Im less than a year into my jump over to SU from autocad and im still a bit lost when it comes to a few things. I have a few questions im hoping someone can help me with here;
Im having to export some files as a DXF so the aluminum frames can be cut by a CNC machine.
That process is simple enough, but the issue im having is that i want to include a series of reference points in the 2D export where the machinist can use those points as the centre point of my extrusions. Were using 1/8” aluminum and i need the anchoring hardware that connects the frames to the extrusions to have a tapered pass through so the fastener head sits flush to the surface of the aluminum.
He uses Fusion, and has requested that i leave him points rather than draw the tapers in so that he can experiment with them on his end and make sure its perfect before he cuts. He also told me that he never has much luck with people exporting a 3d file out of SU.
I just don’t know enough about it yet to have any other opinion on the matter.
the second thing i’m wondering is - when i click inside the aluminum extrusion rail component to find centre of the hardware slot and create a point there, i can do it once because its a component and it repeats across all instances. the problem im having is that if i select that point - its highlights on everyone of them. when i cut them (ctrl+X) to remove the points from inside the component, so that i can paste them in place in the aluminum frames - they all “cut”. But when i paste in place, only the original point i selected actually pastes in place. I have over 100 of these to do if i have to do each one manually - so im hoping there is a work around there?
But im open to any suggestions a more experienced SU might have
I have included a ref pic to illustrate what i’m attempting to do
You cut from a component in the edit mode. When you paste in place you have to be in the edit mode for the same component before all the components change. In other words, if you paste in place out of the edit context, it won’t change for all components. If you want to paste in place out of the edit context, you will have to move copy to where you want the pasted geometry. It’s not good to have loose geometry. You will need to either paste in place in another components edit mode or make a separate group or component.
As for marking the centers, one option would be to create a “Center” component with its origin at the center. You can then drag one in and drop it on a guidepoint or an intersection of guides or whatever. After that use Move/Stamp to place centers at the other points in the model.
Yes, because it’ll be made of edges like the other geometry in your model. You could save the component in a collection for future use. There might be other symbols you want to include such as registration mark or whatever.
