Trying to Draw a Rectangular Block with 2 Grooves on One Side That are Both Diagonal to the Object

tom_mort

I have only used Onshape a few times for some very simple shapes with over a year between uses. I know and remember very little and just plain don't know much. I’ve been working at this for awhile now and haven’t figured out how to do it yet, but may be able to describe what I’m trying to do.

What I want is a rectangular block that will have two round bottomed,straight sided grooves on one side. They will run diagonally so that on one end they will be farther apart than the other.

I can create an object with the groove of that shape I want by sketching a circle with squares on either side of the it and extruding the block to the height of the squares. To do this I have just used in the center point of the three planes and I only have one groove and it is perpendicular to the object.

To actually do what I want to di it looks like I can add working planes to create at working plane of each end of each line. I think I would use the point plane type to do this, but am missing something as I don’t see any such plane appearing and it doesn’t make a groove.

I noticed that after I extruded to make a 3D object, my lines and sketches disappeared, but did figure out how to make them visible.

Maybe I’m going about this the wrong way or something. Maybe some can clue me in a little.

Thanks in advance.

nick_papageorge_dayjob

It's hard to follow exactly what you are trying to do. Please share the document link and maybe a hand sketch of the shape you are after.

tom_mort

I've got a little more figured out. Here are some images and a link to something I'm trying right now.

This is a 2D sketch of the two diagonal lines.

Here is sort of what I am after. This only has one groove and it runs perpendicular to the block. I used the line from the origin as the sweep path

I was reading about plains and thinking I had to somehow create plane perpendicular to the line in the 2D sketch. I realize now that I'm to extrude the rectangle and select the plane to put the circles and squares & then use the line as the path.

Although I have got the above to work and sort of have the idea, it isn't very firm in my head how to do this. I'm also really tired from other things at the moment. I draw the circles and squares and when I proceed further something disappears, etc.

Here is one I've been working on right now with just one line for one groove to practice with:

robert_scott_jr_

Hey Tom. Sounds like you're on the right track. I'd like to point out that rather than creating planes, you might find using a mate connector for a sketch plane a better option. Mate connectors are highly versatile in that they are easily placed and can be further manipulated by offset and rotation on any axis. Check this document out. Is this what you are after? - Scotty

tom_mort

Mate connectors looks like a way to do this. I did some reading and watching. I realized I have to put them on the top and bottom planes. I also noticed one time that one mate connector was flush with one plane but at an angle to another. I probably drew it when the object was at an angle. I redid that and tried to sweep again, but it didn't work. I did look at the different steps in the link, but I must be missing something.

I had thought mirror would be a way to do the two lines as they mirror each other.

Here is a link to where I'm at right now:

tom_mort

Here is the link, used the get link tool instead of the share tool

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/60b38f2b12c402e4e23b9d4e/w/88c2f71f78c77944cf76cdb9/e/45bfe39b1e006467eced9cfb?renderMode=0&uiState=698f53b8d9f554fb56bbadf3

robert_scott_jr_

Hey Tom. The mate connectors you created are of no use where you have them. They should have been created towards the beginning of the feature tree so you could use them to create sketches of the circle and rectangle on them. Also, there should not have been separate sketches for the circles and the rectangles; the two elements should be made in the same sketch.

There only needs to be one sketch (of faces to sweep) for each sweep. One sketch to another sketch as you have tried to do would work using the Loft tool.

Notice that the mate connectors I used in the link included within the last post are at the ends of the sweep path and that the Z axis of each is in line with the sweep line.

The last sweep you made works if you make the correct selections for the faces to sweep. Your sweep has some of the same elements as faces to sweep as are selected for the path. One of the faces selected for the sweep is the entire side of the box.

- Scotty

tom_mort

Thanks, the extra info helped. I redid the drawing using just one face for the mate connector and did all the steps as part of the same sketch to make my groove. I didn't use any dimensions yet or try to use mirror to make the other groove either, yet. I did write down the steps I did right after I did it so hopefully will remember later.

nick_papageorge_dayjob

Here is a simple way to make your shape:

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/776699b1c130090818413b06/v/bcb2c82b4427ab03792d396e/e/c6d3316ae8afae687387a4bb

nick_papageorge_dayjob

duplicate

nick_papageorge_dayjob

Off topic…. IDK what is wrong with the link tool but it took me a few tries to get a working link….