How to Model a Keychain Tag with Your Phone Number in Onshape (Complete Beginner Guide)

This is a full step by step guide to modelling a keychain tag in Onshape from an engineering drawing. No CAD experience needed — every click is explained. This guide is written for laptop users.

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What You Need

• A laptop
• An Onshape account — sign up free at onShape, there is an education plan if you are a student
• The engineering drawing you are working from

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The Part We Are Building

• Outer rectangle: 60×40mm, 4mm thick, R2 fillet on all edges and corners
• Inner sunken panel: 54×34mm, recessed 1mm from the outer top surface
• Tape/rim: the raised border strip around the inner panel, flush with the outer top
• Keyhole: Ø3mm hole, positioned within the inner rectangle on the left side
• Text (your phone number): extruded 3mm up from the inner panel surface
• Overall thickness: 6mm

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Step 1 — Create a New Document

1. Log in to Onshape at onshape.com
2. Click Create on the top left of your dashboard
3. Select Document, name it and confirm
4. You will land inside a Part Studio — this is where all the modelling happens

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Step 2 — Draw the Outer Rectangle

1. At the top toolbar, click Sketch
2. Onshape will ask you to select a plane — click Top Plane
3. You are now inside a sketch. The toolbar at the top changes to sketch tools
4. Right click on the Top Plane and select view normal to or rotate manually into view
5. Click the Rectangle tool — click the small arrow next to it and select Corner Rectangle
6. Click the center dot (the origin point in the middle of the workspace) to start drawing from there
7. Drag outward to the top right area and click anywhere to place the rectangle — the size does not matter yet

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Step 3 — Clean Up the View

Before setting dimensions, hide the origin planes so they do not clutter your workspace:

1. Look at the feature list on the left sidebar
2. You will see Top, Front, and Right listed there — these are origin planes
3. Hover over each one and click the eye icon that appears next to it to hide them

Your workspace is now clean and easier to work with.

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Step 4 — Set the Dimensions

1. In the sketch toolbar at the top, click the Dimension tool
2. Click the top side of your rectangle and type 60, press Enter — this sets the width
3. Click the right side and type 40, press Enter — this sets the height
4. Your rectangle is now exactly 60×40mm

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Step 5 — Fillet the Rectangle Corners

Still inside the sketch, fillet the four corners before extruding:

1. In the sketch toolbar, click the Fillet tool
2. Click all 4 corners of the rectangle one by one
3. Set the radius to 2mm
4. Click the green checkmark inside the fillet tool to confirm

Your rectangle now has smooth R2mm rounded corners.

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Step 6 — Finish the Sketch and Extrude

1. Click the green checkmark to finish the sketch
2. At the top toolbar, click Extrude
3. Onshape will automatically select your sketch
4. Set the depth to 4mm
5. Click the green checkmark to confirm

You now have a solid rounded box, 60×40×4mm.

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Step 7 — Draw the Inner Rectangle

1. Click the top face of your box to select it
2. At the top toolbar, click Sketch
3. Click the Rectangle tool and select Corner Rectangle
4. Click close to the bottom left corner of the outer rectangle to start from there
5. Drag inward and click anywhere to place the rectangle — size does not matter yet
6. Click the Dimension tool
7. Click the top side of the inner rectangle then the top side of the outer rectangle, type 3, press Enter
8. Click the bottom side of the inner rectangle then the bottom side of the outer rectangle, type 3, press Enter
9. Click the left side of the inner rectangle then the left side of the outer rectangle, type 3, press Enter
10. Click the right side of the inner rectangle then the right side of the outer rectangle, type 3, press Enter

The inner rectangle is now exactly 54×34mm with a 3mm gap on every side.

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Step 8 — Fillet the Inner Rectangle Corners

Still inside the same sketch:

1. In the sketch toolbar, click the Fillet tool
2. Click all 4 corners of the inner rectangle one by one
3. Onshape will default to R2mm since that was the last value used — confirm it and accept
4. Click the green checkmark to finish the sketch

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Step 9 — Extrude Remove the Inner Panel

1. Click Extrude at the top toolbar
2. Change the operation from Add to Remove
3. Set the depth to 1mm
4. Click the green checkmark

This cuts 1mm into the top of the box. You now have a 1mm raised border around the panel — that is the tape — and a sunken floor sitting at 3mm height.

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Step 10 — The Keyhole

1. Click the inner rectangle recessed floor — the sunken surface inside the panel
2. At the top toolbar, click Sketch
3. In the sketch toolbar, select the Circle tool
4. Click to place the center — 6mm from the left outer side, slightly above the vertical center of the panel
5. Click the Dimension tool, click the circle, and type 3 to set the diameter to 3mm
6. Click the green checkmark to finish the sketch
7. Click Extrude at the top toolbar
8. Change the operation to Remove
9. Change the depth from Blind to Through All
10. Click the green checkmark

A 3mm hole now runs straight through the entire part.

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Step 11 — The Text Extrusion

Onshape's text tool does not let you set width and height independently — the font controls the width automatically. Here is what works:

1. Click the recessed floor
2. At the top toolbar, click Sketch
3. In the sketch toolbar, click the Text tool
4. Click somewhere in the panel to place it
5. Type your phone number (use your own number)
6. Click the Dimension tool, click the text, and set the width to 45mm — let Onshape calculate the height, it will come out around 5mm
7. Now position the text — click the right side of the text then the right side of the inner rectangle, type 2.5, press Enter
8. Click the top side of the text then the top side of the inner rectangle, type 14.4, press Enter
9. Click the green checkmark to finish the sketch
10. Click Extrude at the top toolbar
11. Make sure the operation is set to Add
12. Set the depth to 3mm
13. Click the green checkmark

The text sits 3mm above the inner floor. Inner floor is at 3mm, text top is at 6mm — that is your overall thickness.

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Step 12 — Verify Your Dimensions

Before exporting, confirm everything matches your drawing:

• Overall thickness = 6mm ✓
• Outer body = 60×40mm ✓
• Inner panel = 54×34mm ✓
• Border gap = 3mm on all sides ✓
• Keyhole = Ø3mm, through all ✓
• Text extruded 3mm up ✓

Use the view cube in the top right to rotate and inspect from all angles.

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Step 13 — Export as STL

1. In the feature list on the left sidebar, right-click your part
2. Click Export
3. Select STL as the format
4. Click Export and it downloads to your computer

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Things That Will Trip You Up

Sketch could not be solved — you have a conflicting dimension somewhere. Delete the conflicting one and re-enter it.

Text width does not match — you cannot force a specific width on Onshape text. Adjust height until the width fits the panel cleanly.

Extrude going the wrong direction — cancel, make sure you clicked the correct face, and try again.

Planes still showing — go to the feature list and hide Top, Front, Right using the eye icon.

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How Long Does It Take

First time with no experience — around 4 hours. Following this guide — under an hour.

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Modelling in Onshape.