Reuse Sketches

sebastian_theilenberg
sebastian_theilenberg Member Posts: 5 EDU
edited April 20 in Community Support

Hi everybody!

I have an issue that I run into every once in a while that I'd like feedback on from the great community here. Sometimes, I find myself wanting to reuse sketches. This could be the shape of a specific punchout for a connector that I might need to use several times in the same part, and/or reuse in other parts, or an extrusion feature of a specific shape that I want to add to various locations in a part studio and/or in several part studios.

Here is the issue:

  • I cannot define this sketch once in a part studio and then copy and move it, like I would with a part, because transform doesn't work with sketches. Sketch transformation only works inside a sketch, so that would mean I need to copy all contents of one sketch to another and then translate.
  • I can define a sketch in a dedicated part studio and then use a derive feature to put it exactly where I want it. However, I cannot use the same approach again, as I cannot use two derive features for the same source. Because of this, I cannot e.g. define multiple shapes in one part studio and then place them in different locations, as I would need to derive them together onto the same location.

It feels unsatisfactory not to be able to build some kind of sketch library. How do people approach this? Am I missing something?

Thank you for your input!

Edit: Not quite sure how to make a comprehensive example of this in a document, but I created an example for the second issue here: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/ef0744b2b7187a30aa26c83c/w/3be90d4f376de3e85b4779f2/e/0b676159c6bb41bb5daff7ae

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Best Answer

  • eric_pesty
    eric_pesty Member, pcbaevp Posts: 2,935 PRO
    Answer ✓

    There are a couple of ways to handle this:

    • Use the "super derive" feature instead of derive (lets you derive as many times as you want)
    • Use the "transform pattern" feature, which allows transforming sketches
    • Create a surface of your sketch (use a offset surface feature with a zero offset), create a composite par if needed. You can then import and transform it with the regular transform feature. A surface can be used just like a sketch for most operations
    • Look into using the "amalgamate" custom feature workflows for things like cutouts

Answers

  • eric_pesty
    eric_pesty Member, pcbaevp Posts: 2,935 PRO
    Answer ✓

    There are a couple of ways to handle this:

    • Use the "super derive" feature instead of derive (lets you derive as many times as you want)
    • Use the "transform pattern" feature, which allows transforming sketches
    • Create a surface of your sketch (use a offset surface feature with a zero offset), create a composite par if needed. You can then import and transform it with the regular transform feature. A surface can be used just like a sketch for most operations
    • Look into using the "amalgamate" custom feature workflows for things like cutouts
  • sebastian_theilenberg
    sebastian_theilenberg Member Posts: 5 EDU

    These are great suggestions, thank you!

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