Push/Pull Circles do not push out the back face, extrudes it

I am a new user, but long time AutoCAD technician. As I am working through a steel beam model project, I need to “drill” or "punch holes in Wide Flange Beams. I went to the 3D Warehouse and found the beam I needed, extruded it with Follow Me, but am having a lot of frustration punching holes through the web of that beam. The surfaces do not appear curved, and I have been able to punch some holes in the “followed” beam sections, but not the sections extruded with Push/Pull, they just push out extrusions in the back side. SketchUp 2015 Make/Mac Yosemite, on a Woodworker’s Feet and Inches Template with inches as the unit. In ACAD 3D I would just create an extruded rod and use an intersect. But Push/Pull should work?

Do you have an image of the problem?

I suspect that you are having trouble telling pushpull to stop at the far surface. In the attached animation. note how when I put the cursor over the back face of the beam, the inference engine causes the depth to snap.

Is there a setting for that snap action? My push/pull does not snap like that. I can make the hole by changing units to decimal at high precision and adding the precise depth to the command. But my push/pull does not snap.

Thanks for your help and your quick response. I’m sure that I’m either missing a snap setting or I am just clumsy with my mouse. Still not working though

Do you by chance have Enable Length Snapping set in the Model Info->Units panel?

I had this happen the other day. It may be similar to this problem.
Missing inference

I think I ended up redrawing the part.

Shep

I believe it is operator error. If I am zoomed in close enough that when I push my cursor does not leave the face, it works. In the small “holes” I was trying to push through the tool would exit the face before the pushed face hit the second face and that caused an extrusion not a deletion.

Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it. I guess I should have known this, watched about a hundred videos, but never saw this pointed out.

You shouldn’t need to be zoomed in specifically, it’s all about the inference engine.
When you use the Push/pull tool you can click and release on the face and it will attach to the tool.
You can then move it around to where you want it. It shows what is known as Z-Fighting when it is in the correct position to delete a face, that’s when it get that mix of colours, it’s the back and front faces fighting for position.
The inference engine allows you to find the correct face to line up with, when you have it where you want it, simply click and release again.
I left out that you can orbit or pan as well while attached to the face.

If your two animations should form a 3D illusion, I will need new glasses :wink:

Yeah you are right Carsten it is hard to look at, so I’ve removed the first one.

The first one worked for me just fine, thanks for all the help and everything is good now!