Subtracting from a revolved solid ...

[Anonymous]

I have a cylindrical and slighlty conical object for injection molding.

I drew the crossection in 2D, then revolved to get the basic shape.

Now I need to add "fluting" (groves) to the outside of the object. I'm attempting to do this by using the ARRAYPOLAR to distribute several cylinders around the main object and then using the SUBTRACT command to remove the intersecting area from the main object.

However, when I use SUBTRACT ... nothing happens?

Do I need to "flatten" the revolved and arrayed object into a more basic form of solid? I notice that the revolved solid is still editable using the original 2D cross sections and the array options still popup when it's selected. I thought this editablilty may be conflicting with the SUBTRACT command?

Any sugjestions would be helpfull. The file in question is attached.

[maxim_k · Accepted solution]

Hi,

You created Associative polar array (which treated by AutoCAD in fact as a special kind of block) in your drawing, but SUBTRACT command works only with solids, surfaces, and regions.

So you have to explode associative array before subtracting it from 3D solid.

Maxim

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the tip!

Another component to my problem was ... all the tutorilas on SUBTRACT that I could find, left out the fact that you had to hit ENTER after selecting each object (or maybe I wasnt paying enough attention). Once I discovered that little detail, everything worked out great.