topic Is there an easy way to break all links between a sketch and its source projected edges? in Inventor Forum

Is there an easy way to break all links between a sketch and its source projected edges?

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 09:09:05 GMT

re: Is there an easy way to break all links between a sketch and its source projected edges?

Is there an easy way to break all links between a sketch and its source projected edges?

On working on a relatively complex part with many features (or even subfeatures), I wanted to try working with a somewhat "Modular Approach", where I can divide the Part, more or less, into independent sections.
What I really am trying to avoid is: if I change the Geometry (even a slight change) in the Interior of a Part, Inventor will end up flagging my sketch with 'Pink Dots', because one section was created from another, which was created from another, and so on.
So to try using this approach, I needed a way to do each of the following:

1) to make a Sketch Plane's x,y,z orientation Independent of any Sketch surface that it was Created with reference to. I believe (I hope) that I have found a simple way to do that: simply create a WorkPlane, and (select it, Right Click, and) make it Grounded.
2) However, I have not yet found an easy way to break the association between a Sketch (on my Grounded Workplane) and Projected Geometry that I am Projecting-Cut-Edges into my Sketch from.
I was able to create a sketch from projected Geometry [and selecting the entire sketch, and using 'Break Link'] but it involved not a little, but a considerable amount of, Re-Dimensioning/Re-Constraining.

What I really would like is simply to:

1) select a planar or very-nearly planar Back Surface of one section of a Part;
2) make a planar or 'best fit' plane parallel or very-nearly parallel to the Back Surface, spaced a tiny amount [say, .005 of an inch, or less] from the Back Surface;
3) project all of the edges from Back Surface across the planar or nearly planar Gap;
4) Make those Projected edges Absolute Geometry, which will allow it to be a Stand Alone Sketch;
5) Thereupon, I can work off of that Stand Alone Sketch, to create another section of the Part.

6) Do this Process for as many Sections of the Part as I divide the work into;
7) At the end of the process, finish it (the Part) up by something like Lofting across each small Gap between Sections of the Part.

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Maybe Inventor has already Created, or could Create, an automated Feature which implemented this 'Modularity' Concept. "Specify a Planar or nearly Planar Surface"; " 'Face is Confirmed as Planar' or 'Face's Maximum Deviation from being Planar is __ [number]' "; "Specify distance of a Small Gap between the Planar Surface (or Best-Fit-Planar Surface) and Next Part Section's New Work Plane, upon which a Sketch will be created, having an Absolute Geometry Copy Projection of the Planar Surface"; "Click OK to Create the Plane and the Absolute Geometry Sketch";

Thank you.

Re: Is there an easy way to break all links between a sketch and its source projected edges?

JDMather — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 12:31:06 GMT

Can you Attach your file here?

Re: Is there an easy way to break all links between a sketch and its source projected edges?

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 22:02:44 GMT

Thanks for your interest in answering my question.
I was really looking for a Methodology or about use of Inventor features/functions to do what I am asking.
But, if you email to me your contact email, I can show you what I in particular had, and did, with this 1 particular part.

As my Post should make clear: THIS QUESTION IS NOT INTERESTED IN THIS ONE PARTICULAR PART. Rather, it is looking for a Methodology, and I would appreciate your personal experience, as well as any other Inventor-experienced person's personal experience, with addressing the 'Modularity'-related challenge that I described. [Complex part; maybe some, even very small changes during the part design/drawings; User doesn't want small changes in 1 part of the Complex part to cause 'Pink dots' due to all of the dependencies; so, strategy: try to break up the part into working sections, maybe using a Methodology similarly as I have suggested.]
Thanks again for 'joggling' you 'memory' about this type of concern.

Re: Is there an easy way to break all links between a sketch and its source projected edges?

johnsonshiue — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 02:05:17 GMT

Hi! The quickest way is probably Redefine (right-click on the sketch -> Redefine -> select the same reference plane). Or, try copy the sketch and paste it to the same plane.

Re: Is there an easy way to break all links between a sketch and its source projected edges?

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 06:20:42 GMT

Thank you for your suggestions.
Seems to me, so far, that there is no easy, partly automated way, to do what I want (here).

It seems to me, so far, that a user has to 'Plod thru':
0) Creating a new work plane, some [very small] distance from the back most point(s) of a Planar (or nearly Planar) back surface of the part; And, start a New Sketch on that new work plane.
1) Using Project Geometry to select the geometry which constitutes the 'back surface' of the part from which the User wants to branch off to a "New Section" [of the part]; [In my opinion, there ought to be an automated way to do that.]
2) Select the entire Sketch [comprised of Projected elements], right click, and select/apply 'Break Link';
3) Apply "Project Geometry" to the Center Point [Absolute origin, x y z at 0, 0, 0] onto the Sketch plane;
4) Plod through the process of Re-dimensioning and Re-Constraining;
As I noted in my Posting: in my opinion, it would be of value for Inventor to have a Tool which attempted to Automate, or to partly-automate, this '4 step' process.
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Johnson Shiue: I surely can't be the only user who has ever wanted to divide a complex part into sections, to allow a 'modular' approach. If I may ask: What do you personally do? How do users attempt to implement a 'modular' approach? Would it be possible for you to ask a few of your colleagues (who have worked many years designing complex parts) about this question?
Or, for all I know, is there a 'list of tricks' for working with Inventor, which allow a user to be more or less immune from 'pink' dots propagating throughout a part, after changes or small changes are made? [As in computer programming, those 'tricks' probably involve trying to make sketches and features (that is: the 'flow of ideas behind a part') as 'object oriented' as possible.]

Thank you.

Re: Is there an easy way to break all links between a sketch and its source projected edges?

johnsonshiue — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 23:09:57 GMT

Hi! There isn't an one-shot approach for sure. Based on my experience, designing a complex part in a feature based parametric solid modeling CAD system like Inventor requires some planning indeed. First of all, I would not over-burden sketches (2D/3D). Every sketch should contain enough geometry to create the feature to consume it. If you have to create a complex sketch, you want to use Sketch Block workflows (right-click in 2D Sketch environment -> Show Panels -> check Layout). This helps you reuse shapes without having to recreate the geometry and manage individual dimensions.

Start with the main shape with clearly defined geometry. Then add more detail. Leave chamfers and fillets to the end.

I have not see a part you are working on so I cannot comment specifically. Please feel free share an example here. We have many design veterans here to help.

Many thanks!

Re: Is there an easy way to break all links between a sketch and its source projected edges?

-niels- — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 07:32:09 GMT

I don't understand or really agree with the workflow, but here's a suggestion:

- create a workplane on the geometry (no offset)

- project "cut edges"

- select all and "break link"

- select all and apply "fix" constraint

The first to steps might not work for you, just stabbing in the dark there on usefulness.

The "break link" you already know.

The "fix" constraint is to just lock the geometry instead of constraining and dimensioning.

Hope this is useful in some way...