Hi,

From times to times I wish I had a rule of thumb in which order I should build my features.

When getting back to a design I did months or even years ago it sometimes seems difficult to figure out in which way everything was built.

Especially in connection with assemblies. Or if you are handed over an old design another guy did years ago and the assembly consist of hundreds of rebuilt errors - it takes time before you know how everything is related to each other.

As a general rule I try to stick to this design hierarchy when I make a new part:

1. Functions first

2. Holes

3. Cosmetic (fillets and chamfers)

I try to do all the basic things bottom up first, before I turn to a top down approach in assembly mode.

It would be interesting to hear from others how they work, and what consideration they have put into their ordering of features.