Cannot Change Sheet Metal From 5 to 4mm. All is locked - Video

[jdmwrxpower]

Hi, I am trying to change this base from 5mm to 4mm. I have added the sheet metal rule and notice when I click on the sheet metal I don't have the option to change it but instead takes me into the global sheet metal rules. I think I made a mistake by not capturing the design history until later so I'm looking for the most efficient solution to redoing that one part without messing up the whole model. Thank you

[jhackney1972 · Accepted solution]

Please attach your model.  If you do not know how to attach your Fusion 360 model follow these easy steps. Open the model in Fusion 360, select the File menu, then Export and save as a F3D or F3Z file to your hard drive. Then use the Attachments section, of a forum post, to attach it.

[jdmwrxpower]

Please see attached

[jhackney1972 · Accepted solution]

As you mentioned, this is a imported component.  I have replicated and replaced the chassis with a 4mm aluminum component and simply turned off the original 5mm sheet metal component.  Because of this fact a lot of the holes, mainly those that were tapped, were lost in the process.  I think you can use the other components and the original 5mm chassis to replace them by projection.  I will leave that up to you.  The new component is at the bottom of the tree directly under the top level assembly, the same position as the original.  I have also attached the new component as a separate file in case you find use for it.

I caution you about uploading the returned F3Z file in the same folder as the original as it will duplicate all the components. 

NOTE: The Forum would not accept the F3Z file so I had to ZIP it.

[jdmwrxpower]

Wow John thank you for taking the time to do this for me. Very much appreciated! I'm still learning but having a lot of fun learning from members here that have been very helpful. I would like to know how you went about doing the above so I can learn the process. Thank you

[jhackney1972 · Accepted solution]

Attached is a video on the method I used.  I hope you have found that Converting a Imported Solid to sheet metal is not a good practice even if the solid is not imported.  Create your sheet metal components from scratch.

[laughingcreek · Accepted solution]

IF components are properly placed with joints and the modeling process is well structured, you can simply do an offset face on the original body before you apply any joints-

in this case I applied it to both the inside and outside faces, which will keep relative inside and outside fillets sized properly.  (in this case, all the bends are in the same direction, so you could JUST offset either the inside or outside if you wanted is suppose).  in the formula shown, you can replace the 4 with a variable for the sheet metal thickness.  attached is the model with this update.

this did break 4 features-

that should be easy to fix.

it appears everything is still properly placed, but it's hard to say for sure because somethings don't look properly placed in the original, like this bolt-

you do have a lot of moves and position captures, which may screw things up a bit.  it would be better to not have any of those in the model.  ditto for the pins and unpins.

[jdmwrxpower]

John, thank you so very much for making this video. I learned a lot of techniques I didn't know such as copying one component from one to design into another design and also with the align command, I didn't know about being able to flip the alignment multiple times. These are the real-world scenarios that save time.

-Best, 

      Joe M

[jdmwrxpower]

Another great solution. I appreciate you taking the time to delve into it. As for the bolt, it's an end stop that contacts the base and is something that is adjusted during actual assembly and calibration so it's okay if it is not truly lined up on the face of the base plate.