Component changes size when importing

I am trying to design a wall unit. I have broken it up into separate components. At the moment, I designed a basic foundation from 2x4s and two cabinets to sit on top. These are in three separate files. When I try to import the three into a new file for the “assembled” product, the foundation is fine, but the two boxes mysteriously re-size by about 3/4 inches. I can force them back with the scaling tool, but that results in all of the individual boards in each box to be scaled, also, which I don’t want. How can I make sure that the imported component stays exactly the same as what it was in its original file?

Can you share the cabinet components so we can see them? I expect the problem comes with the way they were drawn originally.

Thanks for the quick response. Here is a link to the two cabinet components that changed dimension when imported into another project.

How about uploading them here? One Drive doesn’t seem to want me to download the files.

I had no trouble downloading them.

I suspect your apparent change in dimension comes from some oddities in their construction.

The ‘long version’ bookcase has:

  • entities a long way from its origin (fragments of left over loose edges or guidepoints?). You can see this if you try to Zoom Extents: the bookcase itself shrinks to a small blob in the middle of the screen
  • horizontal loose edges almost but not quite the length of the bookcase, not on its edges, nested inside the top and bottom, set 3/4" outside their long edges
  • the origin not on a corner, but offset 3/4" along the y-axis

All of these would make it likely that you picked up nearby but not quite right endpoints when dimensioning - especially if you drew the dimensions separately in the original bookcase model, then tried to re-dimension on the imported model.

It doesn’t have any scaling applied to the overall object, but all the subcomponents were scaled.

Furthermore the horizontal dimension you had applied to the smaller bookcase wouldn’t move up or down the blue axis without going WAY off line. It isn’t attached anywhere at its left hand end, though it must have been attached somewhere at one point when being created…

Both bookcases, and all their subcomponents have their origins set 3/4" in front of their bottom left corner.

I’ve cleaned up the original bookcases, and saved them with definitions re-scaled (R-click, Scale Definition). I’ve also imported them into the same drawing. Their dimensions don’t change.

The long one is not exactly 3’ 8" long - it’s an eighth of an inch shorter.

Here are the results:

Bookcases imported.skp (162.6 KB)
Bookcase sketch up-with rabbets and dados.skp (125.7 KB)
Bookcase sketch up-with rabbets and dados-long version.skp (131.9 KB)

So very kind of you both to look into the problem and provide a cleaned up drawing. Thanks so much! The reason for the 3/4 set back was to allow for face frames.

I see. But it is still generally easier to have component origins on a corner of the component, then just move it where you want it. However, what you did was quite a viable option - sorry if my changes have mucked that up!

I’d still draw the face frames as one or more separate components, myself, then place everything where you want it in the main model - though you could wrap the combination of bookcase and face frame in another ‘assembled’ component.

Were the detached edges intended to become the basis for the face frames? They would then have become separate components on the same level in the component hierarchy as the top, bottom, back and sides? That would also make sense. But I’d still make the sub components have their origins at a corner, not outside themselves.

But then make the bottom corner of the assembled bookcase WITH face frames the origin of the whole bookcase.

Matter of opinion though - you could take a different view.

This topic was automatically closed after 91 days. New replies are no longer allowed.