hammer8 Help
hammer8 help
Everything you can do in hammer8, from your first sketch to assemblies and manufacturing drawings. hammer8 is a parametric CAD app that runs entirely in your browser — no install, no account, and your files never leave your device.
Getting started10 articles
Working with the feature treeEdit, rename, suppress, delete, reorder and roll back features — the Feature Tree is the part's editable history.Your first part (sketch → extrude)Draw a 2D profile on a plane, then extrude it into a solid — the core loop of every part.Navigating the 3D viewOrbit, pan and zoom with the mouse; the ViewCube and view presets snap to standard orientations.Open-source licenceshammer8 is built on Open CASCADE Technology and FreeCAD's PlaneGCS solver. What that means, and the rights you have in them.Your data and your privacyYour models never leave your machine. What anonymous usage counts hammer8 keeps, and how to switch them off.Saving, opening & exportingWork is saved as an .h8prt/.h8asm/.h8drw history file that rebuilds on load; everything leaves through one Export ▾ menu — STEP, STL, DXF, SVG, PDF.Learning path — hammer8 in 30 minutesA guided reading-and-doing order through the docs — from first sketch to assemblies — with practice parts to build.A tour of the interfaceWhat every area of the hammer8 window does — the ribbon, Feature Tree tree, viewport, right rail and status bar.Units, precision & qualityThe status bar owns units, decimal display, tessellation quality and the interface language.Viewing, section & measureControl what you see — view presets, display modes, section views and the measure tool.
Sketching2 articles
Features11 articles
Combine, Split & IntersectMultibody surgery — fuse bodies, subtract one from another, keep only the overlap, or split one body into several.Direct editing (Move, Scale, Delete Face)Edit geometry that already exists — shift or copy a body, scale it, delete a face and heal the gap, push a face along its normal, or imprint a split line.Extrude (boss & cut)Push a sketch profile straight out into a solid (boss) — or straight through one (cut). The workhorse feature.Fillet & chamferRound (fillet) or bevel (chamfer) the edges of a solid with a radius or distance.Gears (spur, helical, internal, rack)Generate real involute gears — spur, helical, herringbone, internal ring, rack — from module and tooth count, with the trochoidal root, profile shift, backlash and blank features a made gear actually needs.Holes, threads & coilsThe Hole tool drills standard fastener holes; Thread cuts real or cosmetic threads; Coil builds springs and helixes.IndentPresses one body into another — the target's wall wraps the tool into a conforming boss, or Cut carves a conforming pocket. Clearance sets the gap; the tool body stays.Patterns & MirrorRepeat a feature or body along a line, around an axis, along a curve, filling a region — or mirror it across a plane.Reference geometry (planes, axes, points)Datum planes, axes and points — the scaffolding sketches, features and mates hang on.Revolve, Sweep & LoftThe three curved siblings of Extrude — spin a profile, run it along a path, or blend between sections.Shell, Draft & RibThe plastic-part trio — hollow a solid to walls, taper faces for mould release, and add stiffening ribs.
Surfaces1 article
Sheet metal1 article
Mould tooling1 article
Assemblies2 articles
Assemblies & matesInsert parts into an assembly, position them with mates, then check interference, explode and count a BOM.Bearings (assembly Toolbox)Insert standard bearings from the built-in Toolbox catalog straight into an assembly — pick a designation like 6205 or NU205, drop it on a shaft for an automatic concentric mate, and get a proper BOM row with quantity and mass. Bearings are purchased parts, so they never need to be sketched or modeled.
Drawings1 article
Variants2 articles
Import / Export3 articles
Import a DXF profileBring a 2D DXF (laser/CAM outline) in as a sketch, then extrude it like any profile.Import meshes and other formatsBring STL, OBJ, 3MF, IGES or BREP files in — as a mesh you can measure, or a solid you can model on.STEP importBring a STEP file in as a solid body — reference it, mate to it, and model on top of it.