How do I cut a hole through the curved surface of a cylinder (Newb)

brian_norris

Hi, I'm trying to cut a through hole through the curved face of a cylinder. So far I have drawn a circle and a radius. Extruded the circle. Created an offset plane tangential to the surface (is that the right way to go?) Using the Hole tool, select the vertex of the radius on the offset plane but the hole keeps going parallel to the cylinder, not through it. Any help much appreciated.

chris_8

You're right, the answer is just one quick step away.  I was just showing how to make the hole aim in the desired direction.  Nest step would be to click on the Merge Scope box and then click on the part (cylinder) that you'd like the hole to be cut into.  I'm just not sure what you wanted the hole to do exactly... go through the entire part, start at the center and go to the surface?

chris_8

Good question!   I've never used the hole feature... usually I draw a circle and extrude to remove material.  This question prompted me to learn about the hole feature.  Here's my solution:  First I created a new Plane using the Point Normal option. 


Then I sketched on that new plane, creating a single point.  After the point was created, I made it be coincident with the point that's already on the surface of this cylinder.  That allowed me to use the hole feature.  That hole feature appears to always create a hole perpendicular to the plane that holds its reference point.  Is this the result you were looking for?

  

brian_norris

Hi Chris, You have answered my question in a way for which, many thanks. As you said at the start your normal way of doing things is to

 draw a circle and extrude to remove material.

I had forgotten that an extrude can subtract! 

However, it makes more sense to me to use a hole tool to make a hole but I'm not sure your method has worked given that your hole is shown in red and is protruding through the cylinder. I would really appreciate it if anyone can come up with a solution. I am sure there must be a simple way of doing this that is staring me in the face.

Chris, thanks once again and at least now I can finish the current job - I think!

chris_8

You're right, the answer is just one quick step away.  I was just showing how to make the hole aim in the desired direction.  Nest step would be to click on the Merge Scope box and then click on the part (cylinder) that you'd like the hole to be cut into.  I'm just not sure what you wanted the hole to do exactly... go through the entire part, start at the center and go to the surface?

brian_norris

Thanks Chris, an elegant solution indeed - proof of the pudding attached!
Many thanks