50 edit prompts for AI CAD: the exact phrases for resizing, holes, fillets, lids, fits and text

Rules that make every prompt below work

• Amounts in millimetres, degrees or counts. Never "a bit".
• Name the feature you mean, or click it in the viewer first.
• One change per message when you might want to undo it alone.

Size and shape

1. Make it 5 mm taller.
2. Make the base 10 mm wider on each side.
3. Scale the whole part to 120 percent.
4. Set the overall length to exactly 84 mm and keep the proportions.
5. Round the outer corners with a 4 mm radius.
6. Replace the square outline with a hexagon of the same width.
7. Make the top edge a 45 degree chamfer 2 mm wide.
8. Taper the sides by 3 degrees so it releases from a mould.

Walls and floors

1. Make the walls 2 mm thick instead of 1.6.
2. Thicken the floor to 3 mm.
3. Hollow it with 1.8 mm walls, open at the top.
4. Add a 1 mm rib along the inside of each long wall.
5. Add a 0.5 mm chamfer at the bottom edge for elephant's foot.

Holes and slots

1. Add a 6.4 mm hole through the centre of the base.
2. Move the USB cutout 2 mm to the left.
3. Make the screw holes 4.5 mm with a 9 mm countersink.
4. Change the countersinks to 3 mm deep counterbores.
5. Add a 20 x 8 mm slot on the back face, 5 mm above the floor.
6. Add four vent slots 2 x 10 mm on each long side.
7. Change the vents to a hex pattern with 3 mm holes.
8. Add M3 heat-set insert pockets (4 mm diameter, 5 mm deep) at the four corners.

Fits and tolerances

1. Make the bore a press fit on a 6 mm shaft.
2. Add 0.2 mm clearance to the lid.
3. The lid is 0.3 mm too tight; loosen it.
4. Make the peg a sliding fit in an 8 mm hole.
5. The printed hole measures 5.7 mm; I need 6.0.
6. Add a 1 mm lead-in chamfer to the snap clips.

Lids and closures

1. Change the snap-fit lid to a screwed lid with M3 corner pillars.
2. Make the lid slide in from one end on side grooves.
3. Add two cantilever clips on the long sides.
4. Add a lip 2 mm tall so the lid locates.
5. Add a groove for a 2 mm O-ring around the lid.
6. Add a living hinge along one long edge.

Mounting

1. Add two keyhole slots on the back 40 mm apart.
2. Add a DIN rail clip on the back.
3. Add VESA 75 holes.
4. Add a 1/4-20 tripod thread boss underneath.
5. Add a 5 mm keyring loop on one corner.
6. Add a 20 mm wide belt clip on the back.

Standoffs, pegs and bosses

1. Add four standoffs 5 mm tall with 2.5 mm holes at a 58 x 49 mm pattern.
2. Replace the standoffs with 2 mm locating pegs.
3. Add a boss 10 mm in diameter under the button hole.
4. Make the standoffs 2 mm taller.

Text and marks

1. Emboss "SENSOR-01" 1 mm high on the lid, 6 mm letters.
2. Engrave an arrow 0.6 mm deep pointing at the USB port.
3. Add a 1 mm deep recess 30 x 12 mm for a label.

Parts and printing

1. Split it into two parts along the widest plane so both print flat.
2. Lay both parts side by side on the bed with 10 mm between them.
3. Make the height a parameter so I can change it later.
4. Name the parts "base", "lid" and "clips".

Asking questions instead of changing

• What did you assume for the clip interference?
• What is the internal height now?
• What changed in the last edit?
• Which dimensions are parameters?

If an edit goes wrong

"Undo that" or the undo button under the ghost overlay. Then rephrase with the number the AI missed.