Extrude from Offset Plane question.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I really like the "Extrude from Object" command. It is really cool:

However I am a little confused on the "Extrude from Offset Plane" command. Once that command option chosen, the object will extrude to the offset plane from the original sketch automatically, not manually from the offset plane. This is different form "Extend to Object".

This is "Extend to Object".  Notice that the extruded object actually matches up with the angle of the offset plane:

Is that the original intention to extrude the object automatically once "Start... Offset Plane" is selected? Shouldn't it be better off to start the extrusion from the offset plane manually when that is selected like "Start from Object" ? The way it is now I have to perform a body split to eliminate the object in between the original sketch and the offset plane.

Just a little confused but I can still work with that by using "Body Split".

[Anonymous]

Actually I also know that I can treat an offset plane as an object, then by using "Start from object" and selecting the offset plane, an extrusion can be performed from the offset plane. But what is the purpose of "Start from Offset Plane"? 

That is my confusion. 

Thanks for replying.

[jeff_strater · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous,

I agree that this is a bit confusing.  If it is any consolation, this was a topic of a lot of internal debate.  Between "start from object", "start from offset plane", and "two sides" with "to object" selected for both", there is a lot of overlapping functionality here.

What "from offset plane" is supposed to do is pretty simple.  It just allows you to start the extrude from a plane that is parallel to the sketch profile, but offset by some distance.  This is why you get the "offset distance" field in the dialog when you turn this on:

"from profile":

"from offset plane" turned on:

and this is what a distance in this field does:

Jeff

[Anonymous]

@jeff_strater Hi Jeff, thanks for the clarification. I think I overlooked that "Distance" part. I would say for most users when they selected "start from Offset Plane" they will assume a plane that they offset themselves. The automatic extrusion to a real offset plane might be a useful tip.