How do I group sketch elements?

[tima123d]

I'm making a fairly complicated sketch for a front panel that has a lot of repeating elements. I'd like to group these elements for easy selection and copying.

In Solidworks, I could make a Block out of a part of the sketch and place it anywhere as many times as I like.

In Illustrator, I could make a group and select all the parts from the tree view and copy them.

I can't find any option in Fusion 360 for grouping elements in a sketch. Can somebody point me in the right direction?

-- Tim --

[jeff_strater]

Unfortunately, there is no sketch group or block concept in Fusion sketch today.  Here is the idea station entry for it:  group-in-sketch, give it an up vote.

Jeff

[Image_Guy]

Oops

[Anonymous]

This is a feature I and many others need.

[TrippyLighting]

It would surely be great to have, but as a matter of fact for the front panels the OP mentioned there is a better approach than grouping stuf in sketches.

[kvandusenN3AR9]

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@TrippyLighting wrote:

It would surely be great to have, but as a matter of fact for the front panels the OP mentioned there is a better approach than grouping stuf in sketches.

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Can you explain the the better approach to front panels, please?  Or provide a link to a further explanation?

[TheCADWhisperer]

Pattern features rather than sketch elements if possible.

This is one of the most common problems that I see beginners make across multiple MCAD programs.

[TrippyLighting]

@kvandusenN3AR9

The repeating element on the Front plate are likely pots and receptacles LED's etc.

1. I would design the case as usual.
2. Then I'd create a sketch with points (constrained and dimensioned) that indicative the locations of these components.
3. For each component I'd create a sketch for the cutout within that component and extrude it into a solid body. The purpose of that solid body is to combed with eh front plate using the Modify-> Combine tool.
4. Then I'd assemble these components to these sketch points defined earlier.
5. You can then modify the dimensions in that sketch to move the components into their final locations.
6. Then you can use Modify->Combine to with the front plate being the target body and the extra bodies of all the front place components we created earlier as the tool bodies. 

Done! You've got yourself a front place.

There are a number of dos and don'ts for someone new to Fusion 360 but the above is a really nice and efficient workflow. 

[TRIALCAD2014]

That is a terribly poor workaround because besides being cumbersome, long winded and error prone it creates dozens of bodies.
It's not a replacement for grouping which is a standard feature and all the competitor and even most of all Autodesk software has.

Imagine you want to cut  groups of 10x3x3 ventilation holes on 3 the faces of the box. You will end up with 100+ bodies.

Grouping is a necessary feature for any modern software and pretty much every user or analyst would agree with that.

[TrippyLighting]

I posted that workflow to address a particular issue, which I am happy to explain.

For ventilation holes, which usually don't have to interface with other companies I'd use a pattern.

Just to be clear, I'd also like to be able to group sketch elements and create sketch "blocks". But in the meantime, I prefer to help with workflows that can actually be done now!

[TRIALCAD2014]

Hi Peter,

Thank you for the clarification. Initially I got the impression you were not supportive of a 'grouping' functionality.

I'm trying to create irregular ventilation and assembly holes groups that are needed maybe ten times in the design. Unfortunately the patterns don't seem to support that. Cut and paste of a group of Sketch element would work of course but the ability to adjust after would not work and it would be a messy to adjust the positions afterwards should that need occur. It could be done partially with parameters but it would require a tonne of those and it would still be messy.

Your approach would work if we could 'combine' bodies with components ( as components group bodies) but components cannot be combined. The alternative is either sketch multicopy or hundreds of bodies that need to be renamed managed etc.

Many Thanks,
Adrian
 

[chocchipbiscuit]

I've been struggling with this today and its a bit fiddley but if you use the smart dimensions and group each sketch together vertically and horizontally they'll all move together when one moves.

[TrippyLighting]

@chocchipbiscuit are you talking about sketches, or views in a drawing ?

[mnk.matias]

Hi, I'm currently doing a Keyboard project that has an offset pattern because the keys are hexagons, and I need several sketches inside that Hexagon, there's no way I can constrain that amount of sketch elements. so this grouping or blocking sketches would be a GREAT feature to have. 

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@mnk.matias wrote:

the keys are hexagons, … there's no way I can constrain that amount of sketch elements…

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Wrong technique, do not pattern sketch elements.

Pattern features, bodies or components instead.

Can you File>Export your *.f3d file to your local drive and then Attach it here to a Reply?

[mnk.matias]

Heres the file.

I made it that way, so I can make the PCB part and the plastic shell out of it, I think that projecting from the switch each time the respective "holes to made" it's pretty exhausting. Maybe I boarded the whole project wrong too. 

Also, sorry for my bad english and grammar. 

[TheCADWhisperer]

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@mnk.matias wrote:

Here's the file.

I think that projecting from the switch each time the respective "holes to made" it's pretty exhausting.  

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That is not the way to do it.

I do not understand your workflow.

I noticed that Sketch1 is missing dimensions and not fully defined.

To get more attention from the experts here it would have been best to start a new discussion thread rather than replying to this old thread.

[mnk.matias]

Thank you for the recommendation about a new thread, I'll keep it in mind.
I changed the approach, making the pattern with the components like you told me, and I think this time it will work better. Thanks!