topic Re: Trim not working for spirals in AutoCAD Forum

Trim not working for spirals

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 01:17:57 GMT

Hello! I have been drawing spirals in 2D as well as straight lines, as can be seen in the image below, and I needed to trim the lines in between the spirals. In the beginning, everything worked perfectly; however, now I would only allow me to trim straight lines, and not the spirals. Can you please explain me what I have accidently pressed that it stopped working? Many thanks!

Re: Trim not working for spirals

Alfred.NESWADBA — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 06:05:26 GMT

Hi,

welcome @Anonymous.autodesk.com!

For me it is working, can you upload your drawing + let us know which AutoCAD release and service pack you have?

>> would only allow me to trim straight lines, and not the spirals

What does the command line tell you during selecting the cutting edges or during selecting the objects to trim?

- alfred -

Re: Trim not working for spirals

imadHabash — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 08:40:43 GMT

Hi,

I suggest to do the follow :

use FLATTEN command on your lines.
get back and work with trim.
try to use EXTRIM command which will trims all objects at the cutting edge specified by a selected polyline, line, circle, arc, ellipse, text, mtext, or attribute definition.after selecting an object and specifying one side of the object, all other objects are trimmed to that object in a single operation.

Good Luck..

Re: Trim not working for spirals

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 11:06:35 GMT

Many thanks for your help! Unfortunately, my AutoCAD 2014 does not know any of those commands

Re: Trim not working for spirals

Alfred.NESWADBA — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 11:12:36 GMT

Hi,

AutoCAD 2014 can run command _TRIM on spiral and lines. just tried it.

So please show your drawing + let us know what AutoCAD tells you when you select cutting edge/object to trim...

>> use FLATTEN command on your line

Be careful with that command as the polyline created from a spiral is not exactly a spiral anymore. So so if you need high accuracy you should be careful with that command.

- alfred -

Re: Trim not working for spirals

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 11:14:48 GMT

Hello! Many thanks for your help! My AutoCAD version is of 2014. When I try to trim the line, it says "Select object to trim or shift-select to extend or [fence/crossing/Project/Edge/eRase/Undo]:". It seems like it could not see the helix as a line because it is 3D. Before it worked perfectly for me, as you can see on my project; however, it stopped working for some reason. I am going to attach my file below. I can see that it work for you, so probably I have accidentally pressed something.Many thanks again!

Re: Trim not working for spirals

Alfred.NESWADBA — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 11:20:10 GMT

Hi,

>> It seems like it could not see the helix as a line because it is 3D

from first post:

>> I have been drawing spirals in 2D

If that is changed from 2D to 3D then change it back:

- alfred -

Re: Trim not working for spirals

imadHabash — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 11:23:41 GMT

Hi.

>> Hello! I have been drawing spirals in 2D as well as straight lines, as can be seen in the image below <<

>> It seems like it could not see the helix as a line because it is 3D. <<

in first post you said that it's 2D spiral and now you said 3D... i guess that you have to be more specific because this will affect the way that we will answer.

Re: Trim not working for spirals

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 11:38:09 GMT

Thanks for your help! What value should I put into the turning height? When I put zero, it did not change anything

Re: Trim not working for spirals

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 11:39:33 GMT

When I go into 3D mode, it shows me that a helix is in 3D, but I work in 2D. I thought that maybe this was the reason why it does not work for me in 2D

Re: Trim not working for spirals

Anonymous — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 11:48:23 GMT

I have changed the turning height, so now it is in 2D; however, it did not solve my problem with trimming. I have no idea what can be the reason for it not to work

Re: Trim not working for spirals

Alfred.NESWADBA — Fri, 25 Nov 2016 18:42:13 GMT

Hi,

>> I have changed the turning height, so now it is in 2D; however, it did not solve my problem with trimming

For me it worked after changing that value.

Can you create a screencast video (>>>click<<<) so we can see what exactly is happening with your AutoCAD?

- alfred -

Re: Trim not working for spirals

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Nov 2016 10:32:10 GMT

Good day, Alfred! Many thanks for helping me resolve this problem. I have attached the video below of what is happening with my AutoCAD - hopefully, it helps!

Re: Trim not working for spirals

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Nov 2016 10:32:49 GMT

Re: Trim not working for spirals

Alfred.NESWADBA — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 10:45:37 GMT

Hi,

sorry, missed your video.

I don't see what AutoCAD tells you when you try to select the spiral, the command-line seems to be only one line high and so messages like "invalid object" or something like that (which is now needed to identify the reason) are hidden/invisible. Is there any chance in AutoCAD for Mac to make the command-line higher or to switch to the command-line as separate window (in AutoCAD for Windows it's just needed to press <F2> to get this window).

What happens when you use copy & paste to copy the geometry (spiral and lines) to a new drawing and try _TRIM there again?

- alfred -

Re: Trim not working for spirals

wispoxy — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 16:36:25 GMT

Add a point with PEDIT where you want it split. Then try trimming again.