moving the origin?

paul_1

i'm currently using onshape as a (very nice) 2D drawing tool.  i'm then hand-translating the 2D drawing coordinates to g-code.  since i'm going directly to "machine coordinates", it's important that i be able to establish the 0,0 origin somewhere convenient on my part.  i realize that if i were to think ahead all the time, i could always start my drawing with 0,0 at the right place.  but sometimes i forget, or parts grow in unexpected directions, and moving the origin becomes desireable.  is there a way to do that?  moving the entire drawing would accomplish that, but doesn't work if it's not completely "locked down", e.g., if some sketch entities don't have enough constraints.

jakeramsley

BruceBartlett said:

In future I love to see Onshape add a point to point Transform option. No retyping/ or in accuracy in the rounding.

"Translate by line" accepts two points to infer a line to transform about, essentially a point to point transform.  The only reason it isn't point to point is you can flip the direction and translate in the opposite direction.

edit: see https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/comment/3639/#Comment_3639

3dcad

Interesting point of view. You can't move the origin.

What if you create coincident constraint between origin and desired zero point? Works at least for simple geometry. 

paul_1

that's much the same as "moving the entire drawing", so the issue i mentioned with that approach still applies.  i guess knowing that the answer is "no, you can't move the origin" will at least make me think harder about where it should be before starting to draw.  seems like an unfortunate omission, though.  thanks.

3dcad

You can create a point in your desired origin and dimension the model from there to have correct coordinates?

brucebartlett

Can not translate in a sketch yet, now you can only unlock constraints and move as you have mentioned. There is a show constraints check box on the sketch dialogue which helps.

Alternatively there is a transform which can move your part after it's a solid. You will have to show your sketch, do a measure then transform with the X,Y,Z.

In future I love to see Onshape add a point to point Transform option. No retyping/ or in accuracy in the rounding.

paul_1

i'm not sure i understand.  isn't this the same as simply choosing the origin before i start to draw?  in any case, many parts on a drawing might not be dimensioned from the origin, except very indirectly.  an offset outline of a part, for instance, will be dimensioned only from the part.  if you create an offset outline, then delete the original part, you still have a valid drawing, but it's now "disassociated" from the rest of the entities in the sketch.  you can't translate the sketch as a whole(i don't think so, anyway), so there's no way to get a new origin.

jakeramsley

BruceBartlett said:

In future I love to see Onshape add a point to point Transform option. No retyping/ or in accuracy in the rounding.

"Translate by line" accepts two points to infer a line to transform about, essentially a point to point transform.  The only reason it isn't point to point is you can flip the direction and translate in the opposite direction.

edit: see https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/comment/3639/#Comment_3639

brucebartlett

JakeRamsley said:

BruceBartlett said:

In future I love to see Onshape add a point to point Transform option. No retyping/ or in accuracy in the rounding.

"Translate by line" accepts two points to infer a line to transform about, essentially a point to point transform.  The only reason it isn't point to point is you can flip the direction and translate in the opposite direction.

edit: see https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/comment/3639/#Comment_3639

Thanks Jake, Not sure why had not got that to work before. So much easier. 

andrew_troup

@pgf
What you are trying to use sketching for sounds very different from what it's designed to facilitate, but humans are ingenious adapters!

Perhaps you could start your sketch by adding a point in an arbitrary location, dimensioning it relative to the origin (say 10 up, 10 across), then use THAT point instead of the origin for any absolute dimensioning (as opposed to relative dimensions between sketch elements).
Then, when you've created all your geometry, you can decide where you want the origin in relation to your profile, and simply edit the (10,10) coordinates to achieve the necessary relocation

paul_1

i'll have to think about that.  it might solve the problem, or maybe just delay it.  ;-)