Help Open SchoolCAD

Help Part Studio features

Mate

Place a part so one of its faces sits flat on a face of another part, and stays there when sizes change.

  • Mate GPart Studio toolbar
What other CAD programs call it
SchoolCADOnshapeFusionSOLIDWORKS
MateMateJointMate

Mate puts parts together, like assembling them in the workshop. You click a face on the part to move, then the face it sits against. The part turns and moves so the two faces sit flat together.

The mate stays. If the other part changes size later, the mated part moves with it. Use Mate to sit a lid on a box, put a knob on a drawer front, or fit an imported hinge to a door.

How to use it#

  1. Click Mate, or press G.
  2. Click a flat face on the part to move.
  3. Click the flat face on the other part that it sits against.
  4. Type an Offset if you want a gap, and choose how to Line up.
  5. Check the preview, then click ✓.

If you clicked a part before you started, the face you clicked is already picked as the face to move. Click Part to move to pick a different face.

Options#

OptionWhat it does
Part to moveThe face on the part that moves. Click this button, then a face, to pick it again.
Sits againstThe face on the part that stays still. Click this button, then a face, to pick it again.
OffsetA gap between the two faces, in mm. 0 means they touch.
Line upCentres moves the part so the middles of the two faces line up. Just touch moves it straight onto the face, without sliding it sideways.

Tips#

  • Use Centres for a knob in the middle of a drawer front. Use Just touch when the part is already in the right place sideways, and only needs to sit on the face.
  • Mate only works with flat faces.
  • To move a part by exact distances instead, use Transform.
  • The assembly instructions use your mates to say which part each part sits against.
  • To change a mate later, double-click it in the feature tree.

If it does not work#

  • Pick a flat face. You clicked a curved face. Click a flat one.
  • Pick a face on a different part. The two faces must be on two different parts.
  • You need two parts to mate together. Make the second part first.
  • The part is upside down or the wrong way round. You picked the wrong face on the part to move. Click Part to move, then the face that should touch.
  • Pick a flat face on each part. A face was lost after a change. Edit the mate and click the faces again.