Mate curves surface to vertical planar edge using planes

paul_mcgiven

I am trying to mate an edge at the end of a curved surface to a vertical planar face, i use solid works for a living and would in this case create a plane in one part and then mate that to the other part vertical surface, easy, but in on shape i can create a plane on the part where i want to mate it, but then when i go into the assy the planes are not visible, i have tried mate connectors and tangents but they don't give me the result i need, is there a way to use the parts planes to mate them together as i can't see a way, or a way of mating an edge with a face. Thanks for any help in advance.
In solid works i can also use sketched from parts to mate them, i assume thats not possible in onshape
I have also considered measuring the distance between the parts and moving them but i can't get an xyz measurement only minimum distance then i could measure and move and fix the parts, not the best practice and not what i would do professional but could be a work round.

Thanks

lemon1324

Could you share a public copy of the document? I'm not exactly clear on what you're trying to do.  I'm pretty sure a mate connector should work, it's just a matter of positioning the mate connector correctly.

paul_mcgiven

I have shared it called 1st Assy main I am trying to mate the sides of an iPhone with the internal side of a phone case.  It's the edge between two curved surfaces which I need to mate with the internal vertical face of the case. 

lemon1324

The default snap points are awkward because of the many surfaces on the iPhone, but here's the case mated to the phone:
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/57acd725e4b0bdfaaebf6e51/w/46599b456afc095f88a03ff4/e/046aa42cfdc42e42d92fe876

In Part studios, define a mate connector belonging to each part positioned so you can then mate them in assembly.  Though if you're designing a case for the iPhone, you'll have a much easier time if you design the case in the same part studio the iPhone is in, directly around the iPhone--this is one of the things Onshape does better than every other CAD program I've used.

Also, I found your document okay, but please link public documents if you're sharing them in the Forums.

paul_mcgiven

I did try mate connectors but still learning how to use them to be honest, i can't actually see how you created them, but i understand what you have done and will learn more about mate connectors, i assume there is no way to mate planes in parts, i also don't know how to link documents.

thanks for the help though, i do appreciate it.

paul_mcgiven

Figured it out i had tried mate connectors but kept getting the parts 90 deg to each other found out how to realign the mate connector in the part so they were in the same orientation and they worked this time, thanks.
When you talk about having the parts in the same part studio are you talking about derived parts, still new to this, in solid works i would just bring both parts into a new assembly, i am still thinking the way i work with solid works though.
Thanks again

lemon1324

I don't mean derived parts; I mean create the case in the same part studio that the phone is in.  That is, start with an empty part studio, import the phone model, and then directly sketch/extrude etc on the model to create the case so that the case is defined by the iPhone model.

The closest analog in Solidworks is directly defining a part in assembly.

If you want to see how I defined the mate connectors, make a copy of the document I linked in my previous post, and then you'll be able to double-click on any features to see how they were defined.