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DOCS / HOW-TO GUIDES / FURNITURE

Make doors and drawers open

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Opening and exploding change only the view. They do not change the parts or the cut list.

Open generated doors and drawers#

Doors and drawers of a generated carcass, and of PAX-, METOD-, BILLY- and KALLAX-size units, open already.

  • To open all the doors and drawers, click Open doors in the viewport. Click Close doors to close them again.
  • To open only some, select them or their unit first, then click Open doors.
  • Double-click a door or drawer to open or close it.
  • To open doors part way, select the unit, then drag the Open slider in the viewport.

Open doors and the Open slider show when the model has a door or drawer that opens. If the selection has no door or drawer, Open doors opens all of them. You cannot use the slider until the selection contains one.

When you use Open doors or the Open slider, the selected parts show as in presentation mode: no blue colour, outline or rotate rings. Thus you can see the doors move. The selection shows again when you select something or change the tool.

Make a part that you drew open#

The part must be inside an assembly.

  1. Select the part, for example a door panel.
  2. In the Properties panel, at Opens, select hinged left, hinged right, hinged top, hinged bottom or slides out.
  3. Double-click the part to test it.

A hinged part must face the front: it is thinnest from front to back. The edge names are as you see it from the front. To stop the part opening, set Opens to no.

Make a drawer whose box and front move together#

The parts must be in the same assembly.

  1. Select the drawer box and the drawer front. Shift-click to add a part to the selection.
  2. In the Properties panel, at Opens, select slides out together.
  3. Optional: at Travel, type how far the drawer pulls out. The default is the depth of the parts from front to back.
  4. Double-click the drawer front to test it. The box and the front move together.

Hinge a part on a different part#

For example, hinge a lid on the back of a box. The two parts must meet edge to edge, with a gap of 2 mm or less.

  1. Select the part that moves, for example the lid.
  2. In the Properties panel, at Opens, select hinged on….
  3. At Hinged to, select the part that it turns on. The list shows the parts that it meets, and the edge where it turns.
  4. If the list shows more than one edge for that part, select the edge of the moving part at Edge.
  5. Optional: at Max angle, type how far it opens, in degrees.
  6. Click Hinge.

The part opens to show the swing. If it runs into another part on the way, the dialog shows a warning. Move the parts until the warning goes, then double-click the part to test it.

Show an exploded view#

  1. Select an assembly.
  2. Drag the Explode slider in the viewport.

The parts move apart. Drag the slider back to 0 to put them together again.