sketch snap to datums?

[JimSteinmeyer]

I have a particularly bad habiit of wanting to dimension my parts off the datum planes. I even like to center most of my parts off the datums for placing them in assemblies. However to do this every time I start a sketch I have to show the datums and them Project Geometry after selecting the datums in the sketch. Is there a selection in the options to make the datums ALWAYS projected? Having to set them for EVERY sketch has become tedious. I have the settings set as follows. I am using 2012.

Thank you

Jim

[JDMather]

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@JimSteinmeyer wrote:

I have a particularly bad habiit of wanting to dimension my parts off the datum planes. ....

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That is not a bad habit - that is how you should be working - but the only datum you need is the origin center point and Inventor will autoproject that for you.
I would not have my application options set like you have.
Search Google for jd mather skillsusa inventor document to see the settings I use.

[JimSteinmeyer]

JD,

I have seen how you set your auto projection settings and have set them that way but I really would like the planes.. Maybe because I am constraining wrong, but I often constrain a line to a datum plane or attempt to set it at an angle off the plane. These don't seem to work well for me with just the datum point.

Maybe I just need to become more familiar with constraining differently.

Thank you

Jim

[SBix26 · Accepted solution]

For many years I always projected the applicable origin (Inventor term is "origin", not "datum") axes to at least my first sketch, and often to suceeding sketches, too, usually making them construction lines.  But in recent years I have gradually given up doing that automatically.  I found that the automatic horizontal/vertical constraints on the first line or ellipse in a sketch were sufficient, and it reduces clutter and time spent.  And, if you want to rotate your sketch for some reason, there's only one constraint to delete and re-apply instead of many.

There are still a few sketches where an origin axis is useful.  One of those would be when I need to locate features angularly on a round part.