Element Block
A periodic-table element block that taught me how to plan a layout when text won't fit.
// Challenges
Fitting the element symbol, atomic number, and atomic mass onto a single block without it looking cramped. My first attempts didn't lay out cleanly.
// Skills Used
// Outcome
A finished block with all three pieces of info legible. The bigger takeaway was a habit. Keep sketches separate and plan layout up front instead of fixing mistakes after the fact.
Brief
Model a single block in Onshape that represents a periodic-table element. One face had to show the element symbol, atomic number, and atomic mass, all legible. Sounds simple. Was not.
Process
My first version tried to fit everything at the same scale. The letters ran into each other. The atomic mass overlapped the symbol. The whole face looked busy and hard to read.
Instead of nudging things around until something worked, I stepped back and researched. Watched a couple of videos on how the periodic table itself solves the same problem. The symbol is big and centered. The atomic number is small in the top corner. The atomic mass is small at the bottom. That clear hierarchy made the layout obvious.
I rebuilt the block with each piece of text on its own sketch. That made every tweak fast. I could nudge the symbol without breaking the numbers, resize the mass without shifting the symbol. The final block read cleanly from a distance and up close.
Skills Built
- Sketch discipline in Onshape. Keeping each text element on its own sketch is now a default habit. Every CAD project since has benefited from it.
- Type hierarchy on a constrained surface. Sizing rules I learned here have shown up again in laser-cut signs, 3D-printed labels, and CAD drawings.
- Researching before iterating. Look at how the problem has already been solved in the real world. Use that as the baseline. Then iterate from a working starting point instead of guessing.
What I would do differently
I would put dimensions on the symbol and the numbers from the start, parametric variables tied to one master scale. That way I could change one number and have everything resize proportionally. Future Onshape projects are doing this from day one.