Split function : "tool cannot split the selected part"

JFMorissette

I'm having trouble with the Split function in onshape. Basically, I have a large ring-shaped part that I want to split in 6-8 segments to make them manageable for our 3d printer. I want the split to have a sort of jigsaw-puzzle shape so that I can assemble the printed ring segments more robustly. To achieve that I thought of doing the following : 
1-create a spline sketch of an arbitrary shape in a plane parallel to my part
2-extrude that sketch into a surface along the axis of the part 
3-Use this surface as a split tool ("Entity to split with")

Here's an image that I think illustrates what I want to do : 



However, this operation always returns the error message : "Split 2 did not generate properly : tool entity cannot split the selected part". I haven't found anything online about this particular error message, and I don't see any obvious explanation as to why it wouldn't work. I should specify that the part I'm trying to split is an import from Solidworks.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

philip_thomas

That would make a single part with coincident faces. This is not supported.
Just extend the surface and split it into 2 parts

john_mcclary

or thicken your surface by .001" and remove it from the ring

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/3b2dfcb806b54af88441429c/w/49acbbc6d855babbf28c17e4/e/f5a4cac7485ada45ddc368ea

The values shown in the photo are actually .0005", they are just shown rounded to the nearest .001 because of the document settings

john_mcclary

And welcome to Onshape and the forum

JFMorissette

Thank you guys for your response. I used John's suggestion and it worked great. For the full ring I used : 

-sketch the path
-extrude to surface
-circular pattern : repeat this surface 6 times along the circumference of the ring
-thicken all 6 surfaces with the remove option as shown by John above.

Thanks again!

john_mcclary

You can make that a little simpler by doing the circle pattern last

For that you would do a thicken (new)
then circle part pattern the thickened piece, with the (Remove) option

See here:
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/3b2dfcb806b54af88441429c/w/49acbbc6d855babbf28c17e4/e/f5a4cac7485ada45ddc368ea