Move one part onto another at location

j_o581

Hello all,

Just trying to get oriented to OnShape, I have some experience with other CAD software (sketchup, tinkercad) and I am looking for how to move one part onto another.

I have an empty box as one part, and another part that I want to move into the box at an intersection (corner of the box) with the intention of merging them into one part afterward.

I am trying to use the Transform tool, but no luck actually moving the part to where I want it

Here is the link for reference: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/f9d921abf22f8d382d1edfe7/w/b773e02b0f9f1a23b30b30e0/e/06c6edb3dd00b01ba36991c2

MichaelPascoe

There are several ways to do this, Transform by mate connector gives you the most control.

While inside the transform feature, click the drop down menu and select "Transform by mate connector". Then, define where you want the mate connectors. You can also create mate connectors outside of this feature, but on the fly may be more convenient.

bruce_williams

Unsure where you might be having a problem.  Here are a couple tips:
1)  the Onshape help is excellent - see transform help here
2) For your question; you may  either use points in transform or Mate connectors which are more flexible.
3) It is best to create the parts in position.  That is one of the strengths of Part Studios; designing parts in relation to each other.
4) When you share a doc. use the URL per the instructions here.  The link sharing does not let us copy your doc for investigation.

MichaelPascoe

There are several ways to do this, Transform by mate connector gives you the most control.

While inside the transform feature, click the drop down menu and select "Transform by mate connector". Then, define where you want the mate connectors. You can also create mate connectors outside of this feature, but on the fly may be more convenient.

MichaelPascoe

@bruce_williams you beat me to the draw again! The gif slowed me down.

j_o581

Thanks! That is exactly what I was looking for.

bruce_williams

and your gif is worth 10K words!  well done

bradley_sauln

Why not design the part in the appropriate position in the box to begin with and use Extrude > Add OR Mirror > Add to merge everything together? Looking at your sketch 4 that initially creates the geometry, you are missing a few constraints to make this a robust sketch to move around. This is carried through in sketches 5,6, and 7 with no constraints on the sketch entities with the geometry.



Here is my approach to the design from a quick run-through so far. I did not focus on fixing the features lower down on the feature tree: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/46b815fd51920114e48d42ba/w/a1e91e96d9582fd8dd785230/e/f38a3cb470f5870d6d7defd7



 A lot can be done to streamline the feature tree and make it more robust for yourself. I'd recommend taking a look at some of our courses to help you with the tools and processes available with Onshape: https://learn.onshape.com/learn/learning-path/onshape-fundamentals-cad

John_P_Desilets

@j_o581 I think you might be able to skip a few steps in this example. If you positioned the sketch in the bottom right corner of the housing you can extrude as new and mirror the part with the add option selected.  Looks like @bradley_sauln beat me to it! 

j_o581

Thanks everyone, I will take a look at the courses.  I certainly am not taking full advantage of the tools as I am still learning them. One of my biggest struggles is sketching on extruded surfaces and constraining things so I don't have to duplicate multiple similar dimensions.  Making one change to affect duplicate (or a pattern) will be huge.