What Is a Chamfer?

A chamfer is a feature that makes a straight cut across the corner of a body, resulting in a flat surface.

The size of the chamfer is defined as two values which are the distances from the selected edge into each of the faces. Chamfers can be applied to interior and exterior corners. When applied to interior corners, chamfers add material to the body.

When you select an edge, the chamfer tool:
  1. Offsets the faces that are adjacent to the selected edge with the specified distances, Distance 1 and Distance 2.
  2. Finds the point where the two offset faces intersect.
  3. Projects this point back to the original faces, following the path that is normal to the original faces.
  4. Creates the chamfer through these projected points.
An illustration of how the chamfer tool works is shown below.

You can also apply a chamfer to the edges of a selected face. The chamfer tool creates the chamfer for each edge following the same principles as described above.

Applying a chamfer successfully depends on which edges or faces you select, and the size of the chamfer in relation to the model. If you are having difficulty in applying a chamfer, try decreasing the dimensions of the chamfer or selecting fewer edges/faces. In order to solve the model geometry, a chamfer that is applied to a particular entity can extend automatically to include adjacent edges. The chamfer creation process for multiple input edges or faces can be partially successful. If an edge or face with a chamfer fails during the chamfer creation, the failed chamfer on an edge or face is highlighted in red.