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Loft twist study
frank_paynter
Member Posts: 22 ✭
I'm a relatively new OnShape user, and while I love it compared to others I have tried, getting the loft feature right is eluding my grasp. I created a simple 'loft study' document with just two surfaces - an oval and a circle. First I verified there is a small unwanted twist with the default loft; then I verified I could eliminate the twist by defining aligned points on each loft surface, and selecting them in the 'Connections→Match connections' section of the loft feature. This worked great. However, if I make another similar connection on the other side of the two surfaces, the loft won't regenerate. It says "loft did not regenerate properly: select a point on each profile to define a connection". This makes no sense, as that is exactly what I did, first with two points on one side, and then two points on the other.
Also, I noted that the loft solid object disappeared as soon as I selected the third point - before I had even defined the second connection. If the loft feature only works with a single connection, why does it allow a 3rd (and 4th, and 5th…) point to be selected in the first place. If it does work with multiple connections, what am I doing wrong here?
TIA,
Frank
Comments
Does your feature look like this (the connections part of the UI):
Here you can see I have two separate connections, each consisting of 2 selections
You might want to explore "guide curves" as an option to define the loft - it requires an extra sketch or two, but in some cases, this is a good option. Not the only way, just a 2nd method.
Greg,
Wow! I had no idea that multiple two-point connections could be defined! I was able to duplicate your configuration by collapsing the original two-point connection and then (with the 'match connections' sub-dialog highlighted but collapsed) clicking on a point on one end of the loft; this magically started a second connection. Now I have two valid connections, the loft regenerates properly, and life is good!😀
I went back and carefully studied the help entry for loft, and found the magic paragraph:
"To add another set of connections, click in the Connections box first (also turns blue when selected), then select the second pair of vertices/edges:"
This still isn't quite right; I think it should say
"To add another connection consisting of two or more points, first click in the Connections box (the box labelled 'Match connections') which highlights the entire 'Match connections' dialog box. Then click on the first point in a new connection; this will start a new connection sub-dialog.
Thanks again,
Frank