Structural Steel Connections

You could achieve the same thing without making the cylinder into a group. Draw a circle where you want your hole on one element. Push/Pull it through to the other side of the second component. Open each component, use Intersect with Model and then delete the circle infills. I think this actually takes longer though and if you are making several holes the same diameter, you can keep re-using the cylinder group in the original method. In fact, if you do a lot of this, you could create a series of cylinders of various diameters that you use as cutters in different projects/drawings.

Ok looks great, i just cant see the top of your sceen, what you do after turning the plug into a componant

Make it a Group or Component, move it into place, select Solid Tools>Trim, select the cylinder and then the items to be trimmed. Because I use the Trim tool a lot, I have an icon for it on my toolbar. That is what you see my cursor moving towards.

Thanks so much!!!

Do you have any plug ins for structural steel connections?

Or use Fredo’s Visuhole
Visuhole

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That looks perfect

Is that part of LibFredo6 plugin library

LibFredo6 is a library of helper files that are needed for Fredo’s plugins to work.
Visuhole is a specific plugin. And I gave you a link to it in the post above.

Thank you!!!

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Is there a good video on this plugin

On the link I posted there is a button that says,‘More Info’ this will take you to full documentation including video.

Maybe you’re all set but if you need to put the bolts in the holes, too, you might consider another work flow.

Make your bolts solid components and make sure you model the brackets as solid, as well. Place the bolts where you want the holes and use the Trim tool from Eneroth Solid Tools. You could use the native Solid Tools Trim function but it converts components it modifies into groups. Eneroth Trim leaves components as components and like editing any other component instance, modifies all the other instances in the model.

Set the bolt components to glue to faces and locate the component origin so you can drop the bolts in with no fuss and you’re cooking with gas.

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That looks pretty simple I will give it a go

Thanks really appreciate it

Experimenting with VisuHole

It seems wonderful, until one discovers the edges of a circular hole are only edges and not a Circle.
To me, a circular hole lacking SU’s powerful center inference isn’t worth the time it takes to make it.
Am I missing a setting, or is that just the way it works?

Fredo’s tools tend to break edges, but then you can always put them back together. I use his Curvisard to weld and if needed I use Lines to Arc to restore circles and arcs.

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By using this workflow can I align and punch a hole through the cleats without using a bolt?

You need some sort of solid to Trim the hole from the bracket or cleat. You could just use a cylinder like a drill instead. It won’t work like Visuhole since this method requires the solid component/group as a cutter.

Thanks a lot for all your help, settled on the Visuhole plug in. Worked well and sorted some frustration! The solid tools will come in handy along the way as well.

Thanks

Continuing the discussion from Structural Steel Connections:

Have you looked at the EP Fasteners & Threaded Holes extension? It has the ability to drill holes and place the bolts.