Best Practices: Layout Sketch in Assembly Studio

troy_ostrander

You can make a sketch in a Solidworks assembly file and use that sketch to drive part locations and size.  How can you do this in Onshape?

SW workflow:

1. Make layout sketch in assembly file.
2. Part inserted into assembly file
   
3. Part mated to layout sketch 
   
4. In context relations made between part sketch and assembly layout.
   
5. Changes to layout sketch in assembly file drives part location and size

eric_pesty

You would create a sketch in a part studio and insert it in the assembly to mate to. You could either use contexts and/or just derive the sketch in the other part studios to drive geometry. Derive in will give you automatic updates while contexts need to be updated manually.
Check the "master model" course for details

mlaflecheCAD

@troy_ostranderthere are a number of ways to achieve this in Onshape.  You don't even need an assembly with all the manual file reference management that we would have to do in SolidWorks. A multi-part part studio is the best choice to start with in my opinion, but take a look at this course in our learning center and you will find useful.  https://learn.onshape.com/learn/article/master-model-workflows.  And this fun article from years ago sums it up nicely as well with some nice graphics :  https://www.solidsmack.com/cad/onshape-part-studio-vs-multibody-is-there-a-difference/

Essential you can create the entire layout sketch in a single part studio, build the parts in the sections of the layout sketch and add them to an assembly tab when you are ready to get a BOM and add other off the shelf parts.   The layout sketch can even be added to the assembly as well if you need it for reference.  Hope this helps!