Making shapes that conform to a surface

joseph_newcomer

Here's my document

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/6ab02a5a8b926eff6c0c55df/w/e956f9d4fa33fb46f1d468ee/e/2a213dd17531af2e70a62756?renderMode=0&uiState=65cae5eada0ea44c4f6e3818

Consider the part studio labeled "Vase".  This has a sensor that will be surrounded by five "petals".  Seemed easy.  Wasn't, and I don't know how to get it.

What I have done in the current sketch (in the folder labeled "Petal"), is draw the petal.  This is currently just a simple shape, but the basic idea will just be a variant of this (I'm  not the artist; my friend who is the artist will determine the final shape).  What I want is a petal that is a constant thickness.  My first thought would be to make the sketch, extrude to the surface of the vase,  and then do some boolean operation based on an offset from the surface of the vase that would cut it down to fit that offset.  The problem is that if I extrude the single petal and than apply a circular pattern, it just replicates the object, which means it doesn't actually match the curve of the vase.  I was actually not terribly surprised by this.

Okay, how about this?  I apply the circular pattern to the petal in the sketch, then do five extrude-to-face operations, then cut off the excess.  Except that in the sketch, when I select the segment of the arc, and the two Bezier curves, and create a circular pattern, the curves do not get replicated.  Just the arc is replicated.

I'm missing something here, but I don't know what.  Help, or suggestions of what tutorials to watch, or suggestions of what parts of the manual to read, would be appreciated.

TIA.

martin_kopplow

I'd first create an offset face of the vase surface, just where you whant the thickness of the petals. This could then be used to conform the (now flat) surface of the petals to the vase shape by simply using the "Replace Surface" tool on each of them.

joseph_newcomer

Thank you!  Replace face did everything I needed!