I have just started using Sketchup for 3D printing. My first effort exported a good STL file, which did print.
But what I am working on is a flat panel., 5 mm thick, with quite a few rectangular and round holes punched through it.
My problem is this: I will make several iterations of this panel, in which I may wish to move the holes around a little. But apparently, a hole really is a hole – it doesn’t seem to exist as an independent object, so there’s no way to select it and move it.
If anyone knows how I can move holes, I’d be much obliged in hearing from you.
A Dave has clearly illustrated, the key is to select all of the edges and faces involved with the hole (using a left-to-right drag box) and then move them as a unit - paying attention not to drag them out of the plane.
An add on question to the same … When a hole is moved and then it touches another hole. it seems to be glued to it. Trying to move one hole again results in the other stretching. How to detach the two in order to freely move only one and not cause the other to change?
You need to use Components or Groups to isolate a collection of edges and faces from the rest of the model. Edges and faces not in such containers will, by design, always interact directly with each other. Once they have merged, undo is the only way to recover.
Thanks for the info. unfortunately it seems that after making a rectangle or cyl into a Group or Container I can no longer make holes in it and/or when two of them intersect have them merge so form only one hole in an object.
Due to SU wanting to glue things together and not allowing me to unglue them I’d have to keep copies of all my primitives and place them for each and every change. Too bad as I’m doing a simple shape just like DaveR demo’d - but with intersection of the rectangles and cyls. Looks like I’ll either have to write it all out in .stl or maybe FreeCad would work.
Yes. But then my original problem kicks in. When two holes touch, they glue together. Moving one deforms the other. Even if all objects (base plate, round hole, square hole) are Components.
In the animation you posted, try moving the square hole to occupy some of the same surface space of the round hole. Now move it away. The round hole gets deformed.
If there is a way for me to overlap items and then be able to independently modify them (move / change size), I’m all ears.
Yes I could. But then I’d be re-doing 99% of the part every time I wanted to move something. I have found that FreeCAD & MS 3D Builder do exactly what I need.
I just found this topic looking for “How can I make a moving hole?”.
“Cut opening” only works on surfaces. The method Dave suggests is so obvious that I would never have thought of it. : D. So far so good.
HOWEVER, the inference-system doesn’t work for me when I move my hole in the form of selected edges and faces. I can’t make the hole snap to the end of a line a corner, a tape meassurement and so on. So I can’t use this “hole moving method” to precisely position my hole. Do I have to live with that?
Do you grab the selected hole geometry by a meaningful endpoint or midpoint in the selection?
That is crusial to accurately reposition the selected hole.
select hole
grab “handle” (= end or midpoint or whatever is meaningful to you as a handle)
Well, my hole didn’t want to lock on any axis, or snap to an end point, center point, or anything else.
However, since I have closed safed and reopened the file now the axis locking and point snapping works as expeceted. Maybe there was some issue because I have opened the file the first time in SU 2021. Thanks anyway for your help!
