Tool · Edit tab

A pivot
where you want it

A part is measured and turned about its pivot. It starts in the middle of the part’s box. Set pivot moves it to any point you click: a gear turns on its shaft, not on the outline of its teeth, and a lid turns on its hinge. Nothing moves on the plate when you set it.

The same lid turned 40 degrees about its middle, and about a corner where a hinge would be — The same lid turned 40 degrees, seen from above. Left: about the middle of its box, the default. Right: about a corner, where a hinge would be. Gray is where it was, orange is where it is now, and the red post is the pivot.

How to use it§ 01

Select one object.
Click Set pivot on the Edit tab (Advanced mode).
Click a point on the object: a shaft hole, a hinge line, a corner. The pivot goes there.
A red marker shows the pivot. The properties panel now shows Pivot X, Y and Z, as an offset from the middle of the box. Type new numbers to move it.
To go back, click Pivot to center.

What a pivot changes§ 02

Turning

A turn goes round the pivot. Turn the lid, and it swings on its hinge.

Position

The X, Y and Z position boxes read the pivot’s place on the plate, not the middle of the box.

Aligning

Lining a part up with another compares its pivot, not the middle of its box. A gear lines up by its shaft.

Resizing

Resizing grows the part away from its pivot. A face that lies on the pivot cannot move, so its Scale arrow is left out. Switch on One way only to keep every arrow.

Library parts come with a pivot§ 03

A part made by the Library has a pivot chosen for it. A box’s is the middle of its bottom. A gear’s is its shaft at the plate. A window or a door’s is the middle of its bottom edge, at the back.

That is on purpose. When you change a part’s numbers with Edit settings, it is made again and kept where its pivot was. A wider box stays standing where it stood, and a window stays on its sill. See Windows and Doors.

Good to know§ 04

Setting a pivot does not move the part. The geometry slides one way and the position the other, so it stays exactly where it was.
Set pivot is one Undo step, and the pivot is saved with the project.
It works on one object at a time. Clicking another object does nothing, and the status bar says why.
The Pivot boxes appear only for a pivot somebody chose. A part with the default pivot hides them.
Aligning a part to a face or a hole uses the pivot too: see Align to face.

More tool guides: Cladding · 3D textures · Windows · Doors · Mold · Voronoi · Connectors · Align to face · Fill up · Download 3DFastCraft, free

A pivotwhere you want it