Orienting a part during creation.

robert_scott_jr_

Hello All.

As a simple woodworker and hobbyist I use and enjoy Onshape as a VALUABLE tool; it is very enabling. I'm coming up on 5 yrs. using Onshape. Via that experience I've come to view part studios as not only a place to create parts but also as the place to keep parts to be used later in an assembly.

I do have a preference in selection of one of the default planes in consideration to how the part will be oriented later. It just helps me when I go back to a part studio and see the part the way I expect to. To me, it doesn't really matter what the part orientation in the studio is. It's like having a part on a shelf; it doesn't matter how it sits there; just grab it when it's needed. There have been several times when I will give it orientation by assigning a mate connector to it because it was easier to go back and do it there rather than in an assembly.

My question is: is this concept something that should be corrected or is it a matter of preference? I recently read in a post that it might be better to orient a part during creation the way it is intended to be used and it led me to question my own method.

- Scotty

eric_pesty

It's definitely best practice to design parts in their "natural" orientation when it is clear (which is not always the case).

However at the end of the day it doesn't matter that much and it comes down to personal preference. If it works for you and you are not sharing your models with others I wouldn't sweat it...

glen_dewsbury

Orientation in the way the part will be used and in fact centered on the origin can be very useful later on. I do this out of habit. Building next part off the last is also helpful to keep your own orientation especially when you are making new part in context.
If the arrangement is simple enough you may even eliminate the need for an assembly tab entirely by keeping parts in one studio.

John_vd_Werff

For me there are 2 reasons to consider the orientation of the part before creation:

1. default views on drawings, it speeds things up when 'front view' actually shows the most important side of the part
2. thumbnails in Onshape documents view, it is nice when the part in the thumbnail is easy to recognize

Other than that it doesn't really matter.

S1mon

@John_vd_Werff

Those are both good reasons. I would add that when another engineer opens the part studio or assembly, the default orientation should make sense. Most things (finished goods) exist in gravity in the real world, so we expect to see them oriented with a particular side facing up. Most things have some symmetry, and I almost always use the Right plane as the symmetry plane. 

When models start as imports from other systems, sometimes the origin is way off in space. This drives me crazy. Sometimes this is because a part or subsystem has been exported/imported based on a larger assembly, or sometimes it’s because it was modeled as a series of options all in one file (especially ID models from Rhino or Alias), with each option moved off of the origin by some increment. I will usually transform stuff so that the part(s) are related to the origin in a rational manner.

John_vd_Werff

S1mon said:

...Most things (finished goods) exist in gravity in the real world, so we expect to see them oriented with a particular side facing up. Most things have some symmetry, and I almost always use the Right plane as the symmetry plane. 

...

It is important to distinguish between parts/subassemblies and final product.
The final product (a part or an assembly) should always be oriented according to the intended use case. This will also make it easier to view the product in Onshape by using the turntable function (Alt+RMB drag) which keeps the Z-axis vertical while rotating the view.

For parts and subassemblies manufacturing (2D drawings) is more important than the actual orientation in the final product.

I agree with your approach on symmetry, it makes modeling easier if the main planes (front, top, right) correspond with the main symmetry planes of the part.