how to snap mates

donald_8

i have a 3/4in round x 62in long steel shaft and i need to attach 1in square tubing to it every 9 in. , (the tubing will have a 3/4in hole drilled in it). do i have to setup mates every 9in or is there a way i can use snaps?

brucebartlett

First you need something to grab along your Rod, I've added a split face here in the part studio to get these point's quickly. Better method maybe to use a mate connector but your can not pattern these yet so a bit more time required.




Create your tube in the same part studio and add a mate connector to the middle of the hole, I've chosen the origin because that's how I modelled the tube, but the "between enterties" in the mat connector dialogue could also have been used. Ensure the mate connector is linked to the tube, in this case Part 2 so it will follow the part into the assy.

With the snap mode (the mate icon with the little star on it) preselected Insert your rod "Part 1" into the assy, then proceed to place the tube "Part 2", as you hover over the split face along the rod the tube should snap to it's mate connector here. Re-select the Tube "Part 2" from the drop down and drop again until all done. The shift key also comes in handy to focus the snap to specific mate connector area.

brucebartlett

donald_8 said:

After you split the part do you use the boolean to join them in to 1 part?

If you have the face selected at the top of the dialogue the part will stay as one piece. The only down side is the face having multiple lines across it, this may or not not be Ok, ie. when creating a drawing the part looks like it made up of multiple rod's. 

The best method to use from a parametric point of view would be at add a line down the length of the rod on the rods centre plane, connect to both ends, then split the line into multiple pieces, dimension or constraint as design is intended, then add mate connectors to the points along the line linking each back to the Rod.

donald_8

i simply started at one end and add mates 

brucebartlett

First you need something to grab along your Rod, I've added a split face here in the part studio to get these point's quickly. Better method maybe to use a mate connector but your can not pattern these yet so a bit more time required.




Create your tube in the same part studio and add a mate connector to the middle of the hole, I've chosen the origin because that's how I modelled the tube, but the "between enterties" in the mat connector dialogue could also have been used. Ensure the mate connector is linked to the tube, in this case Part 2 so it will follow the part into the assy.

With the snap mode (the mate icon with the little star on it) preselected Insert your rod "Part 1" into the assy, then proceed to place the tube "Part 2", as you hover over the split face along the rod the tube should snap to it's mate connector here. Re-select the Tube "Part 2" from the drop down and drop again until all done. The shift key also comes in handy to focus the snap to specific mate connector area.

tarek_mustafa

Hi @donald_8 could you post a screenshot or sketch of what you are trying to achieve? 

donald_8

Bruce hit it about right on. i just have to figure out what split is and how to use it. it looks like you just drew lines which would be easy to space. 

donald_8

After you split the part do you use the boolean to join them in to 1 part?

brucebartlett

donald_8 said:

After you split the part do you use the boolean to join them in to 1 part?

If you have the face selected at the top of the dialogue the part will stay as one piece. The only down side is the face having multiple lines across it, this may or not not be Ok, ie. when creating a drawing the part looks like it made up of multiple rod's. 

The best method to use from a parametric point of view would be at add a line down the length of the rod on the rods centre plane, connect to both ends, then split the line into multiple pieces, dimension or constraint as design is intended, then add mate connectors to the points along the line linking each back to the Rod.

donald_8

i simply started at one end and add mates