Have a “cutout”/“notch” questions on complex/grooved panels that are groups.
If I try and cutout a notch in a more complex/grooved panel it works but with a lot of detailed selecting and deleting (has several parallel “grooves” on one face and the back face is completely flat). Am wondering about an easier way on how to create a notch or hole type cutout in this grooved panel.
Have attached a sample SketchUp file containing three states of the grooved panel (initial and intermediate and final state).
Have tried creating a rectangle on the flat back (tried on the front grooved face but lots of problems and not sure why) and pushing that thru to the bottom of the grooves (if I go all the way to the front of the panel lots of problems with missing surfaces when I try and clean up) and then removing all the smaller rectangles that get created and then repeating again on the surface that forms the bottom of the grooves and then again selecting and deleting all the smaller rectangles that are formed and then again on the ship edge. Is there an easier/quicker way to avoid all the detailed selecting and deleting?
Have included a SKP file that shows what I started with and what I ended up with plus the intermediate step, but hoping there is an easier way than what I had to do to get the final version.
Suggestions, please. Thanks…
-bob
ps - the paneling object is a group not a component if that matters and using SketchUp 2020
You could make the panel a solid group or component and then use the Subtract from the Solid Tools or from Enteroth Solid Tools and use a “cutter” volume the shape of the hole or notch.
Hi Everyone - thanks for these suggestion but when I try Dave’s suggestion I get the “One or more of the objects is either not a solid or is locked…” message. When I try John’s suggestion this there is no “With Context” in the menu – only “With Model” and “With Selection” - any idea why that is? Is it because the grooved panel is not a solid? I downloaded an extension called CleanUp to try and make it solid but so far no luck - grooved panel still says it’s not a solid. I don’t see any missing faces, so not sure why it claims it’s not a solid object. What else can I do to make the grooved panel a real solid?
Try running Solid Inspector 2 to clean up the panel and make it a solid. Or just edit the component and remove the internal face under the bead on the tongue. You could just erase the edges across the bases of the arcs at the ends.
If you use John’s method with Intersect Faces, you could also choose With Selection. I find that more useful in most cases than With Context as it is easier to control exactly what gets intersected. It’s usually faster, too, because you can limit the number of faces that Intersect Faces has to parse through.
In John’s example it does require putting the cutter geometry inside the panel group/component and the cutter needs to be loose geometry, not grouped.
DaveR has the explanation above. I opened the panel for editing before drawing the rectangle and pushpulling it through the panel and using Intersect faces with Context.
Your component isn’t locked, but isn’t a solid. Again, Dave has shown how to make it one.
Thanks so much! That little line that separated the “bead” from the main panel was the culprit. So now it’s really a solid object!!! Woohoooooo! I found this by looking very closely before seeing your “Solid Inspector 2” idea – that sounds a lot easier, so am gonna download it now and give it a try. Thanks again to everyone for all the great ideas!!!
I think it’s a good idea to get to the point where you know what sorts of things can cause a component or group to not be considered a solid. When you know it’s often faster to find them on your own than to use an extension. It also helps you avoid creating the problems in the first place. The extension is a handy thing to have, though. I would also suggest Thom Thom’s CleanUp3 and make sure you install TT_Lib2 or whatever the current version is.
