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How do I create a millable 3D groove?
Domechanic
Member, pcbaevp Posts: 7 PRO
I am trying to create a groove around a shaft for a type of locking system.
Unfortunately, I am unable to close the shape neatly. The part needs to be milled.
Can anyone tell me how to do this “correctly”?
Document: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/99c015adee7614efe4ba2983/w/aa910d64f8bf290dc04557a7/e/2ebed0ba859fb8e5c2eb54ca?renderMode=0&uiState=696b5f1c6370003b337a5a35
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Answers
Most unhelpful and vague answer to follow:
Yes! Someone has done this here in the forum, maybe a feature script. I thought I'd bookmarked it but can't find it at the moment.
What you need is a body sweep operation which hasn't been fully implemented in featurescript yet (and is a highly technically challenging problem to solve)
And alternative for your simpler case is to use ruled surfaces and offsets to achieve consistent width geometry that's normal to the surface of the outside of the cylinder. See my comments in this thread here for a linked example.
Derek Van Allen | Engineering Consultant | MeddlerA similar case:
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/77758faa6e68a3eed7e4e1e5/w/89bfd0fed3eaa511c22a222a/e/3df8c9a7cd650d22491e5bc0?renderMode=0&uiState=696ba64531e25f8be2a6e8af
@martin_kopplow I always forget that the loft tool has a thin condition built in. Looks like the final results are geometrically identical to a ruled surface followed by a thicken, so that helps cut some steps, though I think in more generalized cases the ruled surface method would give you more control over orientation if someone were to develop this into a custom script.
Derek Van Allen | Engineering Consultant | Meddler