I Learn modeling and I try to model a fork as per attached file http://www.savefile.com/projects/1071956. All seems good but when I subsurf the model I see a line in the handle of the fork. I would like to join the mesh in the handle but I dont know how. Any help?
In object mode: Select the object you want to join. Select the object you want to end up with. Type Ctrl-J.
In edit mode: select the vertices be joined. Type W, Merge.
The line your speaking of in the middle of the fork is appearing because you dont have any faces there. If you look at the model before you subsurf there is a line going down the middle of the fork, so just fill that gap in and you should be set.
Also on a side not, that fork is WAY to thick.
I should add a ‘i suck at this’ line to my sig. Ok there it is. Your link read as spam to my over saturated brain. more coffee please.
Your simple model has an awful lot of polys - far too many for this stage of modelling. I guess you started with a cube and subdivided it a few times to make the prongs? That’s not a good way to go. You should only subdivide regions that need to be subdivided and only in the direction they need subdividing. If there’s some other reason why you’ve made it with so many polys, then ignore the above.
There are already faces in the gap so you can’t just make faces to fill it. (Is it meant two have to handles like that?) I see you did try to fill the gap on the bottom of the handle with faces but even if you did the same to the top, you’ll get a weird ridge when you subsurf - unless you delete all those faces that will end up trapped inside.
If you want to salvage it without starting again then you might be willing to at least delete the handle, delete the centre column of faces on the fork head that will be left there, then extrude a new handle, in one piece from the hole that you create.
Here’s a simple fork example. It’s not great but shows how you can create a “complex” shape with very few polys. Subsurfing this gives “okay” results that can be easily improved by the careful addition of edges in selected places. This fork has 52 faces (polys), yours has 559 faces! When you subsurf them at level 2, your fork has almost 9000 face while mine has just 864.
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Thank you all for the info. I was able to finish my model but AndyD made me think that I should start again. Thank you AndyD for the info. It has only been less than a month since I started working with Blender and I have no experience in 3D or any other graphics. I do this as my retirement hobby. The only reason I made so many polys is my lack of experience. You are right as to the way I started, so I will start again and follow your suggestions. I have done other tutorials but I got stuck with this fork (thought that it will be easy). I want to do it right so I will learn. QUESTION: how do you make a “Thumbnail” copy of an image from Blender?
If you mean the Attached Thumbnail that andyD has in his post you take a normal size screen picture, when you make your reply click on the paperclip above the box where you type in, and you can attatch your picture file to your message , the thumbnail is auto created by the forum.
If not that then to make thumbnails open your image in a 2d graphics program like gimp and resize it.
A question on the same lines as this; Is it possible for you to merge faces together but keep the shape, As in join 2 faces together without having to manually select each edge and create a face. Is it possible? is there a shortcut for this?
mandoragon, it all depends on the situation of the faces, if things are on a flat surface merging would maintain the shape but on a curve you would loose your shape. joining two edge by selecting them and pressing f is pretty quick, can you guess im not really sure what your asking :spin: . maybe you could show a picture showing what youd like to merge.
I suppose Im asking if you were making a handle for some kind of an object eg) a suitcase, if your using a highly detailed mesh, then selecting each edge can be hard in wireframe mode and almost impossible in normal view, does this make sense?
If you have loops on each part that you want to join that contain the same number of vertices, you can use the bridge faces/edge-loops script that can be located by 3d window menu mesh>scripts>bridge faces/edge-loops, select the two loops then start the script.
If this can’t be used and the problem is seeing what you are doing, use the hide vertices function shortcut keys are H > Hide selected Shift-H > Hide deselected ALT-H > Shown hiden. So select the vertices in the are you want to join then press ALT-H to hide the rest.
Another way you can sometimes get away with is ALT-B to clip the view to a box you draw around the area you want to see.
Hazza beat me to it, but I’ll try anyway.
Your question implies that your are in edit mode. There are several ways to connect faces; several ways to connect edges. To maintain their shape you will need to be discreet in your selections and methodology.
If you’re in object mode it’s another story. A handle can be Joined [Ctrl-J] to a suitcase and the shapes will be retained. You’ll then have a single mesh so that when you go into edit mode the faces will be exposed.
One technique in edit mode might be to select one vertice and type [Ctrl-L]. Maybe that’ll help. Also [H] and [Ctrl-H].
That’s not a good way to go. You should only subdivide regions that need to be subdivided and only in the direction they need subdividing.
I am unable to subdivide a simple cube the way you describe. Is it possible to let me know how it is done? Thanks
I understand where you’re at. I used to start almost everything with subdivided cubes too and it soon gets frustrating because there are so many faces to deal with every time you want to change any part of the model. Better workflow comes with time as you discover more tools.
See the attached image with the notes below to see how I approached the fork.
- In Edit Mode, place your mouse where the yellow X is then press Ctrl-R (loop cut). You will see a pink line indicating where the cut will initially be placed. Press "++ on the num-pad twice to get three cut lines as shown
- Press RETURN key twice to apply the cuts. (You can apply with LMB but you can also move the cuts this way if the mouse moves, so try that option later and see the possibilities.) You will see the selected faces running all around the cube in one direction
- Select all verts (A-key) and scale in Z direction (S-key, Z-key, move mouse inwards) to make the fork flatter
- Select the four faces on one end (use face select mode) and extrude individual faces. E-Key >individual faces<
- Drag the faces out for the fork prongs. At this point they look like any other extrusion but they are different. Because we used “individual faces” there are hidden faces between each section so each is an individual “box” extruded from the main cube (The end faces aren’t connected to each other.)
- Choose “individual centres” from the pivot menu. This means when we transorm things it will treat each part separately from the others. You’ll want to set this back to “median” or “bounding box” later.
- Scale the faces down. Now you can see the faces between each prong.
- Select two faces on the back of the main cube. Extrude using region - E-key >Region<
- Drag out to make handle. You can drag to full length then use loop cuts to add loops in the middle later.That’s the basics. You can add more loop cuts to control subsurfing too. I’m no modelling guru so there may be even better ways to approach this but it should give you some things to keep in mind for other projects.
Loop cuts are your best friend 
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AndyD you are a GENIUS. I just got your post and I understand what you are talking. I knew about the loop cuts but did not know that “++ NUM PAD” controls the number of cuts. That is a big help. Also the method of how to start a model now changes everything in my mind. I really do appreciate your time and thanks a million. Cheers
You can also hit Ctrl-R followed by a number to instantly set the number of cuts.
eg Ctrl-R, 9 key will give nine cuts.
It gets better all the times…. That is also of a help to cut down the input. I just finished your instructions and now I can see the BIG difference. It is much easier, faster and lean. I am just tweaking the model now to learn and see all the differences. If you have a chance, please let me know where do you see how many polys (faces) a model has?
At the top of your screen there is a number that looks something like:
Ve:1002 | Fa:1026 | Ob:7-2 | La:2 | Mem:9.13M
Ve is vertice Fa is Face Ob is object and La is Lamp. When in edge mode you get an edge count too.
It gets better all the times….
Yep, welcome to Blender :yes:
I’ll let you in on a little secret - I’ve been using Blender for over 18 months and I only discovered the num + key trick by accident while I was writing that little tutorial for you today. I was actually trying to zoom the screen while I had the Loop Cut tool active 
There’s new stuff to be learned every day with Blender and a lot of it can be learned by accident or just by pressing buttons to see what happens.
You can also use the mouse wheel after CTRL-R to control the amount of loop cuts, and when doing one cut if you want it in the centre press middle mouse button instead of left mouse button.