Welcome to the Onshape forum! Ask questions and join in the discussions about everything Onshape.
First time visiting? Here are some places to start:- Looking for a certain topic? Check out the categories filter or use Search (upper right).
- Need support? Ask a question to our Community Support category.
- Please submit support tickets for bugs but you can request improvements in the Product Feedback category.
- Be respectful, on topic and if you see a problem, Flag it.
If you would like to contact our Community Manager personally, feel free to send a private message or an email.
how do you create an offset surface?
dave_cowden
Member, Developers Posts: 484 ✭✭✭
I would like to create a surface that is an offset from another one ( either a face or a surface).
I have found offsetFace-- but this moves the face, instead of creating a surface. This seems like something that should be possible, but I can't find it...
thanks as always.
I have found offsetFace-- but this moves the face, instead of creating a surface. This seems like something that should be possible, but I can't find it...
thanks as always.
0
Best Answers
-
Dave, there is now an extractSurface command. You could thicken the face you want then extract the offset face? Not tried it but should work.Senior Director, Technical Services, EMEA5
-
Sorry about this!
opExtractSurface is currently under development, since we're using it extensively in the sheet metal functionality that's also under development. It's not exposed to end users right now because we might be changing the way it works, and when we do this we don't want to break existing users' documents or have them fail to upgrade.
Sadly, I can't think of an alternative that gives you this functionality, but I can say that eventually we will be making opExtractSurface user-facing, and when that happens you will be able to do exactly what you're asking for.
5 -
With the release of sheet metal, opExtractSurface should be available to all.6
Answers
-
Dave, there is now an extractSurface command. You could thicken the face you want then extract the offset face? Not tried it but should work.Senior Director, Technical Services, EMEA5
-
Good tip, thanks! That could work. But how do i go about thickening the face, then extracting the surface, but then removing the thicken so i dont affect the underlying geometry?
*0 -
well poop, that doesnt work-- because i guess you cannot call that if you are a 'regular user':
:'(
Any other ideas?0 -
Sorry about this!
opExtractSurface is currently under development, since we're using it extensively in the sheet metal functionality that's also under development. It's not exposed to end users right now because we might be changing the way it works, and when we do this we don't want to break existing users' documents or have them fail to upgrade.
Sadly, I can't think of an alternative that gives you this functionality, but I can say that eventually we will be making opExtractSurface user-facing, and when that happens you will be able to do exactly what you're asking for.
5 -
Unfortunate. this is a pretty major limitation.0
-
Has anyone found a way to just do a surface offset. I have yet to find a way to just have the part surface from the model.
0 -
Hi, @Larry_Canipe
I ended up writing a featurescript to do it. You're welcome to try it out.
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/323312569b42b381b93ee95c/w/4feba228409d550cfecc4193/e/4f18ff5b4caf83cc9e65fee9
0 -
First do a transform on the subject surface using the copy in place rule. Then temporarily hide your original surface. Lastly, do a move face on the surface using the offset rule. This gives you a true offset surface while keeping the original surface. Hope this helps.
0 -
With the release of sheet metal, opExtractSurface should be available to all.6
-
John is correct, but just a point of clarification:
These functions are still marked @internal because we may change their behavior slightly (especially with respect to error handling) in the future. This means that the next time you update the FeatureScript version of custom features created on top of these functions, individual features may behave differently (or fail) when they update their links.
The functions are useful enough that they were worth exposing anyway, but be aware that changes are a possibility. Here's a doc where you can play around with some of the current behaviors:
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/dcbffeaede71bbfd8d37fc83/w/3ba91b4bc06d0a60cc11d2a5/e/9e9ed0e174274eeac7d26ac7
0 -
FYI I seem to be using the function succesfully now so if anyone is trying it out just copy and paste the format from the std library source for Offset Surface0
-
Offset surface has been available as a standard feature for a while.
https://cad.onshape.com/help/Content/offset_surface.htmAnd yes, it’s also available for use in FeatureScript.Simon Gatrall | Product Development, Engineering, Design, Onshape | Ex- IDEO, PCH, Unagi, Carbon | LinkedIn
0
