel is a tricky matter. First off the engine has to be beefed up, as with a diesel engine, to ensure the greater power expended in each power stroke doesn't blow the darn thing apart. Secondly you need a way to, amidst changing conditions, consistently control the compression and combustion so that it occurs precisely when you want it to, absent the precision of a spark plug.

Mazda says they have figured this out with their new Skyactiv-X engines. Unsurprisingly they're not saying how they did it, but they reckon the new technology increases efficiency by a staggering 20% to 30%, while increasing torque by 10% to 30%. They're also saying that the Skyactiv-X, which is supercharged, "even equals or exceeds the latest SKYACTIV-D diesel engine in fuel efficiency."

The Skyactiv-X technology, which they're calling "Spark Controlled Compression Ignition" (the engine will still contain spark plugs, to be used in certain conditions) is due to be rolled out with Mazda's model-year 2019 cars. 

Internal combustion engines, it seems, are going to hang around for a while.

Crease is a set of armchairs and side tables made from one single sheet of clear acrylic. By simply cutting and using a heat-bending technic, this set of furniture has its inherent minimal design aesthetics from the design process to the final appearance. The transparent both showcases the collection's fold details and builds a lightsome experience while using the furniture.

Stainless steel, slide off skewers for grilling. No need to use your hands or a fork to slide off your veggies and meat. Wide skewer design also prevents food like shrimp from falling or spinning. Summer's coming to an end, but there's still time left for some great grilling action.

These days our basic furniture needs are met very economically by factories, so if you are making furniture the reason is usually a personal challenge, a desire to work with one's hands, and a desire to push the envelope of what can be made with wood. This entry is about someone who's really pushing the envelope.

Some time ago I caught an exhibit of work by carver David Esterly, at the W. M. Brady Gallery on 80th Street. I had seen pictures David's work many times in Woodcarving Magazine and was eager to see the show.

The exhibit was carefully and leisurely laid out in several rooms so that you can enjoy the pieces without distraction. The pictures I have seen of David's work just don't do his work justice. The carvings are generally bigger than what I expected and all the carvings have a sense of hyper realism. It's not a real bouquet of flowers, it is a perfect bouquet of flowers. In his sculpture of vegetables, the arrangement of everything is perfect. Even imperfections like a caterpillar eating a leaf is done elegantly.

By coincidence the artist himself happened to be in the gallery when we visited, so chatted about this and that. I asked David if he worked from actual flowers, fruits, and if he mocked up the pieces before he actually carved them. He doesn't. He draws them in Illustrator and once he is happy with his design he goes from the drawings directly to carving wood. Not being constrained by the reality of a mock-up, David has the freedom to do with carving what artists or designers can do with drawings. He is freed from the physical constraints of how actual reality looks like.

His approach to realism is also very much grounded in the physical limitations of the detail that limewood (which is what he primarily carves) can take and the sense of what detail we can see. The gallery hung the pieces at normal "gallery height" but most of David's work was borrowed for this exhibition from various private collections and many of the works are designed to be mounted higher on a wall and viewed from below. In general the detail of a lot of the pieces are meant to be absorbed from a few feet away, not examined under a magnifying glass.

There are a few carved carving tools mounted in a few pieces which have handles that are stippled to emulate ash. It's a very convincing look, and from a few feet away the tool handles all look like ash. The carved drapery of one piece has that fuzziness to it that you get on fabric. But the leaves are mostly plain with very few if any veins or texture to them. I think this is because from a few feet away you would not really see the texture, and what you register is the leafiness of them and the delicacy of plain flower petals. Fabric and tools have the detailing of texture so we register it as fabric.

This approach to carving in itself is very interesting. One of the absolute benchmarks of modern sculpture is that it isn't realistic at all. And of course at first glance at Esterly's works it is realistic and can be easily dismissed by a lot of modern art critics as "craft" rather than "art". And then of course there is the school of criticism that dismisses this type of work as "decorative art". And of course in the modern world of art schools by and large, craft isn't taught, which immediately puts this sort of work as "outsider art" even if most of the time that term is used to describe more primitive works.

The level of carving skill needed to create these works is pretty high. The reaction of everyone who sees David's pieces for the first time is "OMG how amazing is that". It's the same feeling you get when you look at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, or some finely engraved suit of armor at the Met.

It's easy to be blindsided by the craft and miss the art. And of course we are only seeing the pieces for a few minutes in a gallery. David's work is almost all created for residences where the homeowners live day in and day out with the pieces. I think after living with these pieces for a little while, after the amazement about the craft of the pieces wears off, that the art will sink in and work will be enjoyed even more.

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This "Tools & Craft" section is provided courtesy of Joel Moskowitz, founder of Tools for Working Wood, the Brooklyn-based catalog retailer of everything from hand tools to Festool; check out their online shop here. Joel also founded Gramercy Tools, the award-winning boutique manufacturer of hand tools made the old-fashioned way: Built to work and built to last.

The American Dream of owning your own home has increasingly slipped away, particularly for younger generations. Last year, U.S. house prices grew by 4.8%; this year, salaries are only projected to grow by 1.9%.

Those numbers are from a study done by financial services organization HSBC, which looked at home ownership among 9,000 people in nine different countries. The study showed that 40% of all Millennials in the study are homeowners. In the U.S., just 35% of them do. And shockingly, in China some 70% of Millennials own their own homes.

Why is it that the percentage of Millennial homeowners in China is double that of the U.S.? Their still-growing economy tells part of the tale: 2016 house prices in China grew by 3.6%, and this year salaries are projected to grow by 4%.

The BBC, however, points to a cultural difference to explain the disparity:

Dr Jieyu Liu, deputy director of the SOAS China Institute, told the BBC: "It is the custom that husbands will provide a home. As young people's wages are too low, the husband's family is expected to take on the responsibility to purchase the property in their son's name, or pay the deposit.

…And then there's the fact that elderly Chinese often move in with their children in their twilight years. As a result, many see buying a property in their son or daughter's name as an investment in the family's future.

American Millennials are still apparently optimistic, however. While just 35% of them are homeowners, 80% of ones who are not say they intend to buy a home in the next five years. We'll see how that pans out.

Here are the charts from the study, for your perusal.

Filament is currently looking for a CMF/Trends Design Manager for our Seattle office. Responsibilities: Owns CMF & Trend Department & oversight of scheduling and staff, research, development and implementation of CMF and Trend into the company DNA, ensure brand guidelines are adhered to with clear color strategy and seasonality among our portfolio of brands, create

Vinyl-lovers know and play LPs and 45s, but few have the more obscure, earlier-generation 78 r.p.m. records. A lot of that is down to materials choices; while vinyl is reasonably durable, 78s were made from more brittle shellac and tend to shatter over time.

For that reason, The Great 78 Project has been furiously digitizing 78s before the music disappears forever.

The Great 78 Project is a community project for the preservation, research and discovery of 78rpm records. From about 1898 to the 1950s, an estimated 3 million sides (~3 minute recordings) have been made on 78rpm discs. While the commercially viable recordings will have been restored or remastered onto LP's or CD, there is still research value in the artifacts and usage evidence in the often rare 78rpm discs and recordings.

There are three places where you can download these tracks, but the first two have crappy interfaces where it's difficult to browse. The best link to click on is this one provided by archiving service George Blood L.P., which has checkbox filters and thumbnails that make it pretty easy to browse and sift through.

To date, the George Blood link provides access to some 26,000 tracks. And there are more on the way: The Great 78 Project currently has around 200,000 78s in total.

Via Kottke

On August 21st the U.S. will experience a rare phenomenon, a nationwide solar eclipse. Because this upcoming one can be seen from the east coast all the way to the west, millions of Americans will view it.

Obviously you cannot stare directly into the sun, even during an eclipse, without doing permanent damage to your eyes. Special sunglasses with solar filters are required. These glasses, covered in an opaque polymer film embedded with carbon powder, are so dark that they admit no light at all unless you're staring into the sun; everything else is pitch black. And despite the fancy material, these glasses aren't expensive, with prices ranging from 99 cents (with paper frames) to $30 (plastic frames).

Unfortunately, as Reuters reports, the market has become flooded with manufacturers selling fakes.

"It's a bunch of unscrupulous people cashing in on the eclipse and putting public safety at risk," said Richard Fienberg, press officer for the American Astronomical Society (AAS).

Staring at the sun without proper filtration, even when it is partially obscured by the moon during an eclipse, can damage or destroy photo-receptor cells of the eye's retina, leaving blind spots in a person's field of vision, experts said.

To combat this, the AAS has put together a list of brands and suppliers that they know are legit. "If a supplier isn't listed here, that doesn't mean its products are unsafe — only that we have no knowledge of them or that we haven't convinced ourselves they are safe," the AAS writes.

"Eclipse Glasses" & Handheld Viewers

Solar Viewer Brands

American Paper Optics (Eclipser) / EclipseGlasses.com / 3dglassesonline.com

APM Telescopes (Sunfilter Glasses)*

Baader Planetarium (AstroSolar Silver/Gold Film)* [see note]

Celestron (EclipSmart Glasses & Viewers)

DayStar (Solar Glasses)

Explore Scientific (Solar Eclipse Sun Catcher Glasses)

Lunt Solar Systems (SUNsafe SUNglasses) [see their unique kid-size eclipse glasses]

Meade Instruments (EclipseView Glasses & Viewers)

Rainbow Symphony (Eclipse Shades)

Seymour Solar (Helios Glasses)

Thousand Oaks Optical (Silver-Black Polymer & SolarLite)

TSE 17 (Solar Filter Foil)*

*Based outside the United States.

Astronomy, Science & Optics Vendors

Adorama Camera

Agena AstroProducts

Alpine Astronomical

AmericanEclipseUSA.com

American Science & Surplus

AstroBox/EclipseKit.com

Astronomers Without Borders

Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Astronomy Magazine / My Science Shop

Astroshop.eu

Astrozap Telescopes & Accessories

B&H Photo Video

Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project

Company Seven

David Chandler Company

Discover Magazine / My Science Shop

EarthSky.org

Eclipse2017.org

Eclipse for a Cause

EclipseGlasses.co.uk

EclipseStuff.com

Explore One

Flinn Scientific

GreatAmericanEclipse.com

High Point Scientific

Khan Scope Centre

Land Sea & Sky

Lire la Nature & Astronomie Plus

MMI Corporation

NationalEclipse.com

Oceanside Photo & Telescope

Online Science Mall

Ontario Telescope & Accessories

Optics Planet

Orange County Telescope

Orion Telescopes & Binoculars

Science City at Union Station

Sky & Telescope Magazine / Shop at Sky

SkyNews Magazine

Space Racers / AugustEclipse.com

Space Update

Starizona

Steve Spangler Science

The Planetary Society

Woodland Hills Camera & Telescopes

Retail Chains Where You Can Buy In-Store Only (Not on Their Websites)

7-Eleven

Best Buy

Bi-Mart

Casey's General Store

Circle K

Hobby Town

Kirklands

Kroger

London Drugs

Love's Travel Stops

Lowe's

McDonald's (Oregon only)

Pilot/Flying J

REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.)

Toys "R" Us

Walmart

Online & Other Vendors

123 Sales

2017Solar.com

3Dstereo.com

Educational Innovations

Electronic Analyst

Firefly Buys (FFB)

Fred Meyer

Freedom Hill

Mega-Fun Toys

Off the Wall Toys & Gifts

Run to Shop

Skyhawk Ventures

Solar Eclipse Spectacles (paper glasses only)

Soluna/GSM Sales

Squirrellynuts

ThinkGeek

Your 5 Star General Store

Free

The AAS also reports that NASA, Astronomers Without Borders and some libraries are giving away safe solar eclipse glasses for free. Click here and scroll down for details.

Our thanks to AAS for taking the time to put this list together!