How to dimension a slot in a drawing?

Meckatronic

Hello to all,

I would like to know if there is a way to dimension a slot in a drawing. By dimension I mean something like 9x20, which is a dimension related to the length and width of a slot.

And then I'd like to know how to quote from the center of a slot.

Thanks in advance to everyone.

PeteYodis

@Vins By default we currently dimension to the centers of arcs/circles - but you can drag those dimension grip points out to the perimeter of the arcs and we will attach them to the min/max locations for those arcs.  I'll create some tickets to add you to a few things that will make this process quicker.  Some have asked for the hole feature to be able to add slots.  With that improvement we could do something a bit more automated on the detailing side.  

Meckatronic

Thanks Pete, it would be an important improvement for those of us who work with sheet metal and very often use slot.

nclark

While the current options for dimensioning a slot are ok, they are lacking.   Being able have draw center marks per  the different options of ASME Y14.5  would be ideal.   See: https://www.fcsuper.com/swblog/?p=206

john_mcclary

You can meet all of those standards fairly easy, with the exception of slot callout (completely missing from Onshape today).

The center-line tools are missing a "center of slot" one-click option. Currently this takes 4 clicks, which would be a bummer if you have many slots to dim. Yuck! 😂

If I were you, and found that style of dimension critical. I would create (2) improvement requests. One for the "slot center marks" and one for the dimension callout.

80% of all what I do ends up being sheet-metal with almost every bolt hole double slotted. So I have touched this hundreds of times per project. Can't say I felt handicap here in the recent improvements. If we can get them to push these last two IR's then I'd say Onshape would have this licked for the rest of the detailers out there.
Otherwise I just dim the two centers and a the slot width. easy peasy.

In the mean time some quick tips for those who may not be aware:
Ctrl+r   =  Radius Dim
Ctrl+d   = Diameter Dim
d = smart dimension
shift+q = quadrant selection toggle (for selecting the overall slot length)
n + click on geometry = leader note (for a quick 2x R callout if you truly get that technical...)
Ordinate doesn't have a shortcut 😒  I just map it to "S" menu as it is my most used dim style.
Center-line is another good one to have mapped to "S" (typically I omit center marks anyways unless absolutely necessary to show design intent, I'd hope we are all smart enough in the year 2020 to recognize the dimension is pointing to the center of a hole 🤷‍♂️)

As I said, other than the center mark, and slot callout (.5 x .293) I would say it's pretty simple to get most of the standards fairly quick for a "lacking" tool 😜
Here are all of them stacked up on top of each other, showing all the points you have rapid control over without reaching for any tools.