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Mate connectors
derek_westwood
Member Posts: 34 ✭✭
Since restarting with Onshape a few months ago I have, with the help of several forum contributors, achieved a reasonable amount of progress. There is however one thing (Ha!) which puzzles me, the mate connectors.
When selecting a mate connector it seems to be totally random which way it is going to point and it is not until a lot of mouse whirling, and zooming in and out, with more mouse whirling, that the correct orientation is seemingly randomly achieved. Is there a process or series of steps for achieving the correct orientation logically?
Thanks in anticipation, Derek
When selecting a mate connector it seems to be totally random which way it is going to point and it is not until a lot of mouse whirling, and zooming in and out, with more mouse whirling, that the correct orientation is seemingly randomly achieved. Is there a process or series of steps for achieving the correct orientation logically?
Thanks in anticipation, Derek
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Comments
The closer you have aligned the parts to their finial position. The less random it will appear.
You may want to consider pressing the "solve" button a little more often while mating. Onshape does not solve until you ask it, and can make things appear in odd places until you accept the mate.
Don't forget the A and Q keys are your friends when mating. These will flip and rotate the mates respectively. That lets you keep your eye on the model while you flip and rotate for the correct position. The more you can focus onto your parts rather than the CAD user interface, the less likely it is you lose your bearings and forget what you were just looking at.
In the end, there are only 8 possible ways two mate connectors attach, so even if it was the wrong way, you can fix it quickly with the flip and rotate keys.
Here I didn't bother to reposition the grey assembly or worry about how it originally snapped into position. I just relied solely on the flip and rotate options until it was in the correct place, then moved on to the next.