Creating a dxf with alternate hole sizes for waterjet but keeping original holes

[Anonymous]

I thought I had posted this earlier but it seems like it might have been lost in the process.  Sorry if this is a duplicate posting.

Anyway, a friend of mine is going to waterjet a few items for some 3d printers we’re building and I have modeled the printer up in Fusion 360. The parts to be waterjet have holes that show finished sizes in the model and the assemblies, and I would like to create a dxf that has smaller holes that I can then drill out and/or tap after the waterjet process.

I could create a new sketch and project the outline and hole pattern onto it from the body of the component, then save as a dxf if I didn’t want different holes, but I am trying to figure out a workflow so that I don’t change the original holes, but substitute smaller ones where needed, in order to send that to a dxf for the waterjet.

There’s not a huge number of holes, so I could simply do the project onto a new sketch, then go around and add concentric holes to the holes I want to alter, and then delete the original hole projections, but I am wondering if someone has done this sort of thing before and might have a quasi-automated process or something that “links” back to the original holes so that when I possibly shift or move the original holes, the new waterjet pattern updates.

Thanks !

Lewis

[etfrench]

Create a User Parameter for each original hole size.  Assign the parameter(s) to each hole's diameter dimension.  Change the parameter to the waterjet cutting size when creating the dxf. 

Is the waterjet so inaccurate that you need to redrill the holes afterward?

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi  - thanks for the tip on the parameters - I never thought of that......but I guess that's why I'm here in the forum...lol

The waterjet is extremely accurate, but I perhaps was a bit misleading in my post.  I am interested in mainly reducing the diameters to the tap size when I do the dxf.  I will be maybe drilling a little bit out, but mainly tapping the holes. 

Cheers,

Lewis