Design a pen holderTinkerPieCAD tutorial 1 of 10 · Beginner · 10 minutes

Make a hollow cup by cutting a Hole shape out of a solid cylinder. This is the most important trick in 3D design.

Open the finished design in TinkerPieCAD (free, runs in your browser)

What you will learn

• Solid and Hole shapes
• Typing exact sizes in millimetres
• Group to cut a hole

Shapes you need

Cylinder (solid)Cylinder (hole)

Steps

1. Add a cylinder

   Click Cylinder. In the Shape panel set Size to 70 × 70 × 90 mm and pick a colour.

2. Add the hole

   Add a second cylinder. Press Hole in the Shape panel: it turns see-through grey. Set Size to 60 × 60 × 90.

3. Place the hole

   Set Position Z of the hole to 50. This leaves a 5 mm floor at the bottom and opens the top.

4. Group

   Click the hole, hold Shift and click the solid cylinder. Press Group. The hole is cut out.

5. Check and export

   Orbit around to look inside. Press Export ▸ STL to get a file for 3D printing.

Why it works

A Hole shape removes anything it overlaps when you group. You can make any hollow object this way.

All sizes are in millimetres. Type exact numbers in the right-hand panel. Press Export to get an STL file for a 3D printer.

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