Automatically repeat the same action to multiple selected objects?

Hello all. I’d like to edit an object I’ve made thats got multiple 1mm holes on the surface of a thin square sheet about 1.5mm thick. I want to scale them by 1.3. There are about 100 holes. I don’t want to go about selecting and scaling each hole individually. How can i just scale one hole and apply that action to all the selected holes without compromising the spacing?

I’ve tried making them a component but the issue is that the holes are already there, from what I understand the only way the component works is if you make the very first iteration a component, then all the copies of that component will take affected when making changes.

Is there any way to apply that exact component principle to a group of already existing objects? Make a change to one, they all change the same exact way…

Thanks!

Frankly, I’d just redraw the holes at the right size. It’s not but a few moments of easy drawing.

Not like what you’re thinking.

Seems like a basic enough and logical concept that should have been included.

Well, it is, if you had used a component for the hole in the first place.

And if your spacing of the existing holes is regular, as has already been suggested, it is only a matter of a few minutes to redraw one hole, and then array it with two Move/Copy steps.

You would probably also get better results when drawing such a small object if you were to work at a larger scale - for example, us metres instead of mm. Then scale the result down.

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As John said, it has been included but it does take some planning ahead on the part of the user.

I’m new to sketchup but it seems like it would take much longer than what you suggest to redraw the holes. I would have to redraw the holes then go in there and delete the faces individually out of each hole since the holes are on a flat surface that has a thickness to it. Considering I’d have to do that for each side I’d have to sit there and delete 200 faces out of holes. Is what I described correct, or is there a simpler way to accomplish this?

Yes. There is a much simpler way to achieve this. Hang tight.

  1. Draw flat plate that will get the holes. DO NOT MAKE IT 3D YET.
  2. Draw the first hole and delete it’s inside face.
  3. Select the hole and copy it with Move/Copy to make a linear array.
  4. Select and copy the row of holes again with Move/Copy to make an array.
  5. Extrude the plate to thickness.

Obviously it’ll be slightly more involved laying out other patterns of holes but it isn’t difficult. And you only ever need to delete one face to create the actual piercings.

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:open_mouth: Thank you!!! <3

I should probably make the first hole a component so I don’t run into this again huh, lol. Would it be the first hole or the first circle?

If you make the hole a component you’ll be able to edit it later to change the diameter but a component can only cut an opening in one face, not two. It works to make the appearance of non-through holes, though. The holes aren’t real, though. If you remove the hole component, the hole goes away, too. I didn’t make the hole a component in my GIF. I just copied the circle after deleting its face.

What is it you plan to do with this thing after you’ve drawn it? Do you need real holes? Is it going to be used for 3D printing? Or do you just want to represent holes in the plate?

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Ah, I see. Yes, it will be 3D printed.

If that’s the case, for such small holes, you might want just to create a dimple or small hole, and drill them out to the actual size you want, if the size is important.

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Then you do not want to make the hole a component. The holes need to be a real holes in the face.

You might also be able to partially deconstruct what you’ve already drawn to get it back to a point where you could replace the existing holes but redrawing it from scratch isn’t all that difficult, nor time consuming and you’re less likely to induce errors that would prevent it from being printable.

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Here is one made of a square component with a hole.

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Yes I re-drew it without making them components. Very quick and easy with what you showed me. I always made the floor 3D before making holes. Makes so much more sense now.

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Yes, you are correct., I’m new at 3D printing as well and I’ve realized now after a few prints that the 3D printers do not print exactly to the dimensions drawn in the model. I’m slightly tinkering with the sizing to get it right with the amount of +/- the printers have to minimize the work I’ll need to do by hand.

How are you doing this!? This is exactly what I was wondering!

Each hole is a square component, arrayed as @DaveR shows. The edges are hidden to make it appear to be one surface. The four sides are separate faces.
I’ve then wrapped the whole thing as a component.
This Non solid component will print as a solid on many 3D Printers.
Here you can see the basic construction.

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Awesome! Thank you!

By the way, what program do you guys use to record your GIFs like that?

And if your 3D printing process chokes on non solid components, once you’ve finished the design, you can explode the components and run something like Solid Inspector² from the Extension Warehouse - it should delete all the unneeded lines (that were the boundaries between individual components.