Derived parts in the same design

[M_Bortkiewicz]

Is there any way I could create 3 different parts, based on one, and reuse them in the same design? I would like 3 derived parts to maintain the link, so the would update, every time I modify the base part.

[seth.madore]

I was actually doing this over the weekend, where I had one part that needed to be placed in several different locations for various machining operations. Not sure if it was the proper method, but I just duplicated the bodies and then turned them into Components (nested in the original Derive). I was then able to apply joints to those components and move them where needed (in this case, the 3 other fixtures I'm using)

-EDIT- and yes; making the change to the parent file does flow down into all the other instances of the Derived component

[TrippyLighting · Accepted solution]

Don't copy/paste bodies. If "something " goes wrong, the copy/paste feature in the timeline cannot be edited to allow you to re-select the original body. It is better to use the boundary fill tool to create a duplicate body.

[HughesTooling · Accepted solution]

@TrippyLighting  Beat me to it, I got a phone call halfway through typing.

Coping bodies is a bit risky. The copy can break under certain conditions and you get an error asking you to relselect the body. Trouble is you can not reselect a body as there's no edit option for copy.

The safe workaround id to use Boundary Fill set to create a new component. Not only does it allow you to reselect the body if edits break the selection but you can just change to a different body to experiment.

[M_Bortkiewicz]

I come from different CAD backgrounds. I was trying to mimic the derive option I am familiar with. 

1. Find the part of interest.

2. Mark the body.

3. Click derive command/ icon.

3. Pick the existing design option.

4 Pick the design I am working on as a target.

[seth.madore]

@TrippyLighting @HughesTooling thank you gentlemen, I've learned something new to me; I've never used the Boundary Fill tool, so it's one more trick to improving my modeling workflows 🙂

[HughesTooling]

@M_Bortkiewicz Do you want to be able to modify the derived components or do you just need copies? If you want to be able to modify the parts the boundary fill method will give you something similar to what you're after. Just make sure you roll the timeline back before the boundary fill if you want to modify the base component.

Mark

[M_Bortkiewicz]

Modification is a must. Thanks for the workaround.