Pro tip assembly part orientation

Ben_

So I want to have my models square to the world. In an assembly this can be a challenge. So my tip is to insert a part and fix it (maybe make a dummy cube), then reference that part to orient one part by using a fasten mate. Fix the part you have just moved, delete the mate and then unfix and delete the dummy part or unfix the original fixed part. Delete the dummy if necessary and voila!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2jg86-MLAyFZll5Yl9hODkyUVU/edit?usp=sharing

andy_morris

Awesome tip Ben!
I presume that you would prefer to have some reference geometry to mate to instead?
If so, what types would you like?

Ben_

Planes, origin, and ability to make axis lines would be helpful

kevin_quigley

Mate to axes lines, mate to points....or mate to virtual or inferred planes/axes, does anyone do that?

Ben_

I do that....

caradon

KevinQuigley said:

Mate to axes lines, mate to points....or mate to virtual or inferred planes/axes, does anyone do that?

I do that all the time in SolidWorks! I much prefer mating reference geometry over mating actual geometry. If the face definition changes -for whatever reason- the mating reference for that face will blow up. Mating reference geometry is also more robust for revisions of parts that exist in many, many different assemblies. For bottom-up design, mating reference geometry can be a life saver...
Aligning origins is also a good thing for master modeling techniques.

This is all true for the strictly parametric world. In IronCAD I couldn't care less about mating conditions.

Dries