Need help with pattern

[CGPM]

I need to make a second op fixture to hold a bunch of small contoured knobs for cnc milling.  I would like to pattern one part and then use the parts to cut out their pockets in a fixture plate.  The question I have is how can I pattern the part creating one component with the patterned bodies in it to make it easier to select them all for later use?  Or is there no way around pattern creating a separate component for every part?  Since I am making the fixture to hold 36 parts dealing with an extra 35 components adds a lot to the browser heirarchy.  I have spent an hour trying to figure this out but no luck.

[jeff_strater · Accepted solution]

I would recommend patterning the bodies not components.  So, you would make one component that has all the instances of the knob in it as bodies.

For example (not knowing exactly what you are trying to model, so I just made a guess).

This is one knob:

note that it is one body inside a component called "knobs"

Then, use Pattern, but be sure to select "Bodies" as the type of objects to pattern (Pattern Type):

The should produce one component with a pattern of bodies:

Then position this component over your fixture plate:

and use Combine to cut out the pockets:

Choose "Cut" and "Keep Tools" (assuming you want to keep your knobs around in the design).  This is the result:

Thanks for posting.

Jeff Strater (Fusion Development)

[CGPM]

Thank you Jeff!  That is exactly what I was needing.  What I was failing to do is pick what pattern type I wanted.  It works much better if bodies are selected.  No selection was causing my problems, plus the pattern was not showing up in the timeline, which it does when bodies are selected.

[kb9ydn]

I'm just curious, why would you recommend patterning just bodies instead of components?

C|

[jeff_strater]

you certainly could do this with a component pattern, too:  a component with one knob body in it, and a pattern that generates new instances of that component.  You can still do the Combine just the same.  The original question, though, asked for a way to do this without using components, at least partly because it creates lots of browser entries.  Also, a single multi-body component makes it easier to manage (if you need to move all the knobs together, for instance).  It really depends on how you want it to behave.

Jeff

[kb9ydn]

Ok, that makes sense.  I'm coming from Solidworks where the more common usage is to pattern parts (SW version of a component) in an assembly, where each part contains a single body.  Multi body parts can also be used but it's a little easier to manage at the part level than the body level.

C|